One of the 36 states of Nigeria. After gaining independence in 1960, three regions were established in the country, each of which was dominated by one of the three main ethnic groups - Yoruba (West), Igbo (East), Hausa / Fulani (North). This configuration gave rise to conflicts, and to mitigate them, several waves of political and administrative reforms were carried out. As a consequence, each of the three main groups was divided into several states, while in some territories states were created for ethnic minorities.
Benue is situated in the very center of the country and belongs to the macroregion of the Middle Belt (multiethnic territories located between the Muslim north and the Christian south). In the 1960s, the Middle Belt was a part of the Northern region, dominated by Hausa, but in 1967 it was allocated to a separate state of the Benueplatos, which in 1976 was divided into two - Benue and Plateau. In 1991, in those parts of Benue where Igala people lived a separate Kogi province was established. In addition, it included the territory of the residence of the Igala in the state of Quara.
Thus, the Igala, who had their kingdom in the Middle Ages, received their own political and administrative entity. Igala speak the language of the Niger-Congolese family, they are religiously heterogeneous, among them exist adherents of Christianity, Islam, and traditional beliefs. Other significant groups on the territory of Kogi - Okun (one of the Yorubian tribes), Izbir, Kvari, Idoma, etc.
