Legend
●Centralised — single paramount throne◐Mixed — multi-throne / clan-head federation○Acephalous — village democracies, warrant-era thronesOpen Diversity Atlas →The Counter-Federation. The 36-state arrangement is one of three Nigerias on the constitutional record. The other two — the four regions of 1963, and the six geopolitical zones proposed by every constitutional conference since Aburi (1967) — are tracked separately.
The Six-Zone Proposal →Figure · How Nigeria became 36 states
2 → 3 → 4 → 12 → 19 → 21 → 30 → 36
Drag the slider · tap a year
1996 · Abacha adds 6 — 36 states
36 / 36
October 1996. The current federation. No state has been created since.
Units in this phase
- · + Bayelsa
- · + Ebonyi
- · + Ekiti
- · + Gombe
- · + Nasarawa
- · + Zamfara
Sources · Decree No. 14 (1967); Irikefe Panel Report (1976); Decrees of 1987, 1991, 1996.
All 36 states + FCT
37 of 37 entries (36 states + the Federal Capital Territory)
Abia State
○Capital Umuahia Zone South East · Created 27 August 1991 From Imo State · Area (km²) 6,320 LGAs 17 · Pop 2006 2,833,999 Pop est. 2022 ~4,110,000
Lang 3·Tribes 5·Thrones 5
Adamawa State
◐Capital Yola Zone North East · Created 27 August 1991 From Gongola State · Area (km²) 36,917 LGAs 21 · Pop 2006 3,168,101 Pop est. 2022 ~4,800,000
Lang 58·Tribes 45·Thrones 12
Akwa Ibom State
◐Capital Uyo Zone South South · Created 23 September 1987 From Cross River State · Area (km²) 7,081 LGAs 31 · Pop 2006 3,920,208 Pop est. 2022 ~5,800,000
Lang 6·Tribes 4·Thrones 8
Anambra State
○Capital Awka Zone South East · Created 3 February 1976 From East Central State · Area (km²) 4,887 LGAs 21 · Pop 2006 4,182,032 Pop est. 2022 ~6,000,000
Lang 3·Tribes 3·Thrones 178
Bauchi State
◐Capital Bauchi Zone NE · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 31 · 2006 Census Pop. 4,676,465 Pre-1967 North Eastern State
Lang 55·Tribes 55·Thrones 18
Bayelsa State
○Capital Yenagoa Zone SS · Created 1 Oct 1996 LGAs 8 · 2006 Census Pop. 1,703,358 Pre-1967 Rivers State
Lang 9·Tribes 4·Thrones 9
Benue State
◐Capital Makurdi Zone NC · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 23 · 2006 Census Pop. 4,219,244 Pre-1967 Benue-Plateau State
Lang 12·Tribes 8·Thrones 14
Borno State
●Capital Maiduguri Zone NE · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 27 · 2006 Census Pop. 4,151,193 Pre-1967 North Eastern State
Lang 28·Tribes 12·Thrones 6
Cross River State
◐Capital Calabar Zone SS · Created 27 May 1967 LGAs 18 · 2006 Census Pop. 2,888,966 Pre-1967 Eastern Region (as South Eastern State)
Lang 31·Tribes 19·Thrones 16
Delta State
◐Capital Asaba Zone SS · Created 27 Aug 1991 LGAs 25 · 2006 Census Pop. 4,098,391 Pre-1967 Bendel State
Lang 12·Tribes 6·Thrones 19
Ebonyi State
○Capital Abakaliki Zone SE · Created 1 Oct 1996 LGAs 13 · 2006 Census Pop. 2,173,501 Pre-1967 Enugu/Abia States
Lang 5·Tribes 4·Thrones 13
Edo State
●Capital Benin City Zone SS · Created 27 Aug 1991 LGAs 18 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,218,332 Pre-1967 Bendel State
Lang 12·Tribes 5·Thrones 11
Ekiti State
◐Capital Ado-Ekiti Zone SW · Created 1 Oct 1996 LGAs 16 · 2006 Census Pop. 2,384,212 Pre-1967 Ondo State
Lang 3·Tribes 1·Thrones 16
Enugu State
○Capital Enugu Zone SE · Created 27 Aug 1991 LGAs 17 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,257,298 Pre-1967 Anambra State
Lang 3·Tribes 3·Thrones 17
FCT — Abuja
Capital Abuja Zone NC · Created 3 Feb 1976 (Decree 6) From Niger / Plateau / Kwara · Area (km²) 7,315 LGAs 6 (Area Councils) · Pop 2006 1,406,239 Pop est. 2022 ~3,800,000
Gombe State
◐Capital Gombe Zone NE · Created 1 Oct 1996 LGAs 11 · 2006 Census Pop. 2,353,879 Pre-1967 Bauchi State
Lang 21·Tribes 18·Thrones 9
