Jos Plateau
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The Jos Plateau is a
plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), 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. ...
located near the centre of
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
. The plateau has given its name to the
Plateau State Plateau is a northern states of Nigeria, Nigerian state. It is located in the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria and includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and Tourism". Th ...
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 grasslands,
savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
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) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
. At the start of the 20th century, the British established Jos as a tin-mining metropolis. Many individuals from Southern and Northern Nigeria came to Jos for work and business because of the tin industry on the plateau. Situated in North-Central Nigeria, the area consists of rolling hills on a plateau. Because of its diverse range of landforms and stunning scenery, the Jos Plateau is a popular tourist destination.


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. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...
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. Several rivers have their sources on the plateau. The Kaduna River drains the western slopes, flowing southwest to join the
Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
. The Gongola River drains eastwards to join the Benue. The Hadejia and Yobe rivers flow northeast into
Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...
.


Geology

The Jos Plateau is dominated by three rock types. The older
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...
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 The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
. There are also many volcanoes and sheets of basalt extruded since the Pliocene. The younger granites contain tin 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 (''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 (''Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis''), and Jos Plateau indigobird (''Vidua maryae'').


People

The Jos Plateau lies in the Nigerian
Middle Belt 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 is ...
, 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, Anaguta, Aten, Irigwe, Chokfem, Kofyar, Kulere, Miship, Mupun and Montol. The state's 3.2 million inhabitants are made up of more than 50 ethnic groups out of Nigeria's 374 tribes, making it a tiny version of Nigeria in terms of variety. In addition, the state is home to sizable populations of Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba immigrants (also known as farmers as opposed to herders who go around). The Jos Plateau is home to the ancient
Nok culture The Nok culture is a population whose material remains are named after the Ham people, Ham village of Nok in Southern Kaduna, southern Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The Nok people and ...
, 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

* * {{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