South SouthTreasure Base of the Nation

Rivers State

Rivers is a state in Nigeria's South South geopolitical zone.

Abua/Odual · selected

Sub-national administrative units

Local government areas (23)

23 constitutional tier-3 units

Geopolitical synthesis

Rivers is a state in Nigeria's South South geopolitical zone.

Quick facts

State overview

Port Harcourt · Bonny · Okrika

Rivers' nickname reflects its central role in Nigeria's oil and gas economy, centred on Port Harcourt.
Port Harcourt was founded in 1912 as a railway terminus and export port for Enugu coal, before oil later became the dominant industry.
Ekine, known as Sekiapu, is the masquerade and performance society central to Kalabari culture.
Buguma
The Amanyanabo is the king of the Kalabari, seated at Buguma.
Buguma
King Jaja founded Opobo in 1870 after breaking from Bonny and was exiled by the British in 1887.
Opobo
The Ogoni of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme drew international attention through the 1990 Ogoni Bill of Rights and Ken Saro-Wiwa's activism.
Ogoniland

Eastern Ijaw and Degema (Kalabari, Okrika, Bonny, Opobo)
6 LGAs
Eastern Ijaw kingdoms of the Rivers creeks, including Kalabari, Okrika, Bonny and Opobo, plus the Degema.
Etche, Ekpeye, Ogba and Omuma
5 LGAs
Igbo-related communities of northern and central Rivers State.
Ikwerre
4 LGAs
Ikwerre communities, indigenous to Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor and to the Ikwerre and Emohua areas.
Ogoni
4 LGAs
The four Ogoni-linked LGAs of south-eastern Rivers State.
Obolo (Andoni)
2 LGAs
Obolo (Andoni) communities across the Rivers/Akwa Ibom coast.

Port Harcourt Metropolis
Rivers State's capital and Nigeria's oil-industry hub, built as a colonial coal/rail port and now the centre of the Niger Delta petroleum economy.