Cities of West and Central Africa

Gboko

Gboko is a town and local government area in Benue State, Nigeria, headquarters of the Tiv division since 1932 and seat of the Tor Tiv, the Tiv paramount ruler.

Gemena

Located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gemena is the capital of Sud-Ubangi province. The city acts as the administrative, commercial, and educational center of the region.

Goma

Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, sits on Lake Kivu at the Rwanda border beneath the active Nyiragongo volcano.

Guédiawaye

Guédiawaye, Senegal: city and department in the Dakar region, a dense satellite of Dakar (28,670 inhabitants/km² in 2023) known for recurrent flooding, dune-coast urbanization, and the BRT terminus.

Gusau is a city in northwestern Nigeria, capital of Zamfara State and seat of Gusau LGA since the state's creation in 1996; hot semi-arid climate, Hausa-Fulani population, about 383,000 LGA residents (2006).

Ho, Ghana

Ho is the capital of Ghana's Volta Region and the Ho Municipal Assembly, about 175 km from Accra, formerly capital of British Togoland, nicknamed the Oxygen City, with a 2024 population of about 93,213.

Huambo (city)

Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa (1928–1975), is the capital of Huambo Province on Angola's central plateau. Founded in 1912 by Norton de Matos around the Benguela Railway, it was Angola's second city at independence, later a UNITA stronghold, with 836,293 municipality residents in 2024.

Ibadan

Ibadan, also known as Eba Odan, is the capital of Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria. Founded as a war camp in 1829, it is Nigeria's third-largest city.

Oct 22, 2026

Idah

Idah is a town on the eastern bank of the Niger River in Kogi State, Nigeria, and the traditional capital of the Igala Kingdom, seat of the Attah Igala.

Ijebu Ode

Ijebu Ode is a city in Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria, traditional seat of the Awujale, ruler of the precolonial Ijebu kingdom, and host of the Ojude Oba festival.

Ikare

Ikare (Ikare-Akoko, Ìkàré-Àkókó) is a Yoruba city in Ondo State, Nigeria, headquarters of Akoko North-East LGA, founded by Ile-Ife migrants under the Olukare dynasty and a major cocoa and food-crops trading center.

Ikeja

Ikeja, capital of Lagos State, Nigeria, and an LGA on the Lagos mainland; seat of the state secretariat at Alausa, home of Murtala Muhammed Airport and Computer Village; designated state capital in 1976.

Ikire

Ikire (Ìkirè) is a Yoruba town in Osun State, Nigeria, headquarters of Irewole LGA and gateway to the state from Oyo; known for Dodo Ikire plantain snack, the Akire stool, and River Osun basin farming.

Ikot Ekpene

Ikot Ekpene is a town and local government area in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, inhabited mainly by the Annang people and known as "The Raffia City" for its raffia weaving.

Ila Orangun

Ila Orangun (Ìlá Òràngún) is a historic Yoruba city in Osun State, Nigeria, seat of the Ila Local Government Area and one of the original Yoruba kingdoms.

Ile-Ife

Ile-Ife (Ilé-Ifẹ̀) is an ancient Yoruba city in Osun State, southwestern Nigeria, regarded as the birthplace of Yoruba civilization and seat of the Ooni of Ife.

Ilesa

Ilesa (Ilesha, Iléṣà), city in Osun State, Nigeria, capital of the Ijesa kingdom, founded c.1500, ruled by the Owa Obokun; agricultural and commercial hub with gold deposits, about 325,000 people.

Ilorin

Ilorin, capital of Kwara State, Nigeria, in northern Yorubaland; an Old Oyo settlement that became Afonja's stronghold, then an emirate incorporated into the Sokoto Caliphate in 1829.

Iseyin

Iseyin (Ìsẹ́yìn) is a Yoruba city and LGA headquarters in Oyo State, Nigeria, about 100 km north of Ibadan, famed for Aso-Oke handwoven cloth; founded by Prince Ogbolu of Ile-Ife in the early 15th century, population about 365,300 (2026).

Iwo

Iwo is a historic Yoruba city and local government headquarters in Osun State, Nigeria, about 45 km from Ibadan and Osogbo, ruled by the Oluwo of Iwoland, with about 250,000 residents, an agricultural trading economy, and a railway link from Ibadan.

Jimeta

Jimeta, town in Adamawa State, Nigeria, twin of Yola on the Benue River; headquarters of Yola North LGA, established 1912 by the British, river port merged with Yola 1935, population about 198,000-248,000.

Jos

Jos, capital of Plateau State, Nigeria, on the Jos Plateau; founded as a tin-mining hub from 1904, once supplying about a tenth of world tin, later marked by recurring indigene-settler communal violence.

Kabinda

Kabinda is the capital of Lomami Province in the central Democratic Republic of the Congo, a Songye-Luba town on National Route 2 with Kabinda Airport (KBN), the HGR reference hospital, and ongoing RN2 paving; distinct from Angola's Cabinda exclave.

Oct 22, 2026

Kabongo

Kabongo is a town in Lomami territory, Haut-Lomami Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the name of the Luba chiefly dynasty that ruled there.

Kaduna

Kaduna, capital of Kaduna State in northwestern Nigeria on the Kaduna River, founded by Lugard in 1917; former textile hub called the Manchester of Nigeria, now a major administrative, military, and educational center.

Kamina

Kamina is the capital city of Haut-Lomami Province in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a railway junction with a large military base, founded in 1945, known for its 2026 Lovoy water plant and chronic electricity shortages.

Kananga

Kananga, formerly Luluabourg, is the capital of Kasaï-Central province, DR Congo, on the Lulua River. Founded 1884 by Hermann von Wissmann; UN estimate 1,557,073 residents in 2026, fifth-largest Congolese city.

Kano, Kano State

Kano, capital of Kano State, Nigeria: ancient Hausa walled city and trans-Saharan trade hub, now northern Nigeria's largest city and commercial center, with 44 LGAs, about 15 million state residents, and a ₦10.87 trillion state GDP.

Katsina

Katsina is a city in northwestern Nigeria and the capital of Katsina State, near the border with Niger. A historic Hausa kingdom and emirate, it was a major center of trade and Islamic scholarship.