Enugu State

Enugu (Igbo: Alaọha Enugwu, verbally pronounced as "Enugwu" by the Igbo indigenes) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi to the east and southeast, Abia to the south, and Anambra to the west. The state takes its name from its capital and largest city, Enugu. The city acquired township status in 1917 and was called Enugwu-Ngwo. Due to the rapid expansion towards areas owned by other indigenous communities, it was renamed Enugu in 1928. Of the 36 states, Enugu is the 29th largest in area and 22nd most populous with an estimated population of over 4.4 million as of 2016. Geographically, the state is divided between the Niger Delta swamp forests in the far south and the drier Guinean forest–savanna mosaic with some savanna in the rest of the state. Other important geographical features are the Udi-Nsukka Plateau and Ekulu River, which flows through the city of Enugu. Modern-day Enugu State has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, primarily the Igbo people with minorities of Idoma, Hausa people, Yoruba people and Igala peoples in Etteh Uno, a community in Igbo Eze North Local Government Area. In the pre-colonial period, what is now Enugu State was a part of the medieval Kingdom of Nri and the Arochukwu-based 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 was later merged into British Nigeria in 1914; after the merger, Enugu became a symbol of anti-colonial resistance after the 1949 massacre of striking coal miners in the Iva Valley. After independence in 1960, the area of what is now Enugu was a part of...