Guma is a

Local Government Area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

Benue State Benue is a State in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria. It is popularly referred to as part of the Middle belt. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in List of Nigerian states by population, the 2006 census. ...

, North Central Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Gbajimba. It has an area of 2,882 km and a population of 191,599 at the 2006

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

. The

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

of the area is 970.

History

The Guma Local Government Area was established by the Makurdi Local Government in May 1989. The newly elected governor of

in the April 11th, 2015 governorship

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

, Chief Dr. Samuel Ortom hails from Guma.

Geography

Climate

Guma Local Governments Area has a total land area of 2,882 km2, and the Guma River runs through its borders. Guma LGA's average annual

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

is 29 degrees

Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

, and the region receives an average of 1,850 mm of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

per year. Guma Local Government Area's

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

level is 61 percent on average. With a

landmass A landmass, or land mass, is a large region or area of land that is in one piece and not noticeably broken up by oceans. The term is often used to refer to lands surrounded by an ocean or sea, such as a continent or a large island. In the fiel ...

of 2,882 square kilometers, Guma local government area is situated in the northern region of Benue State. It is situated at latitudes 06° 33' and 07° 03' North and longitudes 07°60' and 08° 12' East.

Economy

The main source of income for the residents of Guma LGA is

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, and a wide variety of crops, including

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, yams,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

, and

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

, are produced there in sizable quantities.

Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

, and byrite are only a few of the abundant

mineral resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

found in the LGA. Additionally, Guma LGA is home to a number of markets where a range of goods are bought and sold, including the Abinsi and Agasha markets. Blacksmithing and

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

are two more significant economic pursuits of the people of Guma Local Government Area.

Localities

Towns and Villages under Guma Local Government Areas. * Abinsi * Achuwa * Agaku * Agasha * Agu * Akahana * Akumba * Akure * Akurungu * Angula * Anzum * Aondo * Badev * Chiata * Chivir * Chongke * Gaval * Gbajimba * Gogo * Gyushage * Ihalav * Kaambe * Kopii * Major Musa * Mbabai * Mbawa * Mbayer/Yandev * Nyiev * Nzorov * Saghev * Ukpiam * Uvir

References

Local Government Areas in Benue State {{Benue-geo-stub