Lagos, or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. As of November 2025, the size of the city's population has been estimated to stand between 17 and 21 million residents, making Lagos the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and one of the fastest-growing megacities in the world.
Lagos emerged as a home to the Awori people, an Ijebu subgroup of the Yoruba of West Africa, in the 15th century. The city originated as a fishing village before transforming into a slave-trading center and later a British colonial port. Today, Lagos is one of Africa’s primary economic hubs and among the fastest-growing urban centers in the world.
The native Yoruba name Èkó is also used by Yoruba people. The city has a significant influence on commerce, entertainment, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, and fashion in Africa. Lagos was formerly the capital city of Nigeria, but it has since been replaced by Abuja. Abuja officially became the capital of Nigeria on 12 December 1991, although the decision to move the federal capital had been made fifteen years prior, in Act No. 6 of 1976.
Lagos is located on Nigeria’s southern coast. The original inhabitants of the area in the fifteenth century settled on Lagos Island, which makes up the heart of the modern city. The island is home to the city’s business and market districts as well as a network of overcrowded slums.
Exploring the Vibrant Heart of Lagos 🇳🇬 Culture, Life & Energy
Historical Context
The first known settlements on Lagos Island were founded in the fifteenth century by the Yoruba people. According to local tradition, a Yoruba hunter named Ogunfunminire left his people’s homeland and built a village north of Lagos. His descendants, known as the Idejo, eventually migrated south to Lagos Island and established a fishing and farming settlement in the area.
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The Yoruba called the settlement Oko, or “farm” in their language. The first Portuguese explorers arrived in the area in the 1470s, calling the region Lago de Curamo. From this came the city’s modern name, as lagos is Portuguese for “lakes.” In the late sixteenth century, the area fell under the control of the Kingdom of Benin, which referred to the settlement as Eko, a name still used to refer to Lagos by some locals today. During this period, the city was governed by an Oba and became an integral part of the region’s slave trade.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the Oba Akitoye attempted to ban the slave trade in Lagos but was instead deposed. Now exiled, Akitoye sought the aid of Great Britain, which had outlawed slavery in the early nineteenth century. In 1851, British naval forces attacked Lagos and reinstalled Akitoye as Oba. A decade later, Great Britain annexed Lagos and made it part of the empire. Britain claimed the rest of Nigeria by the 1880s, and in 1906, the state of Lagos was merged with Southern Nigeria. In 1914, Northern and Southern Nigeria were unified into a single nation, and Lagos was named its capital.
Nigeria gained its independence from Britain in 1960 and underwent a period of political instability and military coups. During this time, Nigeria became a major oil-producing nation and joined the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC). As a result, the city of Lagos began to grow rapidly, outpacing its ability to adjust to the massive population increase.
To decentralize the population and alleviate some of the problems gripping the city, Nigerian officials decided to relocate its capital in the mid-1970s. The new capital of Abuja was established in central Nigeria, and most government functions were fully transferred there by 1991, officially ending Lagos’ position as capital.
Map of Lagos State showing Local Government Areas.
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Key Markets in Lagos
Lagos Island contains a central business district. The Island also contains many of the city's largest wholesale marketplaces (such as the popular Idumota and Balogun Markets).
Balogun Market
Balogun Market is one of the largest markets in Lagos, known for its wide variety of goods, including fabrics, shoes, and electronics.
Tejuosho Market
First bank financed ultramodern Tejuosho market reopens in Lagos.
Economic Significance
The city of Lagos is a major economic focal point in Nigeria, generating around 30-35% of the country's GDP. Most commercial and financial businesses are carried out in the central business district situated on the island. This is also where most of the country's commercial banks, financial institutions, and major corporations are headquartered.
Lagos is a major financial and banking centre. The four largest banks in West and Central Africa are headquartered in Lagos, and another nine banks in Lagos are among the 20 largest banks in the region.
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The Port of Lagos, formally known as the Lagos-Elbert Mathews Memorial Port, is Nigeria's leading port and one of the largest and busiest Ports in Africa. More than half of Nigeria's maritime trade is handled here, and the port also acts as a transhipment point for landlocked countries.
Lagos has also become the hub of a burgeoning Nigerian film industry nicknamed Nollywood. Based on terms of output, Nollywood’s 2,500 films produced in 2019 would make it the second-largest in the world, outpacing Hollywood and trailing only India’s film industry.
A view of Balogun Market in Lagos.
Demographics and Urbanization
In the wake of the 1970s Nigerian oil boom, Lagos experienced a population explosion, untamed economic growth, and unmitigated rural migration. By 2006, the metro area around Lagos had extended beyond Lagos State's boundaries and attained a megacity status. This much larger area is referred to as "Greater Metropolitan Lagos" or "Lagos Megacity Region", which is a continuously built-up land area.
Lagos is indigenous to the Yoruba people, and the Yoruba language is widely spoken. It is, by most estimates, one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Lagos is experiencing a population increase of about 275,000 persons per annum due to the influx of people from other regions for economic purposes.
As with all boomtowns, the city is at pains to keep up with itself. Lagos’s population is growing so fast and is so transient that it’s impossible to estimate the number of inhabitants more precisely than between 13 million and 18 million.
Here's a table summarizing key population data for Lagos:
| Year | Population | Growth Rate (Annual) |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 762,000 | N/A |
| 1990 | 4.7 million | N/A |
| 2009 | 10 million | N/A |
| 2016 | N/A | 4.44% |
| 2023 (Estimate) | 15,945,912 | 3.63% |
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