crude oil and natural gas along with agriculture, mainly of yams, maize, taro, oil palm, and cassava. A key minor industry is manufacturing, especially in and around Aba. With its fast growing population and industrialization, Abia has the joint-eighth highest Human Development Index in the country. Geography Abia State occupies about 6,320 square kilometres, it is bounded on the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi. Imo State to the west, Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State to the east and south east respectively, and Rivers State to the south. The southernmost part of the State lies within the Niger Delta Swamp Forests, while the rest of the state, lies within the Cross–Niger transition forests. The southern portion gets heavy rainfall of about per year and it is intense between the months of April through October. The most important rivers in Abia State are the Imo and Aba Rivers which flow into the Atlantic Ocean through Akwa Ibom State. History and population Abia State is one of the thirty-six States in Nigeria, and has about seventeen Local Government Areas, out of the 774 Local Government Areas that make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Abia State was created on the 27th of August 1991, during the government of General Ibrahim Babangida. The State is located in the south-eastern part of Nigeria. Abia state was created out of Imo State, and the two sister states share boundaries. Abia State is known as one of the constituent states of the Niger Delta region. The state has its capital at Umuahia while the commercial city of the state is Aba. Abia State is also referred to as God's own state. The name "Abia" is an abbreviation of four of Abia state's densely populated regions Aba, Bende, Isuikwuato, and Afikpo. The Igbo people, who are one of the indigenous peoples of the South-eastern part of Nigeria, make up 95% of the population. Their traditional language, Igbo, is in widespread use. English is also widely spoken, and serves as the official language in governance and business. In Abia State over 7 million people are mainly Christians. Climate Aba experiences a warm and gloomy wet season as well as a scorching and oppressive dry season. The temperature rarely drops below or rises over throughout the entire year, fluctuating between . The beach/pool score indicates that the best time of year to visit