The South South (often hyphenated to the South-South) is the one of the six

geopolitical zones of Nigeria The Federal Republic of Nigeria is divided into six geopolitical zones, commonly just called zones. They are a type of administrative division grouping the country's states, created during the regime of president General Sani Abacha. Nigerian e ...

representing both a geographic and political region of the country's eastern coast. It comprises six states –

Akwa Ibom Akwa Ibom State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The state takes its name from the Qua Ib ...

Bayelsa Bayelsa is one of the states in the South-South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. Yena ...

, Cross River,

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

, Edo, and Rivers. The zone stretches along the

Atlantic seaboard The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

from the Bight of Benin coast in the west to the

Bight of Bonny The Bight of Biafra (known as the Bight of Bonny in Nigeria) is a bight off the West African coast, in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Guinea. Geography The Bight of Biafra, or Mafra (named after the town Mafra in southern Portugal), betwee ...

coast in the east. It encloses much of the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

, which is instrumental in the environment and economic development of the region. Geographically, the zone is divided with the

Central African mangroves The Central African mangroves ecoregion consists of the largest area of mangrove swamp in Africa, located on the coasts of West Africa, mainly in Nigeria. Location and description These mangroves are found in fertile rivermouths and lagoons and ...

in the coastal far south while the major inland ecoregions are–from east to west–the

Cross–Sanaga–Bioko coastal forests The Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of west-central Africa. This is lush forest rich in flora and birdlife. Location and description The region includes the lowland and coastal forests of southe ...

Cross–Niger transition forests The Cross–Niger transition forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southeastern Nigeria, located between the Niger River on the west and the Cross River on the east. Once a rich mixture of tropical forest and savanna woodland ...

Niger Delta swamp forests The Niger Delta swamp forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in southern Nigeria. It consists of freshwater swamp forests in the Niger Delta of the Niger River. This swamp forest is the second largest in Africa, after the Congolian swamp f ...

, and

Nigerian lowland forests The Nigerian lowland forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in southwestern Nigeria and southeastern Benin. The ecoregion is densely populated, and home to several large cities including Lagos, Ibadan, and Benin City. There is still signifi ...

. Although the South South represents only ~5% of Nigerian territory, it contributes greatly to the Nigerian economy due to extensive oil and natural gas reserves. The region has a population of about 26 million people, around 12% of the total population of the country. Port Harcourt and Benin City are the most populous cities in the South South as well as the fourth and fifth most populous cities in Nigeria. Port Harcourt and its suburbs, together called Greater Port Harcourt, form the largest metropolitan area in the zone with about 3 million people; other large South-South cities include (in order by population)

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial ...

Uvwie Uvwie (/hu-we-ɛ/), is a principal Urban Local Government Area in Delta State. It lies along the Warri River and it is one of the twenty-four Urhobo Kingdoms. The entirety of the LGA is conurbated with the city of Warri, making it a greater p ...

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 c ...

, Uyo,

Ikot Ekpene Ikot Ekpene, also known as The Raffia City, is a historic town in south-southern state of Akwa Ibom. It is the political and cultural capital of the Annang ethnic group in Nigeria (Nair, 1972). The town is located on the A342 highway that par ...

Ugep Ugep (also Umor) is a town in Cross River State, southern Nigeria. The village is populated by the Yakurr people. Ugep as it is popularly known is one of the unit that constitute Yakurr, its indigenes speak the Lokaa Language which is the gene ...

Sapele ''Entandrophragma cylindricum'' is a tree of the genus '' Entandrophragma'' of the family ''Meliaceae''. It is commonly known as sapele or sapelli ( ) or sapele mahogany, as well as aboudikro, assi, and muyovu. Origin of the name The name ''sa ...

Buguma Buguma City is a larger town in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is the headquarters of the Asari-Toru Local Government Area and base of the Kalabari Kingdom, a Nigerian traditional state There are many traditional states in Nigeria. A partial list ...

