Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to the southwest by the Edo and Ondo states, to the southeast by the states of Anambra and Enugu, and to the east by Benue State. It is the only state in Nigeria to border ten other states. Named for the Hausa word for river (Kogi). Kogi State was formed from parts of Benue State, Niger State, and Kwara State on 27 August 1991. The state is nicknamed the "Confluence State" due to the fact that the confluence of the River Niger and the River Benue occurs next to its capital, Lokoja.
Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Kogi is the thirteenth largest in the area and twentieth most populous with an estimated population of about 4.5 million as of 2016. Geographically, the state is within the tropical Guinean forest–savanna mosaic ecoregion. Important geographic features include the key rivers with the Niger flowing from the northwest and the Benue coming from the northeast before the two rivers meet in Kogi's center and bisect the state southward.
Kogi State has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, including the Igala, Ebira, Gbagyi, and Nupe (mainly the Bassa Nge, Kakanda, and Kupa subgroups) in the state's center; the Agatu, Basa-Komo, Igbo and Idoma in the east; and the Yoruba (mainly the Okun, Ogori, Oworo, and Magongo subgroups) in the west. Kogi is also religiously diverse as about 45% of the state's population are Muslim with about 40% being Christian and the remaining 15% following traditional ethnic religions minorities.
In the pre-colonial period, the area that is now Kogi State was split up between various states with some states being tiny and village-based as others were part of larger empires like the Nupe Kingdom which held much of now-western Kogi State until the early 1800's when the Fulani jihad annexed the kingdom and placed the area under the Sokoto Caliphate.