Gombe State

Gombe State (; Fula: 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤺𞤮𞤥𞥆𞤦𞤫 Lesdi Gommbe; Tangale: Kwambe) is a state in northeastern Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Borno in the vicinity of Gongola River and Lake Dadin Kowa and Yobe in the vicinity of Gongola River, to the south by Taraba State, to the southeast by Adamawa State, and to the west by Bauchi State. Gombe is the state capital of Gombe state and it was formed from a part of Bauchi State on 1 October 1996. Of the 36 states in Nigeria, Gombe is the 22nd largest in area and the 32nd most populous, with an estimated population of about 3.25 million as of 2016. The state bears a slogan "Jewel in the Savannah". Geographically, the state is within the tropical West Sudanian savanna ecoregion. Important geographic features include the Gongola River — which flows through Gombe's north and east into Lake Dadin Kowa — and part of the Muri Mountains, a small range in the state's far south. Among the state's nature endowments are a number of snake species, including carpet viper, puff adder, and Egyptian cobra populations along with hippopotamus, Senegal parrot, and grey-headed kingfisher populations. The state is inhabited by various ethnic groups, primarily the Fulani people living in the north and center of the state, and the Tangale, living in the Southern and Central part of the state, while the state's diverse eastern and southern regions are populated by the Cham, Dadiya, Jara, Kamo, Pero, Tangale, Tera, Lunguda and Waja peoples. Religiously, between 65% and 70% of the state's populations are Muslim while the Christian minority comprises between 30% and 35%. In the pre-colonial period, the area that is now Gombe State was split up between various states until the early 1800s when the Fulani jihad...