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Jos is a city in the north central region of
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of
Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...
. During British colonial rule, Jos was an important centre for tin mining and is the trading hub of the state as commercial activities are steadily increasing.


History

The earliest known settlers of the land that would come to be known as Nigeria were the
Nok people The Nok culture (or Nok civilization) is a population whose material remains are named after the Ham village of Nok in Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The Nok culture appeared in Nigeri ...
( BCE), skilled artisans from around the Jos area who mysteriously vanished in the late first millennium. According to the historian Sen Luka Gwom Zangabadt, the area known as Jos today was inhabited by indigenous ethnic groups who were mostly farmers. According to Billy J. Dudley, the British colonialists used direct rule for the indigenous ethnic groups on the Jos Plateau since they were not under the Fulani emirates where indirect rule was used. According to the historian Samuel N Nwabara, the Fulani empire controlled most of
northern Nigeria Northern Nigeria was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962 it acquired the territory of the United Kingd ...
, except the Plateau province and the Berom, Mwaghavul, Ngas, Tiv, Jukun and Idoma ethnic groups. It was the discovery of
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
by the British that led to the influx of other ethnic groups such as the Hausa from the north, southeastern Igbo, and
Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
from the country's southwest. As such, Jos is often recognized as a cosmopolitan Nigerian city. According to the white paper of the commission of inquiry into the 1894 crisis, Ames, a British colonial administrator, said that the original name for Jos was ''Gwosh'' in the
Izere language Izere is a dialect continuum of Plateau languages in Nigeria. According to Blench (2008), it is four languages, though ''Ethnologue'' does not distinguish NW and NE Izere. The Cen and Ganang varieties are spoken by only 2000 each. Cen has added ...
(spoken by the Afusari, the first settlers in the area), which was a village situated at the current site of the city; according to Ames, the Hausa, who arrived there after, wrongly pronounced Gwosh as "Jos" and it stuck. Another version was that "Jos" came from the word "Jasad" meaning body in Arabic. To distinguish it from the hill tops, it was called "Jas", which was mis-pronounced by the British as "Jos". It grew rapidly after the British discovered vast
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
deposits in the vicinity. Both tin and
columbite Columbite, also called niobite, niobite-tantalite and columbate [], is a black mineral group that is an ore of niobium. It has a submetallic Lustre (mineralogy), luster and a high density and is a niobate of iron and manganese. This mineral group w ...
were extensively mined in the area up until the 1960s. They were transported by railway to both Port Harcourt and
Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
on the coast, then exported from those ports. Jos is still often referred to as "Tin City". It was made capital of
Benue-Plateau State Benue-Plateau State is a former administrative division of Nigeria. It was created on 27 May 1967 from parts of the Northern Region and existed until 3 February 1976, when it was divided into two states - Benue and Plateau. The city of Jos was t ...
in 1967, and became the capital of the new Plateau State in 1975. Jos has become an important national administrative, commercial, and tourist centre. Tin mining has led to the influx of migrants (mostly Igbos, Yorubas and
Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...
) who constitute more than half of the population of Jos. This "melting pot" of race, ethnicity and religion makes Jos one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Nigeria. For this reason,
Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...
is known in Nigeria as the "home of peace and tourism". Excellent footage of Jos in 1936 including the tin mines, local people and the colonial population is held by the Cinema Museum in London ref HM0172


