Rivers State (Nickname: Treasure Base of the Nation)

Delta State

Coordinates

Country

Capital

Governor

Area

Population

Time zone

ISO 3166 code  

Website 

4°45′N 6°50′E

Nigeria

Port Harcourt

Chibuike Amaechi (PDP)

11,077 km2 (4,276.9 sq mi)

6,689,087

WAT (UTC+01)

NG-RI

riversstate.gov.ng


 

Rivers State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria. Its capital is Port Harcourt also known as "Igwe-ocha", It is bounded on the South by the Atlantic Ocean, to the North by Imo, Abia and Anambra States, to the East by Akwa Ibom State and to the West by Bayelsa and Delta states. Rivers state is predominantly Ikwerre clan, an Igbo subgroup in "Population" and "Land Mass" and also small amounts of Ijaw, Ogoni etc in its coastal areas. The Executive Governor of Rivers State is Chibuike Amaechi, an Ikwere Clan Native.

The inland part of Rivers state consists of tropical rainforest; towards the coast the typical Niger Delta environment features many mangrove swamps.

Rivers state, names after the many rivers that border its territory was part of the Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 till 1893, when it became part of the Niger Coast Protectorate. In 1900 the region was merged with the chartered territories of the Royal Niger Company to form the colony of Southern Nigeria.

The state was formed in 1967 with the split of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. Until 1996 the state contained the area which is now in the Bayelsa State.

Administrative divisions

Rivers State is divided into twenty-three Local Government Areas (LGAs):

Abua/Odual
Ahoada East
Ahoada West
Akuku-Toru
Andoni
Asari-Toru
Bonny
Degema
Eleme
Emohua
Etche
Gokana
Ikwerre
Khana
Obio-Akpor
Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni
Ogu/Bolo
Okrika
Omuma
Opobo/Nkoro
Oyigbo
Port Harcourt
Tai

 

Economy

Rivers State has one of the largest economies in Nigeria, mainly because of its crude oil. The State has two major refineries, two major seaports, airports, and various industrial estates spread across the state, particularly in the State capital.

Education

In 1999 the state had 2,805 Government primary schools and 243 secondary schools. The secondary schools are concentrated mainly in LGA headquarter towns and in Port Harcourt. Tertiary institutions include the University of Port Harcourt, established by the Federal Government in 1975, the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Choba, Port Harcourt, founded in 1980 by the State government, the School of Health Technology, Port Harcourt, established by the State government, the federally-owned polytechnic at Omoku and the state-owned Rivers State Polytechnic at Bori, the State College of Education at Rurnuolumeni, Nkpolu Oroworukwo and Ndele and the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Rumueme, Port Harcourt. The Rivers State College of Arts and Science in Port Harcourt gained polytechnic status in 2006.