Editing Delta State (section)

{{Short description|State of Nigeria}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Use Nigerian English|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->| name               = Delta
| official_name      = 
| type               = [[States of Nigeria|State]]
| image_skyline      = 
| image_alt          = 
| image_caption      = Aerial view of Inter-bau roundabout, Asaba, Delta State
| image_flag         = Delta_State_Flag.gif
| flag_alt           = Flag of Delta State
| flag_size          = 150px
| image_seal         = Seal of delta State.png
| seal_alt           = Seal of Delta State
| nickname           = [[List of Nigerian state nicknames|The Big Heart]]
| image_map          = Nigeria - Delta.svg
| map_alt            = 
| map_caption        = Location of Delta State in Nigeria
| coordinates        = {{coord|5|30|N|6|00|E|type:adm1st_region:NG-DE|display=it}}
| coor_pinpoint      = 
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[Nigeria]]
| established_title  = [[List of Nigerian states by date of statehood|Date created]]
| established_date   = 27 August 1991
| seat_type          = [[List of Nigerian state capitals|Capital]]
| seat               = [[Asaba, Delta|Asaba]]
| government_footnotes = 
| leader_party       = [[All Progressives Congress (Nigeria)|APC]]
| leader_title       = [[Governor of Delta State|Governor]]
| leader_name        = [[Sheriff Oborevwori]]
| leader_title1      = {{nowrap|Deputy Governor}}
| leader_name1       = [[Monday Onyeme]] ([[All Progressives Congress (Nigeria)|APC]])
| leader_title2      = Legislature
| leader_name2       = [[Delta State House of Assembly]]
| leader_title3      = [[Senate of Nigeria|Senators]]
| leader_name3       = {{Nowrap|[[Delta Central Senatorial District|C]]: [[Ede Dafinone]] ([[All Progressives Congress (Nigeria)|APC]])}}<br />{{Nowrap|[[Delta North Senatorial District|N]]: [[Ned Nwoko]] ([[All Progressives Congress (Nigeria)|APC]])}}<br />{{Nowrap|[[Delta South Senatorial District|S]]: [[Joel-Onowakpo Thomas]] ([[All Progressives Congress (Nigeria)|APC]])}}
| leader_title4      = [[Nigerian House of Representatives|Representatives]]
| leader_name4       = [[Nigerian National Assembly delegation from Delta#The 9th Parliament (2023 - 2027)|List]]
| unit_pref          = Metric<!-- or US or UK -->
| area_footnotes     = 
| area_total_km2     = 17698
| area_rank          = [[List of Nigerian states by area|23rd of 36]]
| area_note          = 
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 
| population_footnotes = <ref name="City Population">{{Cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/php/nigeria-admin.php?adm1id=NGA010 |title= PHC Priority Tables – NATIONAL POPULATION COMMISSION|website=population.gov.ng|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref>
| population_total   = 4,112,445
| population_as_of   = 2006 census
| population_est     = 7,840,000<ref>{{Cite web |title=MINA Ijaw Population Report 2024 Estimate {{!}} PDF {{!}} Nigeria |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/834960992/MINA-Ijaw-Population-Report-2024-Estimate |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>
| pop_est_as_of      = 2024
| population_rank    = [[List of Nigerian states by population|15th of 36]]
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_note    = 
| population_demonym = Deltan
| demographics_type1 = [[List of Nigerian states by GDP|GDP (PPP)]]
| demographics1_footnotes = 
| demographics1_title1 = Year
| demographics1_info1 = 2021
| demographics1_title2 = Total
| demographics1_info2 = $40.05&nbsp;billion<ref name="C-GIDD GDP">{{cite web |date=2022-10-13 |editor1-last=Okeowo |editor1-first=Gabriel |editor2-last=Fatoba |editor2-first=Iyanuoluwa |title=State of States 2022 Edition |url=https://yourbudgit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022-State-of-states_Official.pdf |url-status= |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=Budgit.org |publisher=BudgIT |publication-date=2022-10-13}}</ref><br />[[List of Nigerian states by GDP|5th of 36]]
| demographics1_title3 = Per capita
| demographics1_info3 = $6,025<ref name="C-GIDD GDP" /><br />[[List of Nigerian states by GDP|6th of 36]]
| timezone1          = [[West Africa Time|WAT]]
| utc_offset1        = +01
| postal_code_type   = postal code
| postal_code        = 320001
| area_code_type     = Dialing Code
| area_code          = +234
| iso_code           = [[ISO 3166-2:NG|NG-DE]]
| blank_name_sec1    = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] (2022)
| blank_info_sec1    = 0.607<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|website=hdi.globaldatalab.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-13}}</ref><br />{{color|#fc0|medium}} · [[List of Nigerian states by Human Development Index|13th of 37]]
| website            = [http://www.deltastate.gov.ng www.deltastate.gov.ng]
| footnotes          = 
| Largest City       = 
}}
[[File:Asaba roundabout, Asaba, Delta state.jpg|thumb|Asaba roundabout, Asaba, Delta state]]
'''Delta''' is a [[States of Nigeria|state]] in the [[South South (Nigeria)|South-South geopolitical zone]] of [[Nigeria]]. Named after the [[Niger Delta]]—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former [[Bendel State]], on 27 August 1991. It is bordered on the north by [[Edo State]], the east by [[Anambra State|Anambra]] and [[Rivers State|Rivers]] states, and the south by [[Bayelsa State]] while to the west by [[Ondo State]], and the [[Bight of Benin]] which covers about 160 kilometres of the state's [[coastline]]. The state was initially created with 12 local government areas in 1991, but was later expanded to 19 and now has 25 [[Local government areas of Nigeria|local government areas]]. Its capital city is [[Asaba, Delta|Asaba]] which is located along the [[River Niger]] on the northeastern end of the state, while the state's economic center is the city of [[Warri]] on the southwestern coastline.

