Nasarawa State lies between latitude 7ᵒ and 9ᵒ North and longitude 7ᵒ and 1ᵒ East, and is accessible through Benue State to the South and Kogi State to the West. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja to the North-West, Kaduna and Plateau States to the North – East, and Taraba States to the South-East.
Nasarawa State consists of thirteen (13) Local Government Areas (shown with 2006 population figures:
| Nasarawa West Senatorial District |
716,802 |
Nasarawa North Senatorial District |
335,453 |
Nasarawa South Senatorial District |
811,020 |
| Karu |
205,477 |
Akwanga |
113,430 |
Awe |
112,574 |
| Keffi |
92,664 |
Nasarawa Egon |
149,129 |
Doma |
139,607 |
| Kokona |
109,749 |
Wamba |
72,894 |
Keana |
79,253 |
| Nasarawa |
189,835 |
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Lafia |
330,712 |
| Toto |
119,077 |
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Obi |
148,874 |
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Nasarawa State is located within the middle Benue Trough as the name infers the middle portion of the Nigerian Benue Trough. The Benue Trough itself is a rift basin in Central West Africa that extends NNE–SSW for about 800km in length and 150km in width. The Trough contains up to 6000M of Cretaceous Tertiary Sediment of which those pre–dating the mid–Santonian Compression ally deformed (Benkhelil, 1989). The study area is covered with 60% Basement complex rocks while the remaining 40% is made up of sedimentary rocks of the Benue Trough. The Younger Granites intrude the Basement complex at Mada and Afu and therefore do not occupy any separate landmass of their own of the Basement complex. Magnetite–Gneisses along with the older granites accounts for about 70%, while rocks of Schistose Lithology and other sedimentary series (quartzite, marble, iron ores) in the areas around Laminga, Nasarawa and Gadabuke made up the remaining 30% .Nasarawa eggon is situated within the sedimentary basin while Udege beki fall within the younger granite location in the state (Obaje et al., 2006).
