Lagos

Lagos (pron. IPA: , or IPA: overseas) is the most populous city in Nigeria and the second most populated in Africa after Cairo. The Lagos metropolitan area is currently the 22nd most populated in the world. Lagos is a huge metropolis with its population spread along the Nigerian coastline and upon the islands to the southwest that form an archipelago just off the mainland.

In terms of administration, Lagos is not a city (municipality) and has therefore no city administration. The Municipality of Lagos, which covered the islands of Lagos Island (locally known as Eko), Ikoyi and Victoria Island, as well as some mainland territory, was managed by the Lagos City Council (LCC), but it was disbanded in 1976 and divided into several Local Government Areas (most notably Lagos Island LGA, Lagos Mainland LGA and Eti-Osa LGA). The mainland beyond the Municipality of Lagos, on the other hand, comprised several separate towns and settlements such as Mushin, Ikeja and Agege. In the wake of the 1970s Nigerian oil boom, Lagos experienced a population explosion, untamed economic growth, and unmitigated rural migration. This caused the outlying towns and settlements to develop rapidly, thus forming the greater Lagos metropolis seen today. The history of Lagos is still evidenced in the layout of the LGAs which display the unique identities of the cultures that established them.

Today, the word Lagos most often refers to the urban area, called "Metropolitan Lagos" in Nigeria, which includes both the islands of the former Municipality of Lagos and the mainland suburbs. All of these are part of Lagos State, which is divided into 20 LGAs. Metropolitan Lagos (a statistical division, and not an administrative unit) extends over 16 of the 20 LGAs of Lagos State, and contains 88% of the population of Lagos State. According to the preliminary results of the 2006 census, there are 7,937,932 inhabitants in Metropolitan Lagos. This figure is lower than what had been anticipated and has created a controversy in Nigeria (see Demographics section below). Lagos Island, the central LGA and historic center of Metropolitan Lagos, had a population of 209,437 as of the 2006 Census.

Lagos was the former capital city of Nigeria but it has since been replaced by Abuja. Abuja officially gained its status as the capital of Nigeria on 12 December 1991, although the decision to move the federal capital had been made in decree no. 6 of 1976.