Sokoto, as a rule alluded to as Sokoto State to recognize it from the city of Sokoto, is situated in the extraordinary northwest of Nigeria, close to the conjunction of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. Starting at 2005 it has an expected populace of in excess of 4.2 million. Sokoto City is the advanced capital of Sokoto State.

The name Sokoto (which is the cutting edge/anglicized adaptation of the neighborhood name, Sakkwato) is of Arabic source, speaking to suk, “showcase”. It is otherwise called Sakkwato, Birnin Shaihu da Bello or “Sokoto, Capital of Shaihu and Bello”).

Being the seat of the previous Sokoto Caliphate, the city is overwhelmingly Muslim and a critical seat of Islamic learning in Nigeria. The Sultan who heads the caliphate is adequately the otherworldly pioneer of Nigerian Muslims.