The Jos Plateau is a plateau located near the center of Nigeria. It covers 8600 km² and is bounded by 300-600 meter escarpments around much of its circumference. With an average altitude of 1280 metres and its highest point is Shere Hills 1829 meters . The plateau has given its name to the State, Plateau State in which it is found and is itself named for the state's capital, Jos.

The Jos Plateau is dominated by three rock types. The Older Granites date to the late Cambrian and Orduvician. The Younger Granites are emplacements dating to the Jurassic, and forming part of a series that includes the Air massif in the central sahara. There are also many volcanoes and sheets of basalt extruded since the Pliocene (Morgan 1983).

The Younger Granites contain tin which was mined during and after the colonial period.

Important rivers are Kaduna, Gongola, Hadejia and Yobe, which have their source in this place.

The climate on the Plateau is the semi-temperate climate climate with temperatures ranging from 18 °C (64.4 °F) 25 °C (77.0 °F).

Jos 9°56′N 8°53′E / 9.933°N 8.883°E / 9.933; 8.883 is a city in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-town" or "Jesus Our Saviour" by the residents, it is the administrative capital of Plateau State.

The city is located on the Jos Plateau at an elevation of about 1,238 metres / 4,062 feet high above sea level. During British colonial rule, Jos was an important centre for tin mining. In recent years it has suffered violent religious clashes between its Muslim and Christian populations in 2001, 2008, 2010, and 2011.

The earliest known Nigerians were the Nok people (around 3000 BC), skilled artisans from around the Jos area who mysteriously vanished in the late first millennium.

According to the historian, Sen Luka Gwom Zangabadt, the area known as Jos today was inhabited by indigenous tribes who were mostly farmers and according to Billy J. Dudley, the British colonialist used direct rule for the indigenous tribes on the Jos plateau since they were not under the fulani emirates where indirect rule was used,according to the historian Samuel N Nwabara, the Fulani empire involved most of northern Nigeria except the Plateau province, Tiv, Jukun and Idoma tribes. It is the discovery of tin by the British that led to the influx of other tribes such as the Hausa, Igbo, Urhobo and Yoruba thus making it a cosmopolitan city.