Abia State

Abia
State
Abia State
Flag of Abia
Flag
Seal of Abia State
Seal
Nicknames: 
God's Own State
Igbo: Ọ̀hà nke Chineke
Location of Abia State in Nigeria[
Location of Abia State in Nigeria[
Coordinates: 5°25′N 7°30′E / 5.417°N 7.500°E / 5.417; 7.500
Country Nigeria
Date created27 August 1991
CapitalUmuahia
Government
 • BodyGovernment of Abia State
 • Governor[1]Alex Otti (LP)
 • Deputy GovernorIkechukwu Emetu (LP)
 • LegislatureAbia State House of Assembly
 • SenatorsC: Austin Akobundu (PDP)
N: Orji Uzor Kalu (APC)
S: Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA)
 • RepresentativesList
Area
 • Total6,320 km2 (2,440 sq mi)
 • Rank32
Population
 (2022 est)[2]
 • Total4,143,100
 • Density660/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
DemonymAbians
GDP (PPP)
 • Year2021
 • Total$22.83 billion[3]
18th of 36
 • Per capita$5,351[3]
9th of 36
Time zoneUTC+01 (WAT)
Postal code
440001
Dialing Code+234
ISO 3166 codeNG-AB
LanguageIgbo
English
Ibibio
HDI (2022)0.622[4]
medium · 10th of 37
Websiteabiastate.gov.ng

Abia State (Igbo: Ọha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The state is bordered to the northwest by Anambra State and to the northeast by the states of Enugu and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the southeast, and Rivers State to the south. Abia is the only Southeastern state that has boundaries with the other four Southeastern states in Nigeria.[5] It takes its name from the acronym for four of the state's most populated regions: Aba, Bende, Isuikwuato, and Afikpo (Afikpo was later joined with a part of Enugu state to create Ebonyi state in 1996).[6] The state capital is Umuahia while the largest city and commercial centre is Aba.[7][8]

Abia is the 32nd largest state by area and the 27th most populous with an estimated population of over 3,727,347 as of 2016.[9] Geographically, the state is divided between the Niger Delta swamp forests in the far south and the drier Cross–Niger transition forests with some savanna in the rest of the State. Other important geographical features are the Imo and Aba Rivers which flow along the Abia's western and southern borders, respectively.

Modern-day Abia State has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, but it is predominantly inhabited by the Igbo people. In the pre-colonial period, what is now Abia State was a part of Arochukwu-based Aro Confederacy before the confederacy was defeated in the early 1900s by British troops in the Anglo-Aro War. After the war, the British incorporated the area into the Southern Nigeria Protectorate which later merged into British Nigeria; after the merger, Abia became a centre of anti-colonial resistance with the Women's War that started in Oloko.

After independence in 1960, Abia was part of the post-independence Eastern Region until 1967 before the region was split and it became part of the East Central State. Less than two months afterwards, the former Eastern Region attempted to secede in the three-year long Nigerian Civil War with Abia as a part of the secessionist state of Biafra. At the war's end and for the reunification of Nigeria, the East Central State was merged as one until 1976 when Imo State (including now-Abia) was formed by the Murtala Muhammed regime. Fifteen years afterwards, Imo State was divided with eastern Imo being broken off to form the old Abia State; but in 1996, part of Abia's northeast was removed to form a part of the new Ebonyi State.[10]

Economically, Abia State is based around the production of crude oil and natural gas along with agriculture, mainly cultivation of yams, maize, taro, oil palm, and cassava. It has a high concentration of medium-scale manufacturing clusters in the city of Aba.[11] With its fast growing population and industrialization, Abia has the joint-eighth highest Human Development Index in Nigeria.[12]

  1. ^ See List of governors of Abia State for a list of prior governors
  2. ^ "Abia State: Subdivision". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b Okeowo, Gabriel; Fatoba, Iyanuoluwa, eds. (13 October 2022). "State of States 2022 Edition" (PDF). Budgit.org. BudgIT. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  5. ^ Nigeria, Media (2 December 2023). "Which States Share Border With Abia State". Media Nigeria. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  6. ^ "History of Abia State Nigeria". Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Aba | History & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  8. ^ Esochaghi, Gift; Bukola (14 May 2023). "Aba: Once Abandoned Commercial City Undergoes Regeneration". New Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  9. ^ Owoh, Uzondu Roy (7 May 2023). "Figure 1. Map of abia State showing the 17 local government areas". ResearchGate. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  10. ^ "This is how the 36 states were created". Pulse.ng. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Abia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Human Development Indices". Global Data Lab. Retrieved 15 December 2021.