Yelwa is atown inKebbi State,Nigeria on theNiger River and theA1 highway. The town is often referred to as "Yelwa,Yauri", after theEmirate andLocal Government Administration it is in, and is not the Yelwa where theYelwa Massacre took place in 2004 inPlateau State. Yelwa is the capital and largest city of the Yauri Emirate. Yelwa has a population of 8,000 as of 2010^[update], a majority of whom areHausaMuslims.^[1][2]

Yelwa is the market center and trade hub of the Yauri Emirate.^[2][3] Besides trade, its economy centers around agriculture. Major export crops include onions, rice, and cotton, although Yelwa also produces considerable amounts ofsorghum,millet,cowpeas,peanuts,sugarcane,shea nuts,tobacco,kola nuts, peppers, beans, fish, cattle, andguinea fowl.^[2] Most farmers (79.2 percent) in the Yelwa area aresubsistence farmers, and most rent the land they farm or aresharecroppers.

Yelwa has been the capital of theYauri Emirate since 1888, when the capital was moved there fromBin Yauri following a civil war. In 1896, theRoyal Niger Company established a trading post in Yauri. The town was occupied by the British in 1901.^[2]

Part of Yelwa was permanently flooded by the creation of theKainji Dam in 1986.^[2] Almost half of the residents of Yauri, including many in Yelwa, were displaced by the construction of the Kainji Dam,^[3] which has had detrimental effects on agriculture in the area.

In 2004, over 700 people died in a series ofinter-religious conflicts.

On 16 February 2018, a Martian crater was named after Yelwa.^[4]

• Weather in Yelwa

Wikivoyage has a travel guide forYelwa.

10°53′N4°45′E / 10.883°N 4.750°E /10.883; 4.750

• Populated places in Kebbi State

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