Of the [[States of Nigeria|36 states]], Delta is the [[List of Nigerian states by area|23rd largest in the area]] and [[List of Nigerian states by population|twelfth most populous]] with an estimated population of over 7.8 million as of 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MINA Ijaw Population Report 2024 Estimate {{!}} PDF {{!}} Nigeria |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/834960992/MINA-Ijaw-Population-Report-2024-Estimate |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref> Geographically, the state is divided between the [[Central African mangroves]] in the coastal southwest and the [[Nigerian lowland forests]] in most of the rest of the state as a small portion of the [[Niger Delta swamp forests]] are in the far south. The other important geographical features are the [[River Niger]] and its distributary, the [[Forçados River]], which flow along Delta's eastern and southern borders, respectively; while fellow Niger distributary, the [[Escravos River]], runs through [[Warri]] and the coastal areas are riddled with dozens of smaller Niger distributaries that make up much of the western [[Niger Delta]]. Much of the state's nature contains threatened [[dwarf crocodile]], [[Grey parrot]], [[African fish eagle]], [[mona monkey]], and [[African manatee]] populations along with potentially extirpated populations of [[African leopard]] and [[Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lameed |first1=GA |title=Potential impact on biodiversity in kwale's forest reserve by power plant establishments |journal=African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development |date=2009 |volume=9 |issue=30 |pages=1878–1900 |doi=10.18697/ajfand.30.1750 |s2cid=240141039 |url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajfand/article/view/50070 |access-date=19 December 2021|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Ogbe–Ijaw market" /> Offshore, the state is also biodiverse as there are populations of [[Lesser African threadfin]], [[crab]]s, and [[blue mussel]] along with various [[Cetacea|cetacean species]].<ref name="Ogbe–Ijaw market">{{cite journal |last1=Ijeomah |first1=HM |last2=Oruh |first2=EK |title=Wildlife based business activities in Ogbe–Ijaw market of Delta state, Nigeria |journal=Journal of Agriculture and Social Research |date=2015 |volume=12 |issue=2 |url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jasr/article/view/112825 |access-date=19 December 2021}}</ref>

