A state's neighbours decide its politics as much as its people do: who it trades with, who its herders and farmers meet, and how many security commands have to agree before anything gets done.
Number of Nigerian jurisdictions each state shares a land boundary with.
Borders Niger, FCT, Nasarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara. The confluence position is why the colony was administered from Lokoja and why every north–south road argument still runs through it.
Borders only Ogun — and Benin at Badagry. The smallest state by land area is also the least surrounded, which is one reason its economy faces the sea rather than the interior.
Every state with an international land boundary, and with whom.
Cameroon (long eastern frontier)
Cameroon (short south-eastern frontier)
Niger · Chad · Cameroon
Cameroon
Niger
Niger
Niger · Benin
Benin
Benin (at Badagry)
Benin
Benin
Benin
Niger
Cameroon
Niger
Niger
Atlantic frontage, river frontage and inland water, where a state has it.
Atlantic coastline of about 129 km — the longest of any Nigerian state.
Fronts the River Niger for roughly 45 km.
Atlantic coastline; almost entirely deltaic creeks and mangrove.
The River Benue runs the length of the state.
Nigeria's only frontage on Lake Chad — which has lost roughly 90% of its 1960s surface area.
Lost its Atlantic coastline in 2002–06 with the cession of Bakassi; now a littoral state without a sea frontage.
Atlantic coastline of about 160 km; the Forcados and Escravos estuaries.
The Hadejia–Jama'are floodplain and the Nguru wetlands — a Ramsar site.
The Rima and Niger rivers meet here; the Argungu fishing festival is held on the Matan Fada.
The Niger and Benue meet at Lokoja — the confluence from which the colony was administered from 1900.
Fronts the Niger and the Jebba dam reservoir.
180 km of Atlantic coastline and the Lagos, Lekki and Badagry lagoons; roughly 22% of the state's surface is water.
Fronts the Benue in the south.
The Niger and Kaduna rivers; hosts Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro dams and the Kainji Lake.
About 75 km of Atlantic coastline at Ilaje — the basis of the state's 13% derivation claim.
Atlantic coastline of about 90 km; the Bonny, New Calabar and Sombreiro estuaries.
The Rima and Sokoto rivers and their fadama.
The Benue and Taraba rivers.
The Komadugu Yobe river, which drains into Lake Chad.
Imo · Anambra · Enugu · Ebonyi · Cross River · Akwa Ibom · Rivers
Borno · Gombe · Taraba + Cameroon (long eastern frontier)
Cross River · Abia · Rivers
Delta · Imo · Enugu · Kogi · Rivers · Abia
Kano · Jigawa · Yobe · Gombe · Taraba · Plateau · Kaduna
Delta · Rivers
Nasarawa · Taraba · Cross River · Enugu · Ebonyi · Kogi + Cameroon (short south-eastern frontier)
Yobe · Gombe · Adamawa + Niger, Chad, Cameroon
Benue · Ebonyi · Abia · Akwa Ibom + Cameroon
Edo · Anambra · Imo · Rivers · Bayelsa · Ondo
Enugu · Benue · Cross River · Abia
Kogi · Anambra · Delta · Ondo
Kwara · Kogi · Ondo · Osun
Anambra · Kogi · Benue · Ebonyi · Abia · Imo
Niger · Kaduna · Nasarawa · Kogi
Bauchi · Yobe · Borno · Adamawa · Taraba
Anambra · Enugu · Ebonyi · Abia · Rivers · Delta
Kano · Katsina · Bauchi · Yobe + Niger
Niger · Zamfara · Katsina · Kano · Bauchi · Plateau · Nasarawa · FCT
Jigawa · Katsina · Kaduna · Bauchi
Kano · Jigawa · Kaduna · Zamfara + Niger
Sokoto · Zamfara · Niger + Niger, Benin
Niger · FCT · Nasarawa · Benue · Enugu · Anambra · Edo · Ondo · Ekiti · Kwara
Niger · Kogi · Ekiti · Osun · Oyo + Benin
Ogun + Benin (at Badagry)
Kaduna · Plateau · Taraba · Benue · Kogi · FCT
Kwara · Kogi · FCT · Kaduna · Zamfara · Kebbi + Benin
Lagos · Oyo · Osun · Ondo + Benin
Ekiti · Kogi · Edo · Delta · Ogun · Osun
Kwara · Ekiti · Ondo · Ogun · Oyo
Kwara · Osun · Ogun + Benin
Bauchi · Kaduna · Nasarawa · Taraba
Imo · Abia · Anambra · Akwa Ibom · Bayelsa · Delta
Kebbi · Zamfara + Niger
Adamawa · Gombe · Bauchi · Plateau · Nasarawa · Benue + Cameroon
Borno · Gombe · Bauchi · Jigawa + Niger
Sokoto · Katsina · Kaduna · Niger · Kebbi + Niger