List of Nigerian cities by population


The following are lists of the most populous fully defined incorporated settlements in Nigeria by population. This page consists three different tables, with different kinds of settlements; a list for "defined cities", listing the population, strictly within the defined city limits, a list for "urban area" population, and another list for the population within metropolitan areas.

Lists

Defined cities/towns

Nigerian cities are categorized into three types; there is the "Metropolis", which is characterized with having more than one Local Government Areas. This type of cities are usually formed when large municipalities are split into smaller LGAs, to aid efficient administration and management, or when small towns grow and merge into existing large cities, or both; some are also formed when urban areas of multiple LGAs merge as a result of growth and are now fully defined as a single settlement, Another type of settlement is the "Municipality", which is basically an LGA that is fully defined as its own city or town. This type of cities are usually mid-sized, although some large cities also exist as a single LGA. The third type of settlement is the "village", which is basically grouped together with several other villages into one sizeable LGA.
The following table lists fully defined incorporated cities in Nigeria, with a population of at least 100,000, as declared by the Nigerian National Population Commission in the 2006 National census. This list refers only to the population of individual cities within their defined limits, which does not include other distinct communities or extended suburban areas within urban agglomerations. A city is displayed in bold if it is a state or federal capital, and in italics if it is the most populous city in the state.
RankCityState2006 censusTotal
area 		Population
density
1LagosLagos8,048,4301,171.36,871
2KanoKano2,828,8614496,300
3IbadanOyo2,559,8533,080831
4Benin CityEdo1,147,1881,204953
5Port HarcourtRivers1,005,9043692,726
6JosPlateau821,6181,821451
7IlorinKwara777,6677651,016
8AbujaFCT776,2981,769439'
9KadunaKaduna760,0841315,802
10EnuguEnugu722,6645561300
11ZariaKaduna695,0895631,234.6
12WarriDelta557,398
13IkoroduLagos535,6193451,553
14MaiduguriBorno543,0161373,964
15AbaAbia534,265727,400
16IfeOsun509,0351,791284
17BauchiBauchi493,8103,687134
18AkureOndo484,798991489
19AbeokutaOgun451,607879510
20OyoOyo428,7982427177
21UyoAkwa Ibom427,8733621,182
22SokotoSokoto427,760--
23OwerriImo401,873551729
24YolaAdamawa392,854831473
25CalabarCross River371,022406910
26UmuahiaAbia359,230385933
27Ondo CityOndo358,430--
28MinnaNiger348,7881,664209
29LafiaNasarawa330,712--
30OkeneKogi320,260328976.4
31KatsinaKatsina318,4591422,243
-IkejaLagos313,19649.926,274
32NsukkaEnugu309,63345.38-
33Ado EkitiEkiti308,6212931,053
34AwkaAnambra301,657--
35OgbomoshoOyo299,535--
36IseyinOyo286,700--
37MubiAdamawa280,0091,317-
38OnitshaAnambra261,604525,030.8
39SagamuOgun253,412--
40MakurdiBenue249,000--
41MokwaNiger244,9374,33856.4
42BadagryLagos241,093441547
43IlesaOsun233,900--
44GombeGombe230,900--
45Obafemi OwodeOgun228,8511,410162
46OwoOndo218,8861,027213
47JimetaAdamawa218,400--
48SulejaNiger216,5781191,820
49LavunNiger209,9172,83574
50PotiskumYobe205,876559368
51KukawaBorno203,8644,90141.6
52GusauZamfara201,200--
53IwoOsun191,377214894
54BidaNiger188,181513,689
55UgepCross River187,000--
56Ijebu OdeOgun186,700--
57EpeLagos181,409965188
58Ise EkitiEkiti167,100--
59GbokoBenue166,400--
60Ilawe EkitiEkiti160,700--
61IkareOndo160,600--
62OsogboOsun156,694473,334
63OkpokoAnambra152,900--
64GarkiJigawa152,2331,408108.12
65SapeleDelta151,000--
66IlaOsun150,700--
67ShakiOyo150,300--
68IjeroEkiti147,300--
69Ikot EkpeneAkwa Ibom143,0771161,233
70JalingoTaraba139,845--
71OtukpoBenue136,800--
72OkigweImo132,237
73KisiOyo130,800--
74BugumaRivers124,200--
75FuntuaKatsina122,500--
76AbakalikiEbonyi151,723--
77AsabaDelta149,603268558
78GbonganOsun117,300--
79IgbohoOyo115,000--
80GashuaYobe109,600--
81BamaBorno102,800--
82UromiEdo101,400--

Urban areas

An urban area is a continuously built up land mass of urban development that is within a labor market, without regard for administrative or city boundaries. An urban area is a human settlement with high population density and infrastructure of built environment.
This is section lists contiguous urban areas in Nigeria, with a population of at least 500,000. The figures here have been taken from Demographia's "World Urban Areas" study 2016. Demographia uses maps, satellite photographs to estimate continuous urbanization.
RankCityStatePopulationArea Density
1LagosLagos12,830,0001,4259000
2OnitshaAnambra7,425,0001,9653,800
3KanoKano3,680,00025114,600
4IbadanOyo2,910,0004666,200
5UyoAkwa Ibom1,990,0007292,700
6Port HarcourtRivers1,865,00015811,800
7NsukkaEnugu1,735,0006452,700
8AbujaFCT1,580,0002257,000
9Benin CityEdo1,355,0002285,900
10AbaAbia1,215,0009113,400
11KadunaKaduna1,100,0001537,200
12IlorinKwara890,0008310,700
13JosPlateau790,0007011,300
14MaiduguriBorno765,0001554,900
15OwerriImo750,0001305,800
16IkoroduLagos740,0001305,700
17ZariaKaduna735,000888,300
18EnuguEnugu715,000789,200
19WarriDelta695,0001424,900
20OsogboOsun680,0001046,600
21AkureOndo585,0001175,000
22SokotoSokoto580,000886,600
23AbeokutaOgun520,000628,400
24BauchiBauchi520,000885,900

Metropolitan areas