The highlands relief of Nigeria is the North central plateau, the Eastern highlands, the Western uplands etc. This relief system is above 300m above the sea level.
The North Central Plateau is within the centre of Northern Nigeria, which covers about one-fifth of the area. Here, the old hard rocks are found on the surface.
They are called the basement complex rock. Note that there are two platforms of the North central plateau namely —
(i) The plains of Hausa land, which has an average elevation of 75Cm and
(ii) the Jos plateau, which is the highest platform with an average elevation of 180Cm.
The Eastern Highlands lie within Nigeria and Cameroon border fringe. This highland covers the highest zone in Nigeria and it consists of the Obudu Plateau (120Cm), Oban hills (120Cm), the Biu Plateau (800-1200m) etc.
The Western Uplands cover One-tenth of the country area. Most of the upland area lies between 300-600 metres. The highest part of the western upland is the Idanre Hills, which cover about 1000 metres above sea level.
Significance of Highlands
- They are mainly made of mineral deposits like coal in Enugu, gold, diamond, limestone etc.
- They serve as tourist attraction centres e.g. Jos Plateau.
- They serve as source of defence during inter-tribal conflicts.
- They also serve as source of rivers and streams used by man. 5. They also aid settlement.