Lagos

Lagos , city (1991 est. pop. 1,274,000), SW Nigeria, on the Gulf of Guinea. It comprises the island of Lagos. Lagos is Nigeria's largest city, its administrative and economic center, and its chief port. Industries include railroad repair, motor vehicle assembly, food processing, and the manufacture of metal products, textiles, beverages, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, soap, and furniture. The city is a road and rail terminus and has an international airport. An old Yoruba town, Lagos, beginning in the 15th cent., grew as a trade center and seaport. From the 1820s until it became a British colony, Lagos was a notorious center of the slave trade. Britain annexed the city in 1861, both to tap the trade in palm products and other goods with the interior and to suppress the slave trade. In 1906, Lagos was joined with the British protectorate of Southern Nigeria, and, in 1914, when Southern and Northern Nigeria were amalgamated, it became part of the small coastal Colony of Nigeria. In 1954 most of the colony was merged with the rest of Nigeria, but Lagos was made a separate federal territory. From the late 19th cent. to independence in 1960, Lagos was the center of the Nigerian nationalist movement. From independence until 1991, Lagos was the capital of Nigeria. The capital was then moved to Abuja, although some governmental departments remain in Lagos. The Univ. of Lagos (1962), the College of Technology (1948), the National Museum, and a large sports stadium are in Lagos.

Lagos Largest city and chief port of Nigeria, in the s of the country, on the Gulf of Guinea. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, Lagos grew as a Yoruba settlement. It came under British control in 1861, after years of Portuguese exploitation through the slave trade. It became the capital of independent Nigeria in 1960, but was replaced by Abuja in 1982. UN estimates suggests that by 2015, Lagos will be the world's third-largest metropolis with a population of 24.5 million. Industries: brewing, ship repairing, textiles, crafts. Pop. (2002) 8,029,200.