Nigeria Map with States

Nigeria has 36 states. The 37th area on this map is the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, which is a territory, not a state. The last six states date from October 1996: Bayelsa came out of Rivers, Ebonyi out of Abia and Enugu, Ekiti out of Ondo, Gombe out of Bauchi, Nasarawa out of Plateau and Zamfara out of Sokoto. In October 2025 the National Assembly's joint committee on constitution review backed one more South-East state without naming it. Campaigners for Anioma State want it carved from Delta North, in the South South, as the South East's sixth state. No new state had passed either house of the National Assembly by November 2026, so the map still has 36 states.

In Nigeria, the capital of Lagos State is Ikeja, not the city of Lagos. Other capitals that differ from the state name include Port Harcourt (Rivers), Ibadan (Oyo), Calabar (Cross River), Asaba (Delta), Uyo (Akwa Ibom), Umuahia (Abia) and Lafia (Nasarawa). In seven states the capital and the state have one name: Bauchi, Enugu, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Sokoto. The map draws 13 state capitals as cities, Kano, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Maiduguri among them, and also marks Abuja, the national capital. The List of States table on this page gives all 36 capitals, plus a row for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The Federal Capital Territory is the area that holds Abuja, the national capital, and it is not one of Nigeria's 36 states. It has no governor or state assembly. Under section 299 of the 1999 constitution, the National Assembly makes its laws and the President holds its executive powers, which are delegated to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. Abuja has been the seat of the federal government since December 1991, when it took over from Lagos. It is smaller than most states, and in the National Population Commission's projections only Bayelsa and Nasarawa have fewer people. Data rows named Abuja or FCT match the territory, which is a single region on the map.

Nigeria's six geopolitical zones place every state in one of three northern and three southern groups. Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara form the North West, and Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe the North East. North Central takes Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau and the FCT. These three zones hold Nigeria's 19 northern states. Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo make up the South West, and Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo the South East. Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers form the South South. To show the zones, color this map's states by zone. The Niger Delta Development Commission's nine states are the South South, Abia, Imo and Ondo.

Borno is Nigeria's largest state in the official figures of the Office of the Surveyor-General, which the National Bureau of Statistics publishes in its Annual Abstract of Statistics. Many other lists use different area figures and rank Niger State first, so the answer depends on the source. In the official table Niger State and Taraba take second and third place, followed by Bauchi, Yobe and Kaduna. Borno lies in the far north-east and is the one state that borders three countries: Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The official table carries no date, and the 2010 to 2012 editions of the abstract print the same figures.

Lagos is the smallest of Nigeria's 36 states in the official area figures of the Office of the Surveyor-General, and Anambra and Abia are the next smallest. Imo and Ekiti come after them, so all five of the smallest states are in the south. Gombe is the smallest of the 19 northern states. Lagos is also second by population in the National Population Commission's projections, which makes it by far the most densely populated state. Lagos State is governed from Ikeja, and the city of Lagos is no longer the federal capital.

Kano is Nigeria's most populous state in the National Population Commission's projections, ahead of Lagos. Next come Katsina, Kano's northwestern neighbor, then Kaduna and Bauchi, which leaves Lagos as the only southern state in the top five. Bayelsa has the fewest people of any state. Nigeria as a whole has the largest population in Africa. It has held no census since 2006, and the Lagos State government rejected the 2006 count for Lagos, so every state figure is a projection from a disputed base.

Nigeria has 774 local government areas, a number fixed in section 3(6) of the 1999 constitution: 768 across the 36 states and 6 area councils in the Federal Capital Territory. Kano is divided into 44 local government areas, more than any other state, and Bayelsa has the fewest, 8. This map does not draw them. Its 37 regions are the 36 states and the FCT, the level directly below the federal government. You can still map data kept by local government area once you total it for each state and the FCT.

You can start a custom map of Nigeria without an account by opening this map in the free Ultimaps editor. Color the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory by hand, or import or paste a table of states and values. Names match with or without the word State, as do codes such as NG-LA. Add pins for places the map does not mark, such as Ikeja, and labels for any other text. Saving and publishing take a free account, and a published map can be shared by link or embedded on a website. Free exports are a standard PNG with a small Ultimaps credit, and Ultimaps Pro adds high-resolution PNG, SVG and PDF.