# Southern Kaduna

Southern Kaduna is the southern region of Kaduna State, Nigeria. It is socio-culturally considered part of the country's Middle Belt region, which bothers the north and south of Nigeria. Its heritage could be traced back to the Nok culture or civilization. The area has a northern Guinean forest-savanna tropical climate, highly influenced by the Jos-Bauchi Plateau's colder temperatures.
The region spans 26,000 sq. km. of Kaduna State's 46,000 sq. km. total land mass, with a population of over three million people or 51.2% of the entire state's population as shown in the 2006 census figures. It has about 57 known ethnic groups of the 67 known in Kaduna State.

## Regions

Southern Kaduna consists of about 12 (some sources say 13) Local Government Areas (LGAs) out of the 23 available ones in Kaduna State, Nigeria. These 12 LGAs are further divided across three senatorial districts listed below:
* Kaduna Central senatorial district (3): Chikun, Kajuru, and Kaduna South LGAs
* Kaduna North senatorial district (1): Lere LGA
* Kaduna South senatorial district (8): Jaba, Jemaa, Kachia, Kagarko, Kaura, Kauru, Sanga and Zangon Kataf LGAs.
A lot of people confuse these three: Kaduna South Local Government Area, Southern Kaduna, and Kaduna South Senatorial District. As stated above, the term "Kaduna South" is the name of a small LGA, south of the city of Kaduna the state capital. The same term is used for the senatorial district made up of eight LGAs, excluding Kaduna South LGA. The term "Southern Kaduna" on the other hand consists of 12 LGAs of Kaduna State, considered as a part of the Nigerian Middle Belt.

## Cities

The largest urban and sub-urban areas in Southern Kaduna include:
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* 10.50367.43371 Kaduna (southern half) — the capital and largest city of Kaduna State
* 9.58498.29242 Kafanchan — the socio-economic capital of Southern Kaduna
* 9.8758.03633 Zonkwa — the administrative headquarters of Zangon Kataf LGA
* 9.46718.00414 Kwoi — the administrative headquarters of Jaba LGA and home to the Tuk-Ham annual festival
* 9.60748.38835 Kagoro — home to the cold and beautiful Afan mountain range and the Afan national annual festival
* 9.87347.95526 Kachia — the ginger capital of Southern Kaduna
* 9.89068.22137 Zangon Kataf — the old capital of the defunct Southern Zaria district of Zaria Province during British colonial times
* 10.32437.68338 Kajuru — home of the beautiful Kajuru Castle
* 10.48027.63589 Kujama — administrative headquarters of Chikun LGA

## Understand

The people of Southern Kaduna are culturally similar to other ethnic groups in the Middle Belt or Central Nigeria and Southern Nigeria. They speak Central Nigerian (or Platoid) languages, a branch of the Benue-Congo group of the Niger-Congo languages. The region also has two migrant Afro-Asiatic languages.
It is from this region that the phenomenon of the Nok culture was established. The Nok culture was an advanced iron-age civilization that was said to have flourished between 500 BC and 200 AD, making it one of the oldest civilizations in present-day Nigeria. However, what remained of the Nok people after that period was not known. However, it is believed that these people spread further south of present-day Nigeria to give birth to other later civilizations like the Ife, Benin, Esie, Nupe, Igbo-Ukwu, and others. This could be partly visible in the fact that these civilizations speak related languages with similar customs as do the people of Southern Kaduna.