Uromi Uromi,the real word is Urọnmhun meaning "this is my abode ",or my enclave is a city located in north-eastern Esan people, Esan, a subEthnic group, -ethnic group of the Benin in Edo state, Nigeria. At various points in Uromi's history, the cit ...

, Ughelli, Ikom, and Asaba.

History

The South South Region was created from both the Western and Eastern regions of Nigeria in 1997 through the recommendation of Alex Ekwueme panel , by the regime of General

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

. Edo and Delta states formerly Bendel state from the Western region, while

, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross river states from the Eastern region.

Languages

Ibibio Ibibio may refer to: * Ibibio language * Ibibio people * Ibibio Sound Machine, an English electronic afro-funk band who sing in Ibibio See also * Ibiblio ibiblio (formerly SunSITE.unc.edu and MetaLab.unc.edu) is a "collection of collections" ...

** Annang ** Efik-Ibibio ** Oro language **

Obolo language Obolo (or Andoni) is a major Cross River language of Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa ...

** Izon **

Ogbia Ogbia is a Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Ogbia in the south of the area at . It has an area of 695 km and a population of 179,926. It is well known for its hi ...

** Epie * Cross River ** Efik ** Humono ** Yala ** Nde-nsele-nta ** Boki ** Etung ** Legbo-Agbo ** Ejagham **

Ekoi "Ekoi" or "Ejagham" may refer to: * Ekoi people, a group of people found in south-eastern Nigeria, also known as Ejagham * Ekoid languages, the language spoken by the Ekoi people of south-eastern Nigeria * Ekoi mythology The primary traditional ...

Ekajuk The Kajuk language, ''Ekajuk'' (also spelled ''Akajo'' and ''Akajuk''), is an Ekoid language (of the Niger–Congo family) spoken in the Cross River State and some surrounding regions of Nigeria. The Ekajuk are one of several peoples who use t ...

** Yakurr ** Efut *

** Enuani ** Urhobo ** Isoko ** Ika ** Ukwuani **

Itsekiri The Itsekiri (also called the Isekiri, ''i Jekri'', ''Itsekri'', ''Ishekiri'', or Itsekhiri) are one of the Yoruboid subgroup of Nigeria's Niger Delta area, Delta State. The Itsekiris presently number 2.7 million people and live mainly in the ...

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

** Ndokwa ** Yoruba ** Izon etc. * Edo ** Esan **

Etsako The Anglican Diocese of Etsako was created and inaugurated on the 14th March, 2007 and is one of 13 Dioceses within the Anglican Province of Bendel, itself one of 14 provinces within the Church of Nigeria The Church of Nigeria is the Anglican ch ...

** Ika Igbanke ** Bini * Rivers **

Andoni Andoni is a Local Government Area in Rivers State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is at NgoTown. It has an area of over 233 km and a population of over 311,500 at the last census. The postal code of the area is 504. The current Executive Chairman ...

Okrika Okrika is an island in Rivers State, Nigeria, capital of the Local Government Area of the same name. The town is situated on an island south of Port Harcourt, making it a suburb of the much larger city. The average elevation of Okrika is 452 ...

** Kalabari ** Engenni ** Ikwerre ** Ogba **

Etche Etche is one of the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State and amongst the 13 federal constituencies representing River State in Nigeria's National Assembly and part of the Rivers East Senatorial District.Okehiis the Council Headquarters and po ...

. ** Ekpeye ** Ndoki **

** Ukwuani ** Egbema **

ijaw Ijaw may refer to: *Ijaw people The Izon people or Izon Otu, otherwise known as the Ijaw people due to the historic mispronunciation of the name ''Izon'', are an ethnic group majorly found in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, with significant populatio ...

** Nkoro ** Ogoni ** Degema ** Abua ** Odual There are multiple different tribes in this area such as Ika, itshekiri Ukwuani Aniocha, Ijaw, Urhobo, Isoko, Ozanogogo, and Abavo.

References

Subdivisions of Nigeria {{Nigeria-geo-stub