Mambilla Plateau
Encyclopedia
The Mambilla Plateau is a highland region, found in Taraba State
of Nigeria
. This highland region, is the northern continuation of the Bamenda Highlands
of Cameroon
.
The mambilla plateau
, has an average elevation of about 1524 metres (5,000 ft) above sealevel,leaving it as the highest plateau in Nigeria since no other plateau in Nigeria rivals it in elevation.
Some of its villages are situated on hills that must be at least 1828 metres (5,997 ft) high above sea level.
Some mountain
s on the plateau and around it are over 2000 metres (6,562 ft) high, like the Chappal Waddi
mountain which has an average height of about 2419 metres (7,936 ft) above sealevel. It is the highest mountain in Nigeria and the highest mountain in West Africa
if the Republic of Cameroon's higher mountains like the Mount Cameroon
are excluded as mountains in west Africa, even though they are sometimes included among mountains found in the west African region.
The plateau developed on basement complex rocks.Tertiary basalt
s also occur on the mambilla plateau and are mostly formed by trachytic lavas and extensive basalts, occurring around Nguroje
.
The Mambilla plateau measures about 96 km (59.7 mi) along its curved length; it is 40 km (24.9 mi) wide and is bounded by an escarpment
that is about 900 m (2,953 ft) high in some places. The plateau covers an area of over 9389 square kilometre. Chappal Waddi mountain is found at the northeastern flank of the Plateau.
state of Nigeria under Sardauna local government area
.
The plateau has its south and eastern escarpment standing along the Cameroonian border
, while the remainder of its giant northern escarpment and its western slope are in Nigeria.
Daytime temperatures hardly exceeds 25 °C (77 °F) making it the coldest plateau in Nigeria. Strong winds prevail during the daytime, and the rainy season lasts from mid-March until the end of December. As a result of its high elevation, the plateau experiences temperate weather
conditions but on a smaller scale due to its location in a tropical environment.
in southern Nigeria and the steep edges and escarpment
s of the plateau.The Mambilla Plateau receives over 1850 millimetres of rainfall annually.
and travellers are constantly passing from one panoramic
view to the other. The plateau is entirely covered by soil
with occasional occurrence of granite
.
s and river
s; notably among them are the Donga River
and Taraba River
, with both having their sources on/from the Mambilla Plateau.
during the period of German administration of the cameroons and other Nigerian government tree planting programs.
The eucalyptus tree
is the dominant tree is these man made forest as a result of the easily adaptability of the eucalyptus tree to the harsh climatic conditions on the plateau.
The abundance of low lush green grasses on the plateau has attracted a large number of cattle, this has resulted in overgrazing of the plateau and has created problems between the cattle herders, referred to as the fulanis, and the indigenous people, the Mambila
.
. The latter contains the headquarters of Sardauna Local Government Area to which the Mambilla Plateau belongs. Other important towns on the plateau are Kabri
,Dorofi
, Nguroje
, Mayo Ndaga, Wakili Buba, Maisamari, Hainare, Mbamnga, Mayo Sollare, Kilatin, Labbare, Mayo Tolore, Tamnya, and Gembu
.
Taraba State
Taraba State is a state of Nigeria, named after the Taraba River which traverses the southern part of the state. Taraba's capital is Jalingo.-History:...
of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. This highland region, is the northern continuation of the Bamenda Highlands
Western High Plateau
The Western High Plateau, Western Highlands, or Bamenda Grassfields is a region of Cameroon characterised by high relief, cool temperatures, heavy rainfall, and savanna vegetation. The region lies along the Cameroon line and consists of mountain ranges and volcanoes made of crystalline and igneous...
of Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
.
The mambilla plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
, has an average elevation of about 1524 metres (5,000 ft) above sealevel,leaving it as the highest plateau in Nigeria since no other plateau in Nigeria rivals it in elevation.
Some of its villages are situated on hills that must be at least 1828 metres (5,997 ft) high above sea level.
Some mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s on the plateau and around it are over 2000 metres (6,562 ft) high, like the Chappal Waddi
Chappal Waddi
Chappal Waddi is a mountain in Nigeria and, at 2,419 meters, is the country's highest point.. It is located in Taraba State, near the border with Cameroon, in the Gashaka Forest Reserve . Chappal Wadi is sometimes cited as the highest point in West Africa if the region is defined as excluding...
mountain which has an average height of about 2419 metres (7,936 ft) above sealevel. It is the highest mountain in Nigeria and the highest mountain in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
if the Republic of Cameroon's higher mountains like the Mount Cameroon
Mount Cameroon
Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako or by its native name Mongo ma Ndemi ....
are excluded as mountains in west Africa, even though they are sometimes included among mountains found in the west African region.
The plateau developed on basement complex rocks.Tertiary basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
s also occur on the mambilla plateau and are mostly formed by trachytic lavas and extensive basalts, occurring around Nguroje
Nguroje
Nguroje is a town found on the mambilla plateau,in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State in eastern Nigeria.....
.
The Mambilla plateau measures about 96 km (59.7 mi) along its curved length; it is 40 km (24.9 mi) wide and is bounded by an escarpment
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
that is about 900 m (2,953 ft) high in some places. The plateau covers an area of over 9389 square kilometre. Chappal Waddi mountain is found at the northeastern flank of the Plateau.
