The city, with its adjoining conurbation , is the most populous in Nigeria and on the African continent. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] and one of the most populous urban areas. Due to rapid urbanization, 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 initial city of Lagos, before it expanded into the area known as the Mainland.
Lagos, the capital of Nigeria since its amalgamation in , went on to become the capital of Lagos State after its creation. However, the state capital was later moved to Ikeja in , 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" [27] [28] [29] is an urban agglomeration or conurbation , [30] consisting of 20 LGAs, 37 LCDAs including Ikeja , the state capital of Lagos State.
The exact population of Metropolitan Lagos is disputed. In the federal census data, the conurbation had a population of about 8 million people. Lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori subgroup of the Yoruba people in the 15th century. Lagos , which means "lakes", was a name given to the settlement by the Portuguese. Throughout history, it was home to a number of warring ethnic groups who had settled in the area.
Following its early settlement by the Awori nobility, and its conquest by the Bini warlords of Benin, the state first came to the attention of the Portuguese in the 15th century. Portuguese explorer Rui de Sequeira visited the area in , naming the area around the city Lago de Curamo. Another explanation is that Lagos is a Portuguese named after a major port in Portugal —a maritime town that, at the time, was the main centre of Portuguese expeditions down the African coast.
