[6][7] What is now known as Adamawa state has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, including the Bwatiye (Bachama), Bali, Bata (Gbwata), Gudu, Mbula-Bwazza, and Nungurab (Lunguda) in the central region; the Kamwe in the north and central region; the Jibu in the far south; the Kilba, Mafa, Marghi, and Waga in the north, and the Mumuye in the south while the Fulani live throughout the state — often as nomadic herders.

Adamawa is also religiously diverse as about 50% of the population is Sunni Muslim and 40% is Christian (mainly Lutheran, EYN, ECWA, and Pentecostal), while the remaining 10% are adherents of traditional ethnic religions.

[3][12] Before it became a state in Nigeria, Adamawa was a subordinate kingdom of the Sultanate of Sokoto, which also included much of northern Cameroon.

[13] The name "Adamawa" came from the founder of the kingdom, Modibo Adama, a regional leader of the Fulani Jihad organized by Usman dan Fodio of Sokoto in 1804.

Modibo Adama came from the region of Gurin (now just a small village) and in 1806, received a green flag for leading the jihad in his native country.

After the European colonization (first by Germany and then by Britain), the rulers remained as emirs and the line of succession has continued to the present day.

About 90 years later, forces from Germany and the British Empire defeated the Emirate in the Adamawa Wars and split the area.

[15] On 21–22 February 2020, Boko Haram terrorists launched an attack on homes and churches in Garkida, killing three soldiers and wounding civilians.

[20][21] Topographically, it is a mountainous land crossed by large river valleys – Benue, Gongola, and Yedsarem.

The valleys of the Mount Cameroon, Mandara Mountains,[22] and Adamawa Plateau form part of the landscape.

A study conducted on climate in 2012 in Nigeria's Adamawa state revealed monthly mean temperature rise in Gyawana, Yola, and Mubi, while annual rainfall declined.

[23][24] Contrarily, in recent times, the humidity and temperature of Adamawa state, especially during the dry season, begin to rise in November, which is usually very hot.

[26] In October 2022, an additional flood claimed 37 lives and submerged 89,000 thousand hectares of farmlands with 58 others sustaining various degrees of injuries.

[29] Adamawa has vast arable land for agriculture, waterfalls and landscape, and solid minerals like limestone, tantalite and kaoline.

Despite the state's high level of cattle production, the markets are poorly developed without essential services like meat processing.

Meaning, live animals have to be transported in trucks for 4 days before they reach cities with high demand to regions like the South-West, South-South or South-East Nigeria.

[32] The development of many communities in the state can be traced to the colonial era when the Germans ruled a swath of territory known as the Northern and Southern Kameruns from Dikwa in the North to Victoria (Limbe) on the Atlantic coast in the 19th century.

These were, however, handed over as United Nations Trust Territories to the British at the end of the World War I with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

[38] Historically, Adamawa is home to the major happenings of the Islamic Jihad, led by the Sokoto Caliphate in the early 1800s.

Many of the state's languages are at danger of extinction due to economic, social, political, religious, and contextual factors.