Administrative divisions

The city is divided into 3 local government areas of Jos north, Jos south and Jos east. The city proper lies between Jos north and Jos south. Jos east houses the prestigious National Center For Remote Sensing. Jos north is the state capital and the area where most commercial activities of the state takes place, although due to the recent communal clashes a lot of commercial activities are shifting to Jos south. The Governor's office is located in an area in Jos North called "Jise" in Berom language, "Gise" in Afizere (Jarawa) language or "Tudun-Wada" in Hausa language. Jos North has a significant slum. Jos south is the seat of the Deputy Governor i.e. the old Government House in Rayfield and the industrial centre of Plateau State due to the presence of industries like the NASCO group, Standard Biscuits, Grand Cereals and Oil Mills, Zuma steel west Africa, aluminium roofing industries, Jos International Breweries among others. Jos south also houses prestigious institutions like the
National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Nigeria is a policy formation center for bureaucrats, private sector leaders, Army officers, and medium-rank and senior civil servants, which was founded in 1979. Most policymaker ...
(NIPSS), the highest academic awarding institution in Nigeria, the National Veterinary Research Institute, the Police Staff College, the
NTA NTA may refer to: * Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, a method for visualizing and analyzing particles * National Tax Agency, the official tax collecting agency of Japan * National Tax Association, a non-profit organization in United States * Nati ...
television college and the
Nigerian Film Corporation Nigerian Film Corporation is a government owned agency that regulates Nigerian films. It was established in 1979 under decree number 61 of the 1979 constitution. References {{authority control Government agencies established in 1979 1979 e ...
. Jos north is the location of the University of Jos and its teaching hospital. The city has formed an
agglomeration Agglomeration may refer to: * Urban agglomeration, in standard English * Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as "city cluster". * Economies of agg ...
with the town of
Bukuru Bukuru is a city located on the Jos Plateau in Nigeria. It was previously considered a separate city from the city of Jos close by, but like every other form of urbanization, the city of Jos has merged with the town of Bukuru to form the Jos-Buk ...
to form the Jos-Bukuru metropolis (JBM).


Geography and climate

Situated almost at the geographical centre of Nigeria and about from
Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...
, the nation's capital, Jos is linked by road, rail and air to the rest of the country. The city is served by Yakubu Gowon Airport, but its rail connections no longer operate as the only currently operational section of Nigeria's rail network is the western line from Lagos to Kano. At an altitude of above sea level, Jos' climate is closer to temperate than that of the vast majority of Nigeria. Average monthly temperatures range from , and from mid-November to late January, night-time temperatures drop as low as . Hail sometimes falls during the rainy season because of the cooler temperatures at high altitudes. These cooler temperatures have, from colonial times until the present day, made Jos a favourite holiday location for both tourists and expatriates based in Nigeria. Jos receives about of rainfall annually, the
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
arising from both convectional and
orographic Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discipl ...
sources, owing to the location of the city on the Jos Plateau. According to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
system, Jos has a
tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
, abbreviated ''Aw''.


