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Capitals of the world
Abuja, capital of Nigeria: facts and figures
Abuja is the capital of Nigeria. It has about 3,500,000 residents, which makes it the 41st most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 494 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Malabo, 607 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Nigeria |
| Continent | Africa |
| City population | 3,500,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 41st of 172 |
| Elevation | 494 m |
| Founded | 1828 |
| Time zone | Africa/Lagos |
| Coordinates | 9.06° N, 7.50° E |
| Country population | 237,527,782 residents |
| Country GDP | 290.8 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $1,224 |
| Life expectancy | 54.6 years |
| Internet users | 41.2 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Abuja averages 27.5 °C from December to February and 24.1 °C from June to August. August is the coldest month of the year and March the warmest, and the city receives 1,029 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 26.9 °C |
| February | 28.5 °C |
| March | 29.2 °C |
| April | 28.7 °C |
| May | 27.0 °C |
| June | 25.0 °C |
| July | 23.8 °C |
| August | 23.4 °C |
| September | 24.0 °C |
| October | 25.2 °C |
| November | 26.9 °C |
| December | 27.0 °C |
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Malabo is the closest capital to Abuja.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Malabo | Equatorial Guinea | 607 km |
| Porto-Novo | Benin | 608 km |
| Yaoundé | Cameroon | 729 km |
| Lomé | Togo | 765 km |
| Niamey | Niger | 768 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Abuja to a place and a number you already know: it is 607 km from Malabo, and it is the 41st largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Nigeria compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Abuja is the capital of Nigeria, in Africa, with about 3,500,000 residents, averaging 27.5 °C from December to February and 24.1 °C from June to August.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Nigeria?
Abuja is the capital of Nigeria. It has about 3,500,000 residents and lies in Africa.
How many people live in Abuja?
About 3,500,000, which ranks Abuja 41st of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Abuja?
Abuja averages 27.5 °C from December to February and 24.1 °C from June to August, with 1,029 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Abuja?
GDP per capita in the country is $1,224, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea: facts and figures
Malabo is the capital of Equatorial Guinea: 300,000 residents, 40 m above sea level, 27.2 °C from December to February and 25.3 °C from June to August.
- Porto-Novo, capital of Benin: facts and figures
Porto-Novo is the capital of Benin: 280,000 residents, 23 m above sea level, 27.4 °C from December to February and 25.4 °C from June to August. Key figures and sources.
- Yaoundé, capital of Cameroon: facts and figures
Yaoundé is the capital of Cameroon: 4,100,000 residents, 726 m above sea level, 24.3 °C from December to February and 22.3 °C from June to August.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.