Yola is the capital city and administrative center of
Adamawa State,
Nigeria. Located on the
Benue River, it has a population of 336,648 (2010). Yola is split into two parts. The old town of Yola where the
Lamido resides is the traditional city but the new city of Jimeta (about 5 km NW) is the administrative and commercial centre. Generally the term Yola is now used to mean both. To the north are the
Mandara Mountains and the south are the
Shebshi Mountains with Dimlang (Vogel) Peak the second highest point (2,042 m) in
Nigeria after
Chappal Waddi (mountain of death). Yola is an access point to the
Gashaka Gumpti Nature Reserve, which is the largest national park in Nigeria, the
Ngel Nyaki montane forest reserve, the
Mambilla Plateau, The
Sukur UNESCO World heritage site, which is Africa's first cultural landscape to receive World Heritage List inscription, The Yadin Waterfalls, The
Kiri Dam on the
Gongola River, The Benue national park in nearby
Cameroon, The
Waza National Park, and Cameroonian town of
Garoua, which lies across the Border, on the Benue river.