Ekiti State (Yoruba: Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkìtì) is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the northeast by Kogi State, to the south and southeast by Ondo State, and to the west by Osun State. Named for the Ekiti people—the Yoruba subgroup that makes up the majority of the state’s population—Ekiti State was formed from a part of Ondo State in 1996 and has its capital as the city of Ado-Ekiti.
One of the smallest states in Nigeria, Ekiti is the 31st largest in the area and 30th most populous with an estimated population of nearly 3.3 million as of 2016. Geographically, the state is divided between the Nigerian lowland forests in most of the state and the drier Guinean forest-savanna mosaic in the north. Among the state’s nature are false acraeas, mona monkey, forest buffalo, and grey parrot populations along with one of the last remaining Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee populations with a troop of about 20 chimpanzees in the heavily threatened Ise Forest Reserve.