Cross River (native name: Oyono) is the main

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

in southeastern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

and gives its name to Cross River State. It originates in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

, where it takes the name of the Manyu River. Although not long by African standards its

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

has high rainfall and it becomes very wide. Over its last to the sea it flows through swampy

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...

with numerous creeks and forms an inland delta near its confluence with the Calabar River, about wide and long between the cities of Oron on the west bank and

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and ...

, on the east bank, more than from the open sea. The delta empties into a broad estuary which it shares with a few smaller rivers. At its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean, the estuary is wide. The eastern side of the estuary is in the neighbouring country of Cameroon. The major tributary of Cross river is the river Aloma coming from Benue State to merge with the Cross River in Cross River State. Cross River State is connected with a major highway to its sister state Akwa Ibom. The distance between Oron and Calabar is by boat and about by road. The population of the lower Cross River traditionally use water transport and Calabar has long had a major

seaport A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

, in the Calabar River about from its confluence with the Cross River and about from the sea. The Itu bridge on the Cross River is along Itu-Calabar highway and is reported to be one of the landmark achievements of the

Gowon Gowon or Go Won may refer to: * Yakubu Gowon (born 1934), head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria 1966-1975 * Kowon County, North Korea * "Go Won", a single formally introducing the eleventh member of Loona * Go Won, singer in South Kore ...

administration when it was completed in 1975. Кросс-ривер

The Cross River forms a boundary between two tropical moist forest

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas o ...

s: the Cross-Niger transition forests, which lie west of the river between the Cross and

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesCross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests, which lie to the east between the Cross River and the Sanaga River of Cameroon. The average annual rainfall varies from 1,760 mm in the northern part of the state to 3,100 mm in the southern part (WSSSRP II 2016). Cross River state contingent

Cross River also gives its name to a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

and a family of languages. The Cross River Region is of great historical importance, being a) adjacent to the likely homeland from which

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language *Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for Nationali ...

speaking people migrated across most of Sub-Saharan Africa 3000-5000 years ago, b) the location of where the Nsibidi Script was created, and c) the location of Calabar, one of the largest centres during the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and ...

References

External links

Nigerian Tourism, Cross Rivers State

Little genetic differentiation as assessed by uniparental markers in the presence of substantial language variation in peoples of the Cross River region of Nigeria

Rivers of Nigeria Cross River State Rivers of Cameroon ca:Riu Cross {{Nigeria-river-stub