Abia State

Abia
Nicknames: 
God's Own State
Igbo: Ọ̀hà nke Chineke
Location of Abia State in Nigeria
Coordinates: 5°25′N 7°30′E / 5.417°N 7.500°E / 5.417; 7.500
Country Nigeria
Date created27 August 1991 (1991-08-27)
CapitalUmuahia
Government
  BodyGovernment of Abia State
  GovernorAlex Otti (LP)
  Deputy GovernorIkechukwu Emetu (LP)
  LegislatureAbia State House of Assembly
  Senators
Central: Austin Akobundu (PDP)
  RepresentativesList
Area
  Total
6,320 km2 (2,440 sq mi)
  Rank32
Population
 (2022 est)
  Total
4,143,100
  Density660/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
DemonymAbians
GDP (PPP)
  Year2021
  Total$22.83 billion
18th of 36
  Per capita$5,351
9th of 36
Time zoneUTC+01 (WAT)
Postal code
440001
Dialing Code+234
ISO 3166 codeNG-AB
LanguageIgbo
English
HDI (2022)0.622
medium · 10th of 37
Websiteabiastate.gov.ng

Abia is a state in the Southeastern region of Nigeria. The state's capital is Umuahia and its most populous city is Aba.

Abia is bordered the west by Imo, east by Cross River, south by Rivers, northwest by Anambra and northeast by Enugu and Ebonyi. The state is divided between the Niger Delta swamp forests in the south and the Cross–Niger transition forests. The Imo and Aba Rivers flows along the state's western and southern borders respectively. The land for agriculture as well as the production of crude oil and natural gas ranks Abia as the joint-eighth highest Human Development Index in Nigeria since 2019.

Abia's history begins as part of the Aro Confederacy until their defeat in the early 1900s by the British troops during the Anglo-Aro War. After the war, the area was incorporated into the Southern Nigeria Protectorate. After Nigeria's independence in 1960, Abia became part of the post-independence Eastern Region until 1967 before the region was split, and it became part of the East Central State. The Eastern Region attempted to secede in Nigerian Civil War with Abia as part of the secessionist state of Biafra. After the war and the then reunification of Nigeria, the East Central State was merged until 1976 when Imo including Abia, was formed by Murtala Muhammed. Eastern Imo would later become the old Abia State after a split. In 1996, part of Abia's northeast was removed to form a part of the new Ebonyi.

Abia's state legislature is the Abia State House of Assembly. The governors are to serve four years.