Features

;Jos Wildlife Park Covering roughly of
savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
h bush and established in 1972 under the administration of then Governor of Benue-Plateau
Joseph Gomwalk Joseph Dechi Gomwalk (13 April 1935 – 15 May 1976) was a Nigerian police commissioner and the first Military Governor of Benue-Plateau State after it was formed from part of Northern Region. He was executed due to his connections to Buka Suk ...
in alliance with a mandate by the then Organisation of African Unity to African heads of state to earmark one third of their landmass to establish conservation areas in each of their countries, It has since then become a major attraction in the state, attracting tourists from within and outside the country. The park has become a home to various species of wildlife including Lions, Rock pythons,
marabou stork The marabou stork (''Leptoptilos crumenifer'') is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae native to sub-Saharan Africa. It breeds in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially landfill sites. It is someti ...
s, Baboons, Honey Badgers, Camels as well as variant
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...
. ;Jos Museum The
National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...
in Jos was founded in 1952 by Bernard Fagg, and was recognized as one of the best in the country. It has unfortunately been left to fall to ruin as is the case with most of the cultural establishments in Nigeria. ''The Pottery Hall'' is also a part of the museum that has an exceptional collection of finely crafted pottery from all over Nigeria and boasts some fine specimens of Nok terracotta heads and artifacts dating from 500 BCE to 200 CE. It also incorporates the Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture with life-size replicas of a variety of buildings, from the walls of Kano and the Mosque at
Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...
to a Tiv village. Articles of interest from colonial times relating to the railway and tin mining can also be found on display. A School for Museum Technicians is attached to the museum, established with the help of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. The Jos Museum is also located beside the zoo. ;Jos Stadium A 40,000 seat capacity located along Farin-Gada road which has become home to the Plateau United Football Club, Current champions of The Nigerian Professional League. The stadium has undergone major renovations under the administration of the current governor Barr Simon Bako Lalong. ;Jos Golf Course The golf course located in Rayfield, Jos has hosted many golfing competitions with players coming from both within and outside the state. Other local enterprises include food processing, beer brewing, and the manufacture of cosmetics, soap, rope, jute bags, and furniture. Heavy industry produces cement and asbestos cement, crushed stone, rolled steel, and tire retreads. Jos is also a centre for the construction industry, and has several printing and publishing firms. The Jos-
Bukuru Bukuru is a city located on the Jos Plateau in Nigeria. It was previously considered a separate city from the city of Jos close by, but like every other form of urbanization, the city of Jos has merged with the town of Bukuru to form the Jos-Buk ...
dam and reservoir on the Shen River provide water for the city's industries. Jos is a base for exploring Plateau State. The Shere Hills, seen to the east of Jos, offer a prime view of the city below. Assop Falls is a small waterfall which makes a picnic spot on a drive from Jos to Abuja. Riyom Rock is a dramatic and photogenic pile of rocks balanced precariously on top of one another, with one resembling a clown's hat, observable from the main Jos-
Akwanga Akwanga is a Local Government Area in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Akwanga. It has an area of 996 km and a population of 513,930 at the 2006 census. The postal code A postal code (also known locally in var ...
road. The city is home to the
University of Jos The University of Jos, abbreviated as Unijos, is a Federal University in Jos, Plateau State, central Nigeria. History What became the University of Jos was established in November 1971 from the satellite campus of the University of Ibadan. ...
(founded in 1975), St Luke's Cathedral, an airport and a railway station. Jos is served by several teaching hospitals including Bingham University Teaching Hospital and Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), a federal
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
-funded referral hospital. The
Nigerian College of Accountancy Nigerian College of Accountancy (NCA), is an educational institution in Jos, Nigeria established in 1994 that is operated by Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN). NCA is the training arm of ANAN, following International Federati ...
, with over 3,000 students in 2011, is based in Kwall,
Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...
.


