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Concept
Imo State
Summary
Imo State (Ȯra Imo) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo River which flows along the state's eastern border. The state capital is Owerri and its state nickname is the "Eastern Heartland."
Of the 36 states, Imo is the third smallest in area but is fourteenth most populous with an estimated population of over 5.4 million as of 2016. Geographically, the State is divided between the Niger Delta swamp forests in the far east and the drier Cross–Niger transition forests in the rest of the State. Other key geographical features are the state's rivers and lakes with the Awbana, Imo, Orashi, and Otamiri rivers along with the Oguta Lake in western Imo State.
Modern-day Imo State has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, primarily the Igbo people with the Igbo language serving as a lingua franca alongside English throughout the State. In the pre-colonial period, what is now Imo State was a part of medieval Kingdom of Nri and the later Aro Confederacy before the latter was defeated in the early 1900s by British troops in the Anglo-Aro War. After the war, the British incorporated the area into the Southern Nigeria Protectorate which later merged into British Nigeria in 1914; after the merger, Imo became a centre of anti-colonial resistance during the Women's War.
After independence in 1960, the area of the present-day Imo was a part of the post-independence Eastern Region until 1967 when the region was split and the area became part of the East Central State. Less than two months afterwards, the former Eastern Region attempted to secede in the three-year long Nigerian Civil War with Imo as a part of the secessionist, Igbo nationalist state of Biafra. The area was hard fought over throughout the war with Owerri and its surrounding area exchanging hands twice before Owerri was named the Biafran capital in 1969.
Official source
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