Yola (Fulfulde ƴola: meaning 'Great Plain' or 'Vast Plain Land') is the capital city and administrative centre of Adamawa State, Nigeria. It is located on the Benue River, and has a population of over 336,648 (2010). Yola is split into two parts. The old town of Yola where the Lamido of Adamawa resides, is the traditional city and the new city of Jimeta (about 5 km or 3 mi NW) is the administrative and commercial centre.

To the north are the Mandara Mountains and to the south are the Shebshi Mountains and Mount Dimlang (Vogel Peak).

Yola is an access point to the Gashaka Gumpti Nature Reserve, which is one of the largest national parks 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 the Cameroonian town of Garoua, which lies across the border, on the Benue river.

Established in 1841, Yola is a municipality that sprawls across the hillside of this North-Eastern region of Nigeria. It was the capital of the Adamawa Emirate until it was taken over by the British in 1901. Today, it is the capital of Adamawa State, which was formed in 1991 from part of Gongola State. Modibbo Adama, a local chief of the Fulani, founded Yola in 1841. During the Islamic movement led by Shehu Usman Dan Fodio in the early 19th century, Adama was recognised as a Muslim Scholar who could lead the people in the Upper Benue area. The first European to visit the area was Heinrich Barth in 1851, shortly after Yola was founded. He traveled by the Sahara route, coming through Kukawa near Lake Chad, which at the time was the capital of the Borno Empire.

In 1893, with sponsorship from the German Colonial Society, explorer Herr von Uechtritz visited Yola and described the city:

With the firm, rocky ground we also reached Yola, which is built on a level sandstone ridge. It has between twelve and fifteen thousand inhabitants and gives a friendly impression. From a distance you imagine there is only a forest there, on the edge of which a few houses peep forth; but when you get nearer, a colourful picture unfolds. The fresh, dark green of the trees surrounding the farms contrasts sharply with the vivid red of the earth and the mud huts, and with the blue of the sky; even the monotonous grey of the zana mats and thatch roofs on which creepers climb, does not appear in the least unpleasant. But in truly surprising harmony does the dark brown skin of the inhabitants tone with the gentle and vivid colours of the landscape. And what an unfathomable feeling for beauty and colour awareness is revealed by the choice of white, blue and red materials in their dress!

Yola was located in an area just under 30 kilometres from the capital of Bagale Chiefdom. Prior to this time, Bagale had lost parts of its territory to the Jihadists and it was a surprise that Bagale presented Yola with the greatest danger to its existence through its constant attacks.

The state is serviced by the Yola International Airport which is among the first airports built in Nigeria.