Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Institute of African Research and Studies - Department of Geography

The study area, the north - west region of Nigeria, though not the largest among the six geo-political regions of Nigeria (in terms of area), it carries the largest percentage of the total population of the country. The study area is also characterized by high percentage of its population wallowing and languishing in abject poverty (over 70%). This research therefore presents the spatial analysis of comparison of the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the population of the study area, between the seven states of the study area, i.e. Jigawa, kaduna, kano, katsina, kebbi, sokoto and zamfara states, and comparing these characteristics to those of the other regions in Nigeria, with the view to understanding the reasons for the large size of the population. The reasons and causes of high poverty level among the populations of the study area were also discussed. Data for the study were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The detailed 1991 and 2006 Nigeria{u2019}s census reports, population projections monograph, 2008 report of the National demographic and health survey (NDHS), the internal migration survey report of 2010 and other relevant statistical monographs were obtained from the National population commission Abuja; the soft copies of the 2010 and 2011 annual abstracts of statistics reports were collected from the National bureau of statistics in Abuja

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