Notable people

*
Mabo Ismaila Mabo Ismaila (born 15 July 1944) is a Nigerian football manager. Career Ismaila was the head coach of the Nigeria women's national team at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Gam ...
, Former coach of the female National Football Team, the Super Falcons * Segun Odegbami, Nigerian
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
spent his childhood years in Jos *
Desmond Elliot Desmond Elliot'' (born Desmond Oluwashola Elliot; 4 February 1974)'' is a Nigerian director, and politician He was elected as a lawmaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Surulere Constituency, in the 11 April 2015 Nigerian General Election ...
, Nigerian actor, director and Member of the Lagos State House of Assembly * Ahmed Musa, Nigerian footballer was born in Jos *
Aisha Salaudeen Aisha Salaudeen (born 26 September 1994) is a Nigerian multimedia journalist, feminist, producer, and writer who currently works with the CNN. In November 2020, she was awarded the Future Awards Africa Prize for Journalism for her work covering ...
, Nigerian
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
was born and raised in Jos *Faith Teyei Afan Nigerian
Fashion design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...
er was born and raised in Jos *
Bez (musician) Emmanuel Bez Idakula, known as Bez (born 10 November 1983), is a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and composer, working in a genre known as "alternative soul", a hybrid of soul, rock, jazz and R&B. He was featured in ''Pulse'' ...
, Nigerian alternative
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
singer was born and raised in Jos *
Doug Kazé Douglas Eric Kazé (born 24 February 1979), better known as Doug Kazé, is a Nigerian musician. Early life and education Doug was born in 1979 to David and Margaret Kaze in Jos, Nigeria. He is the third of seven children. He attended primary sc ...
, Nigerian alternative
Afro-soul Afro-soul is a music genre that has African characteristics of soul music. It has emotional vocals, especially of the lead singer. There is a very strong link between Afro-soul and other genres like Afro-Jazz, Amapiano, and Afrobeats. Notable ...
musician was born and raised in Jos * Mikel John Obi, international footballer spent his childhood years in Jos *
Ogenyi Onazi Ogenyi Eddy Onazi (born 25 December 1992) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie D side Casertana. He has also played for the Nigeria national team, with whom he won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013. ...
, international footballer was born in Jos *
Sunday Mba Sunday Mba (born 28 November 1988) is a Nigerian footballer who last played as a attacking midfielder for Yeni Malatyaspor and the Nigeria national team. Club career Mba joined Rangers on loan in May 2013 from Warri Wolves. He scored in his ...
, international footballer had his childhood years in Jos *
Joseph Akpala Joseph Eneojo Akpala (born 24 August 1986) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Akpala is a product of the Pepsi Football Academy in Lagos. His first professional contract came in April 2003 with Bendel Un ...
, international footballer was born in Jos *
Benedict Akwuegbu Benedict Akwuegbu (born 3 November 1974) is a retired Nigerian association football, football Forward (association football), striker. He played for Nigeria national football team, Nigerian national football team and was a 2002 FIFA World Cup ...
, international footballer had his childhood years in Jos * Chibuzor Okonkwo, international footballer was born in Jos * Ice Prince, Nigerian musical artist grew up in Jos * Dayo Okeniyi, actor was born in Jos * M.I, rapper born and raised in Jos *
Saint Obi Obinna Nwafor (born November 16, 1965) popularly known as Saint Obi, is a Nigerian actor, film producer and film director. Saint Obi is known for his roles in ''Candle Light'', ''Sakobi'', ''Goodbye Tomorrow'', ''Heart of Gold'', ''Festival of Fi ...
, veteran
Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...
actor kicked off his career in Jos * P-Square, R&B duo of
identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
brothers Peter Okoye and Paul Okoye were born and raised in Jos and now known as Rude-Boi and Mr P as they are no longer duo but individual singers/musicians. *Innocent '
Tuface Innocent Ujah Idibia MON (born 18 September 1975), known by his stage name 2Baba, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Noted for his vocal range, lyrical depth, and longevity, he is widely regard ...
' Idibia Nigerian multi-award-winning musician was born in Jos * Deborah Enilo Ajakaiye (born 1940), Nigerian
geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...
*
Sarah Ladipo Manyika Sarah Ladipo Manyika is a British-Nigerian writer of novels, short stories and essays and an active member of the literary community, particularly supporting and amplifying young writers and female voices. She is author of two well received nove ...
(born 7 March 1968), British-Nigerian writer, spent much of her childhood in Lagos and Jos *
Tony Elumelu Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu (born 22 March 1963) is a Nigerian economist, and philanthropist. He chairs Heirs Holdings, Transcorp and is the founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation. In 2020, Elumelu was named on ''Time''s list of the 100 ...
was born in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, in 1963. He hails from Onicha-Ukwu in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State. *
Kenneth Gyang Kenneth Gyang is a young filmmaker in Nigeria and was born in Barkin Ladi of Plateau State, Nigeria. He studied Film Production at the National Film Institute in Jos and screenwriting at Gaston Kaboré's IMAGINE in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Two ...
, filmmaker that was born in Barkin Ladi of Plateau State, Nigeria. *
John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
, former British Prime Minister, worked in the town from 1966 to 1967.


See also

* Railway stations in Nigeria


References


External links


Hiking around the hills of Jos
{{Authority control Cities in Nigeria Populated places established in 1915 Populated places in Plateau State State capitals in Nigeria