With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, and the most populous urban area on the African continent.
The city has a significant influence on commerce , entertainment , technology , education , politics , tourism , art , and fashion in Africa. Lagos is also among the top ten of the world's fastest-growing cities and urban areas. A megacity , it has the fourth-highest GDP in Africa, [ 2 ] [ 30 ] and houses one of the largest and busiest seaports on the continent.
The lands are separated by creeks, fringing the southwest mouth of Lagos Lagoon , while being protected from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier islands and long sand spits such as Bar Beach , which stretch up to km 62 mi east and west of the mouth. Due to rapid urbanisation, the city expanded to the west of the lagoon to include areas in the present day Lagos Mainland , Ajeromi-Ifelodun , and Surulere.
This led to the classification of Lagos into two main areas: the Island , which was the original city of Lagos, and the Mainland , which it has since expanded into. However, the state capital was later moved to Ikeja in , [ 37 ] and the federal capital moved to Abuja in Even though Lagos is still widely referred to as a city, the present-day Lagos, also known as "Metropolitan Lagos", and officially as "Lagos Metropolitan Area" [ 38 ] [ 39 ] [ 40 ] is an urban agglomeration or conurbation , [ 41 ] consisting of 16 LGAs including Ikeja, the state capital of Lagos State.
The population of Metropolitan Lagos is disputed. Lagos may therefore have overtaken Kinshasa as Africa's most populous city. As of , unofficial figures put the population of "Greater Metropolitan Lagos", which includes Lagos and its surrounding metro area, extending as far as into Ogun State , at approximately 21 million. The University of Lagos is one of the first generation universities of Nigeria.