Location
The Mambilla Plateau is found in the southeastern part of TarabaTaraba
Taraba can refer to:* Taraba State* Taraba River* Taraba, the genus of the Great Antshrike...
state of Nigeria under Sardauna local government area
Local Government Areas in Nigeria
||Nigeria has 774 Local Government Areas .Each local government area is administered by a Local Government Council consisting of a chairman who is the Chief Executive of the LGA, and other elected members who are referred to as Councillors....
.
The plateau has its south and eastern escarpment standing along the Cameroonian border
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, while the remainder of its giant northern escarpment and its western slope are in Nigeria.
Climate
The climate of the plateau is comparatively cold.Daytime temperatures hardly exceeds 25 °C (77 °F) making it the coldest plateau in Nigeria. Strong winds prevail during the daytime, and the rainy season lasts from mid-March until the end of December. As a result of its high elevation, the plateau experiences temperate weather
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
conditions but on a smaller scale due to its location in a tropical environment.
Rainfall
The rainy season on the Mambilla Plateau is associated with frequent and heavy rainfall due to orographic activities on the plateau involving moist winds from the south Atlantic OceanAtlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
in southern Nigeria and the steep edges and escarpment
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
s of the plateau.The Mambilla Plateau receives over 1850 millimetres of rainfall annually.
Topography
The Mambilla Plateau is hilly with deep gorgesGorges
Gorges, the plural of the French word for "throat", usually refers to a canyon.Gorges is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Gorges, in the Loire-Atlantique département* Gorges, in the Manche département...
and travellers are constantly passing from one panoramic
Panorama
A panorama is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film/video, or a three-dimensional model....
view to the other. The plateau is entirely covered by soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
with occasional occurrence of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
.
Drainage
The plateau is dissected by many streamStream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
s and river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s; notably among them are the Donga River
Donga River
The Donga River is a river in Nigeria and Cameroon. The river arises from the Mambilla Plateau in southeastern Nigeria, forms part of the international border between Nigeria and Cameroon, and flows northwest to eventually merge with the Benue River in Nigeria....
and Taraba River
Taraba River
The Taraba River is a river in Taraba State, Nigeria, a tributary of the Benue River.The major towns along the River Taraba are Sert-Baruwa, Sarki Ruwa, Karamti, Jamtari, Gangumi, Gayam and Bali LGA. The major economic activities on the river are fishing, farming of rice, yam, groundnut.the major...
, with both having their sources on/from the Mambilla Plateau.
Vegetation
Vegetation on the plateau comprises low grasses with trees being noticeably absent except for man made forest planted by German colonialistColonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
during the period of German administration of the cameroons and other Nigerian government tree planting programs.
The eucalyptus tree
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
is the dominant tree is these man made forest as a result of the easily adaptability of the eucalyptus tree to the harsh climatic conditions on the plateau.
The abundance of low lush green grasses on the plateau has attracted a large number of cattle, this has resulted in overgrazing of the plateau and has created problems between the cattle herders, referred to as the fulanis, and the indigenous people, the Mambila
Mambila
The Mambila or Mambilla people of Nigeria and Cameroon live on the Mambilla plateau and on the Tikar Plain in Cameroon as well as in several small villages further north towards the town of Banyo. The preferred ethnonym is Mambila in Cameroon and Mambilla in Nigeria...
.
Towns
Towns on the plateau are small with populations ranging from 100 to 5000 people except for GembuGembu, Nigeria
Gembu is a town found on the mambilla plateau in Taraba State of Nigeria. It is the headquarters of Sardauna Local Government Area in Taraba state.Sitting at an average elevation of about above sealevel, it is among the high elevated towns in Nigeria....
. The latter contains the headquarters of Sardauna Local Government Area to which the Mambilla Plateau belongs. Other important towns on the plateau are Kabri
Kabri
Kabri is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Western Galilee about four kilometers east of the Mediterranean seaside town of Nahariya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 751.-Prehistory:...
,Dorofi
Dorofi
Dorofi is a small town on the Mambilla Plateau in Taraba State in Central Eastern part of Nigeria. It is 40 km from Gembu, the Sardauna Local Government Area headquarters. It has a temperate climate, with a mean air temperature of . It is among the coldest towns in Nigeria. Dorofi's landscape...
, Nguroje
Nguroje
Nguroje is a town found on the mambilla plateau,in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State in eastern Nigeria.....
, Mayo Ndaga, Wakili Buba, Maisamari, Hainare, Mbamnga, Mayo Sollare, Kilatin, Labbare, Mayo Tolore, Tamnya, and Gembu
Gembu, Nigeria
Gembu is a town found on the mambilla plateau in Taraba State of Nigeria. It is the headquarters of Sardauna Local Government Area in Taraba state.Sitting at an average elevation of about above sealevel, it is among the high elevated towns in Nigeria....
.
Attractions
- The highlandHighland (geography)The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...
is home to Nigeria and West AfricaWest AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
's only highland tea plantations. - Nigeria's largest game reserves, the Gashaka/Gumpti Game Reserve is found in the Chappal WaddiChappal WaddiChappal Waddi is a mountain in Nigeria and, at 2,419 meters, is the country's highest point.. It is located in Taraba State, near the border with Cameroon, in the Gashaka Forest Reserve . Chappal Wadi is sometimes cited as the highest point in West Africa if the region is defined as excluding...
mountain area just north of the Mambilla Plateau. - A hydroelectricHydropowerHydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...
power damHydroelectricityHydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
is planned to be constructed on the plateau.