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.
The Plateau 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. Unlike Benue that included only the territories of Giv and Idoma groups, the Plateau remained a multi-ethnic province. No ethnic group constitutes a majority in the region, the largest being Bir.
Most of the ethnic tribes living in the Plateau speak the languages of the Niger-Congolese language family, but the fundamental differences are confessional (between Muslims and Christians). Religious cleavages are magnified by the struggle for resources. The Plateau occupies a very favorable geographical position, and its territory is one of the most developed in Nigeria, which causes a high level of migration, primarily from the states of the Muslim North. The central conflict in the province is between "indigenous" residents, mostly farmers, many of whom are Christians, and migrants, primarily nomads and Muslims. This conflict occurs in waves and sometimes takes violent forms.
