10 Things You Didn’t Know About Lagos

Lagos Skyline. Photo by Jrobin08, Wikimedia Commons

It’s home to the tallest building in West Africa

Lagos has an impressive skyline that spans many areas of the city and is home to the tallest building in West Africa.


 

Films from Nigeria (Paul Keller / Flickr)

Nollywood is centered there

Most people have heard of Hollywood and Bollywood, but usually only film geeks have heard of Nollywood. Nollywood is centered in Lagos and is home to the third most valuable film industry in the world. Nollywood films outsell Hollywood films in Nigeria and many other countries in Africa.

in 1979, the NECOM House towers 160m above the city and serves as a beacon for the Lagos harbor.

 

Skyline of Lagos, Nigeria (Wikimedia Commons)

It’s one of the fastest growing cities in the world

The population of the Lagos metropolitan area has skyrocketed in the last half century, on pace with many cities in China. The city went from around 1.5 million in 1970 to over 20 million today

Courtesy of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung / Flickr

It has a floating city

It’s not quite Venice, but Makoko manages to make a floating city out of a makeshift community. The entire city is built over the water on stilts and people travel through the waterways on small boats. In 2013, a floating school was built in the middle of the city that runs on solar power and gives underprivileged children access to an education.

Lagos Island as seen from the harbor (Photo by Benji Robertson, Wikimedia Commons)

It’s barely above sea level

Much of the city is barely above sea level due to being composed of a chain of islands and marshland. It has long been at threat from rising tides, but land reclamation has helped to curb some if it. In the future, it is one of the world cities that stands to be threatened the most by global warming.

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It’s the smallest state in Nigeria

Although it’s by far the most populated in the country, Lagos is actually the smallest state. This makes the population density one of the highest in the world, with an estimated 1,200 people arriving daily.

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Lots of millionaires

Lagos might have a lot of poverty, but there are a lot of rich people, too. The city is ranked third in Africa for millionaires per capita, behind only Johannesburg and Cairo.

The Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos, Nigeria (Zouzou Wizman, flickr)

It has the longest bridge in Africa

Lagos is also home to the largest bridge on the continent. The 11.8km (5-mile) long Third Mainland Bridge connects Lagos Island to the mainland. It starts at Oworonshoki on the Lagos mainland, and ends at Adeniji-Adele interchange on Lagos Island.

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It handles 80% of the country’s imports

The massive ports of Lagos are able to handle 80% of all of Nigeria’s imports, as well as over 70% of the country’s exports. It also cracks the list of top 10 largest ports in Africa.

Shawn Leishman (Flickr)

Lekki market, Lagos. Photo by

It’s full of shopping

From Lekki market to Bar Beach, Lagos is one of the biggest shopping centers in all of Africa due to its place as a center of imports and exports. You can find virtually any wholesale item you are looking for in Lagos, but you’ll probably have to fight the crowds.