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World Measure
The population almanac240 countries · 31,365 cities · UN WPP 2024
City profile · Nigeria · Africa

Jos

Plateau State · Nigeria
City population
1,040,000
#13
in Nigeria
#1
in Plateau State
#518
worldwide
AbujaJos
9.928, 8.892 · 181 km from Abuja
City population
1,040,000
Within the city boundary, not a metro area
Rank in Nigeria
#13
of 268 cities of 15,000+
World rank
#518
of 31,365 cities listed
Share of Nigeria
0.4%
of the national population

About Jos

Sitting at 1,186 m above sea level, Jos is Nigeria's 13th-largest city by population, with 1,040,000 residents. The city lies 181 km from Abuja and dominates Plateau State, where it is the largest of three listed cities. Bukuru, the nearest substantial settlement, sits 15 km away with a population of 15,540.

This summary is AI-generated from the figures on this page. The figures themselves come from the sources cited beside each value.

Position in Nigeria
#13of 268
LargestSmallest
Position in Plateau State
#1of 3
LargestSmallest

Key Facts

Country
Nigeria
Region
Plateau State
Rank in region
#1of 3
Distance to capital
181 km
to Abuja
Elevation
1,186 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Time zone
Africa/Lagos
Coordinates
9.928, 8.892
Record updated
2026-04-14
Entry edited, not measured

City population, GeoNames. GeoNames publishes no year for its population figures, so “record updated” is when the entry was last edited — not the date the population was measured. Elevation is modelled from a digital elevation model rather than surveyed, so it is approximate.

Nearby Cities

All 268 in Nigeria

Closest listed cities by great-circle distance from the city centre.

15KMBukuru16K people62KMLere93K people66KMKagoro77K people76KMKafanchan80K people90KMPankshin32K people

Compared with the World's Largest Cities

City-proper population against the fifteen largest cities in the dataset.

  1. Shanghai24.9M
  2. Beijing19M
  3. Shenzhen17.5M
  4. Guangzhou16.1M
  5. Kinshasa16M
  6. Istanbul15.7M
  7. Lagos15.4M
  8. Ho Chi Minh City14M
  9. Chengdu13.6M
  10. Lahore13M
  11. Mumbai12.7M
  12. São Paulo12.4M
  13. Mexico City12.3M
  14. Karachi11.6M
  15. Tianjin11.1M
  16. Jos1.04M
City-proper figures only. Administrative boundaries differ between countries, so these are not directly comparable to metropolitan-area estimates.
Jos compared with the fifteen largest cities
NameCity population
Shanghai24.9M
Beijing19M
Shenzhen17.5M
Guangzhou16.1M
Kinshasa16M
Istanbul15.7M
Lagos15.4M
Ho Chi Minh City14M
Chengdu13.6M
Lahore13M
Mumbai12.7M
São Paulo12.4M
Mexico City12.3M
Karachi11.6M
Tianjin11.1M
Jos1.04M

Jos Population FAQ

What is the population of Jos?

Jos has a city population of 1,040,000. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.

Where is Jos?

Jos is in Plateau State, Nigeria, 181 km from the capital, Abuja. Its coordinates are 9.928, 8.892.

How big is Jos compared with other cities in Nigeria?

It is the 13th largest of the 268 cities of 15,000 or more listed in Nigeria, holding 0.4% of the national population.

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