Katsina (city)

About Katsina (city)

is a Local Government Area and the capital city of Katsina State, in northern Nigeria.

Located some 260 kilometres (160 mi) east of the city of Sokoto and 135 kilometres (84 mi) northwest of Kano, close to the border with Niger Republic, in 2016, Katsina's population was estimated at 429,000.

The city is the centre of an agricultural region noted for production of groundnuts, cotton, hides, millet and guinea corn and also has mills for producing peanut oil and steel. It was also a center for large scale livestock farming of cows, goats, sheep and chickens.

The city has a largely Muslim population, mainly from the Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups.

Surrounded by city wall 21 kilometres (13 mi) in length, Katsina is believed to have been founded circa 1100. In pre-Islamic times, Katsina's semi-divine ruler was known as the Sarki, who faced a summary death-sentence if found to be ruling incompetently. From the 17th to the 18th century, Katsina was the commercial heart of Hausaland and became the largest of the seven Hausa city-states. Katsina was conquered by the Fulani during the Fulani War in 1807. In 1903, the Emir, Abubakar dan Ibrahim, accepted British rule, which...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.