The Jos Plateau is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

located near the centre of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The plateau has given its name to the

Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...

in which it is found and is named for the state's capital, Jos. The plateau is home to people of diverse cultures and languages. The plateau's

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

grasslands,

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

s, and forests are home to communities of plants and animals distinct from those of the surrounding lowlands and constitute the Jos Plateau forest-savanna mosaic

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

Geography

It covers 8600 km² and is bounded by 300–600 m

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

s around much of its boundary. With an average altitude of 1,280 m, it is the largest area over 1,000 m in Nigeria, with a high point of 1,829 m, in the

Shere Hills The Shere Hills are a range of undulating hills and rock formations on the Jos Plateau, situated about 10 km east of the Jos metropolis, the capital of Plateau State in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria. Peaks The Shere Hills have numerous hi ...

. Several rivers have their sources on the plateau. The

Kaduna River The Kaduna River is a tributary of the Niger River which flows for through Nigeria. It got its name from the crocodiles that lived in the river and surrounding area. Kaduna in the native dialect, Hausa, was the word for "crocodiles". It starts ...

drains the western slopes, flowing southwest to join the

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesGongola River The Gongola River is in northeastern Nigeria, the principal tributary of the Benue River. The upper course of the river as well as most of its tributaries are seasonal streams, but fill rapidly in August and September. The Gongola rises on the eas ...

drains eastwards to join the Benue. The

Hadejia Haɗejiya (also Haɗeja, previously Biram) is a Hausa town in eastern Jigawa State, northern Nigeria. The population was approximately 105,628 in 2006. Hadejia lies between latitude 12.4506N and longitude 10.0404E. It shared boundary with Kiri Ka ...

and

Yobe Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potisku ...

rivers flow northeast into

Lake Chad Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...

Geology

The Jos Plateau is dominated by three rock types. The older

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

s date to the late Cambrian and Ordovician. The younger granites are emplacements dating to the Jurassic and form part of a series that includes the Aïr Massif in the central

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

. There are also many volcanoes and sheets of basalt extruded since the Pliocene. The younger granites contain

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

which was mined since the beginning of the 20th century, during and after the colonial period.

Climate

The climate on the plateau is tropical but cooler than the surrounding lowlands. Average temperatures range from 15.5 °C to 18.5 °C in the coolest months to 27.5 °C to 30.5 °C during the hottest months. Rainfall ranges from 2,000 mm per year in the southwest to 1,500 mm or less in the drier northeast. Rainfall for the town of Jos averages 1,411 mm per year. Rainfall is highly seasonal, falling mostly between June and September with July and August the wettest months. Moisture-bearing winds come from the south and west, and rainfall is higher on the windward south- and west-facing slopes.

Flora and fauna

The natural vegetation of the region was likely a mosaic of savanna, open woodland, and forest. Human activities have reduced the plateau's tree cover, and most of the plateau is now covered by open grassland. Small areas of woodland and forest remain on steep and inaccessible sites, including the southern and western escarpments, along rivers, and at the base of rock outcrops. The plateau is home to West Africa’s only population of

klipspringer The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimm ...

(''Oreotragus oreotragus''), as well as several endemic birds and mammals, including the Nigerian mole-rat (''Cryptomys foxi''), Fox's shaggy rat (''Dasymys foxi''),

rock firefinch The rock firefinch (''Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis'') is a species of estrildid finch found in the Jos Plateau of central Nigeria and in Cameroon. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 29,000 km2. The rock firefinch was discove ...

(''Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis''), and

Jos Plateau indigobird The Jos Plateau indigobird (''Vidua maryae'') is a species of bird in the family Viduidae. It was thought to be endemic to Nigeria, but has been recently reported from northern Cameroon. Mills, M.S.L. (2010). Rock Firefinch Lagonosticta sanguinod ...

(''Vidua maryae'').

People

The Jos Plateau lies in the Nigerian

Middle Belt The Middle Belt (also spelt Middle-Belt or Central Nigeria) is a term used in human geography to designate a belt region stretching across central Nigeria longitudinally and forming a transition zone between Northern and Southern Nigeria. It ...

, and even in this region known for cultural diversity, it is unusually diverse. Barbour et al. (1982:49) show over 60 ethno-linguistic groups on the plateau. Most of the plateau's languages are in the Chadic family, which is part of the Afro-Asiatic family. Two of the Plateau's largest ethnic groups are the Berom, in the northern Plateau, and the Ngas in the southeast. Smaller groups include the Mwaghavul, Pyem, Ron,

Afizere The Afizere people (Other: ''Afizarek'', exonym: ''Jarawa'') are an ethnic group that occupy Jos East, Jos North, parts of Jos South and Mangu Local Government Areas of Plateau State and parts of Toro and Tafawa Balewa Local Government Areas o ...

, Anaguta, Aten, Irigwe, Chokfem,

Kofyar The Kofyar are a population in central Nigeria numbering around 50,000. After several anthropological studies, they provide good illustrations of how colonial authorities become unwittingly enmeshed in local politics; of sustainable subsistence agr ...

, Kulere, Miship, Mupun and Montol. The Jos Plateau is home to the ancient

Nok culture The Nok culture (or Nok civilization) is a population whose material remains are named after the Ham village of Nok in Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The Nok culture appeared in Nigeria ...

, known for its remarkable terracotta artwork. After the British colonization of Nigeria, Jos Plateau became a mining region and one of the most important tourist destinations in Nigeria, but touristic activity was impeded in early 21st century by a new conflict between Christians and Muslims as a result of tribal and political differences between the inhabitants of the Jos Plateau.

Threats and conservation

The Jos plateau is a heavily-populated area with loss of native savanna and woodland to farmland conversion and firewood collection; remaining native fauna is predominantly limited to small areas in the more remote areas and river embankments. There is currently no conservation program for this ecoregion. Due to tin mining activity some 320 km² of agricultural land has been disturbed. The situation has been improved since by local farmers due to usage of traditional as well as modern fertilisation methods which combined includes manure, urban waste ash and inorganic fertilizers. Approximately 1,199 km², or 9%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include the Jarawa Hill, Jere, Rafin Bawa, Panshanu, Guram River, Assob Bachit, Kurra Jekko, and Abak River forest reserves.UNEP-WCMC (2020). Protected Area Profile for Nigeria from the World Database of Protected Areas, September 2020. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net

References

* Barbour, K.M., et al., editors. 1982 ''Nigeria in Maps''. Hodder and Stoughton, London. *

External links

* *
Hiking on the plateau
{{Authority control Afromontane ecoregions Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Nigeria Montane grasslands and shrublands Plateaus of Nigeria Plateau State Volcanoes of Nigeria Archaeological sites of Western Africa