Imo State
○Capital Owerri Zone SE · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 27 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,934,899 Pre-1967 East Central State
Lang 3·Tribes 3·Thrones 27
Jigawa State
●Capital Dutse Zone NW · Created 27 Aug 1991 LGAs 27 · 2006 Census Pop. 4,348,649 Pre-1967 Kano State
Lang 5·Tribes 3·Thrones 5
Kaduna State
◐Capital Kaduna Zone NW · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 23 · 2006 Census Pop. 6,113,503 Pre-1967 North Central State (1967)
Lang 57·Tribes 50·Thrones 32
Kano State
●Capital Kano Zone NW · Created 27 May 1967 LGAs 44 · 2006 Census Pop. 9,383,682 Pre-1967 Northern Region
Lang 3·Tribes 2·Thrones 5
Katsina State
●Capital Katsina Zone NW · Created 23 Sep 1987 LGAs 34 · 2006 Census Pop. 5,792,578 Pre-1967 Kaduna State
Lang 4·Tribes 3·Thrones 7
Kebbi State
●Capital Birnin Kebbi Zone NW · Created 27 Aug 1991 LGAs 21 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,238,628 Pre-1967 Sokoto State
Lang 9·Tribes 6·Thrones 4
Kogi State
◐Capital Lokoja Zone NC · Created 27 Aug 1991 LGAs 21 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,278,487 Pre-1967 Kwara/Benue States
Lang 15·Tribes 9·Thrones 21
Kwara State
◐Capital Ilorin Zone NC · Created 27 May 1967 LGAs 16 · 2006 Census Pop. 2,371,089 Pre-1967 Northern Region
Lang 10·Tribes 6·Thrones 16
Lagos State
◐Capital Ikeja Zone SW · Created 27 May 1967 LGAs 20 · 2006 Census Pop. 9,013,534 Pre-1967 Western Region (Colony Province + Lagos Fed. Territory)
Lang 5·Tribes 3·Thrones 31
Nasarawa State
◐Capital Lafia Zone NC · Created 1 Oct 1996 LGAs 13 · 2006 Census Pop. 1,863,275 Pre-1967 Plateau State
Lang 29·Tribes 29·Thrones 12
Niger State
●Capital Minna Zone NC · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 25 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,950,249 Pre-1967 North Western State
Lang 25·Tribes 13·Thrones 9
Ogun State
◐Capital Abeokuta Zone SW · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 20 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,728,098 Pre-1967 Western State
Lang 6·Tribes 4·Thrones 22
Ondo State
●Capital Akure Zone SW · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 18 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,441,024 Pre-1967 Western State
Lang 8·Tribes 5·Thrones 18
Osun State
●Capital Osogbo Zone SW · Created 27 Aug 1991 LGAs 30 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,423,535 Pre-1967 Oyo State
Lang 3·Tribes 1·Thrones 27
Oyo State
●Capital Ibadan Zone SW · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 33 · 2006 Census Pop. 5,591,589 Pre-1967 Western State
Lang 5·Tribes 2·Thrones 30
Plateau State
○Capital Jos Zone NC · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 17 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,178,712 Pre-1967 Benue-Plateau State
Lang 55·Tribes 56·Thrones 17
Rivers State
◐Capital Port Harcourt Zone SS · Created 27 May 1967 LGAs 23 · 2006 Census Pop. 5,185,400 Pre-1967 Eastern Region
Lang 25·Tribes 12·Thrones 23
Sokoto State
●Capital Sokoto Zone NW · Created 3 Feb 1976 LGAs 23 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,696,999 Pre-1967 North Western State
Lang 5·Tribes 3·Thrones 6
Taraba State
◐Capital Jalingo Zone NE · Created 27 Aug 1991 LGAs 16 · 2006 Census Pop. 2,300,736 Pre-1967 Gongola State
Lang 80·Tribes 78·Thrones 14
Yobe State
◐Capital Damaturu Zone NE · Created 27 Aug 1991 LGAs 17 · 2006 Census Pop. 2,321,339 Pre-1967 Borno State
Lang 10·Tribes 6·Thrones 4
Zamfara State
●Capital Gusau Zone NW · Created 1 Oct 1996 LGAs 14 · 2006 Census Pop. 3,259,846 Pre-1967 Sokoto State
Lang 5·Tribes 3·Thrones 5
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.