Jos is the capital of the Plateau state in Nigeria. It is situated more or less in the middle belt of Nigeria and has a population of about 900,000. It is popularly known as "J-town" or "Jesus Our Saviour" by the locals. Jos has recieved a lot of negative attention for the clashes between the Muslim and Christian populations, especially during the years of 2001, 2008, 2010 and 2011. Despite this Jos is known as "the Home of Peace and Tourism" and is well known for it's captivating rock-formations.
Jos is served by Yakabu Gowon Airport (IATA: JOS, ICAO: DNJO) which is often times reffered to as Jos Airport. The airport was named after Yakabu Gowon. The airport has a few airlines operating flights from it's premises namely : Aero Contractors and Arik Air.
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Jos is located in the centre of Nigeria and has a number of states that are adjacent to it. It is close to Kaduna state and with Kaduna state having two airports, it is not a major air destination. There are regular scheduled flight from Lagos to Jos though.
Airline | Destination(s) |
---|---|
Aero Contractors | Lagos |
Arik Air | Lagos |
Jos is situated 1,217m above sea level and enjoys the cooler temperatures that come with this altitude. Average monthly temperatures are about 21 to 25 °C. It also suffers because of the high altitude though with winter night times being quite chilly and hail stones during the rainy season because of the drop of temperature. Jos is preffered among the tourists and expats though because of this lower temperature as temperatures in other regions can become unbearably hot to people who aren't accustomed to them. Jos recieves more or less 1,400mm of rainfall annually.
Average Temperatures for Jos | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Avg |
Average High | 27 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 25 | 27 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 27 | Average Low | 13 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 13 |
Precipitation (mm) | 0.4 | 2.5 | 30 | 93 | 160 | 199 | 304 | 290 | 195 | 35 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 109 |
Jos is situated in the Jos Plateau. The area is thought to be a area of younger granite with a intrusion of older granite. This is what is responsible for the "unusual scenery of the Jos Plateau". It is filled with many hill-like structures that emerge from the ground like mushrooms. The area also had much volcanic activity in years before leaving numerous volcanoes behind and the plateaus that were created by the flowing lava. The volcaninc activities many years back are one of the reasons for Jos being in one of the mineral rich states. Tin is still a very important mineral that is mined to this day in Jos.
One of the many famous Jos "hilltops"
As mentioned before Jos is affectionately known as the "Home of Peace and Tourism" and has many things to see and do. Here is a short list with some of the more prominent of them :
The pottery hall is one of the museums in Jos and incorporates the Museum of traditional Nigerian Architecture. In these two museums one can find Nok terracotta heads and artifacts that come from a by-gone era, 500BC to AD200. One can also have a look replica's of the walls of Kano, the Mosque of Zaria to Tiv villages. All these replica's are life-size.
Some of the many artifacts that can be seen at Pottery Hall and the Musuem of traditional Nigerian architecture.
Established in 1972 the park is home to many animals that live both in natural and artificial reserves. It is about 5km from the main city and covers an area of 8 square km. It is the only man-made zoological garden and park in Nigeria. The park includes animals such as lions, elephants, the rare pygmy hippopotamus and huge african pythons.
Some of the many happy inhabitants of the park.
Jos is very famouos for it's rock-formations which include the Riyom Rock. This is a pile of rocks that are balanced quite awkardly on top of one another. There is even one that resembles a clown hat. The rocks are observable on Jos-Akwanga road.
Some of the magnificent rocks at Riyom rock.
There are many things to do and see in Jos and the greater Plateau State and it deservedly carries the title of "the Home of Peace and Tourism".