What is now Delta State has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, including the [[Isoko people|Isoko]] and [[Eruwa language|Eruwa]] in the centre of the state; [[Ukwuani people|Ukwuani]] in the east; the [[Ika people|Ika]], [[Enuani dialect|Enuani]], and [[Olukumi people|Olukumi]] in the northeast; the [[Anioma people|Anioma]] in the northwest; and the [[Ijaw people|Ijaw]], [[Itsekiri people|Itsekiri]], and [[Urhobo people|Urhobo]], in the southwest. In the pre-colonial period, the now-Delta State was divided into various monarchial states like the [[Kingdom of Warri]],  [[Kingdom of Aboh|Aboh]] and [[Agbon Kingdom]] before the area became a part of the British [[Oil Rivers Protectorate]] in 1884. In the early 1900s, the British incorporated the protectorate (now renamed the [[Niger Coast Protectorate]]) into the [[Southern Nigeria Protectorate]] which later amalgamated into [[British Nigeria]]. However, colonial forces did not gain permanent control of modern-day Delta State until the 1910s, due to the uprisings of the [[Ekumeku Movement]]. Notably, Delta has one of the few parts of Nigeria to have been under French control as the UK leased the [[Enclaves of Forcados and Badjibo|enclave of Forcados]] to France from 1903 to 1930.

After independence in 1960, the area of now-Delta was a part of the post-independence [[Western State (Nigeria)|Western Region]] until 1963 when the region was split and the area became part of the [[Mid-Western Region, Nigeria|Mid-Western Region]]. In 1967, the Biafra, Nigeria|Eastern Region]] attempted to secede as the state of [[Biafra]] and [[Midwest Invasion of 1967|invaded]] the Mid-Western Region in an attempt to capture [[Lagos]] and end the [[Nigerian Civil War|war]] quickly; Biafran forces were halted and eventually pushed back but briefly declared the captured Mid-Western Region (including now-Delta State) as the [[Republic of Benin (1967)|Republic of Benin]].  similarly, upon the liberation of the Mid-West, Nigerian forces committed the [[Asaba massacre]] against ethnic Igbos in [[Asaba, Delta|Asaba]]. At the war's end and the reunification of Nigeria, the [[Mid-Western Region, Nigeria|Mid-Western Region]] was reformed until 1976 when it was renamed [[Bendel State]]. In 1991, Bendel State was split with the north becoming [[Edo State]] and the south becoming Delta State.<ref>{{cite web |title=This is how the 36 states were created |url=https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/nigerian-states-this-is-how-the-36-states-were-created/mdtnq3e |website=Pulse.ng |date=24 October 2017 |access-date=15 December 2021}}</ref>

Economically, Delta State is based around the production of [[crude oil]] and [[natural gas]] as one of the main oil-producing states in the country.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |last1=Akanbi |first1=Festus |title=As Anambra, Kogi Join Oil-producing States |url=https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/09/19/as-anambra-kogi-join-oil-producing-states/ |website=[[ThisDay]] |access-date=15 December 2021}}</ref> Key minor industries involve [[agriculture]] as the state has substantial [[oil palm]], [[Yam (vegetable)|yam]], and [[cassava]] crops along with fishing and [[heliciculture]]. In large part due to its vast oil revenues, Delta has the [[List of Nigerian states by Human Development Index#2019|fourth highest]] [[Human Development Index]] in the country; however, disputes between oil companies and local communities along with years of systemic corruption have led to [[Conflict in the Niger Delta|hostilities]] that are often tied to the lack of development in host communities.<ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=Human Development Indices |url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/ |website=Global Data Lab |access-date=15 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Ebiri |first1=Kelvin |title=Oil-producing communities reek of poverty despite over N10t 13% derivation |url=https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/cover/oil-producing-communities-reek-of-poverty-despite-over-n10t-13-derivation/ |website=The Guardian |date=17 November 2019 |access-date=21 December 2021}}</ref>