Description of Cross River State 

Nigeria's South South geopolitical zone contains the state of Cross River State. The state, which bears its name after the Cross River, was created on May 27, 1967, from the Eastern Region's eastern portion. Its capital is Calabar, and it has borders with Benue State to the north, Ebonyi and Abia States to the west, Akwa Ibom States to the southwest, and Cameroon to the east. The region that is presently Akwa Ibom State, which became a separate state in 1987, was once part of Cross River State, which was first known as the South-Eastern State before being renamed in 1976. 

Cross River is the 27th most populated state out of the 36, with an estimated population of more than 3.8 million as of 2016. It is also the nineteenth largest state in terms of area. Geographically, the state is mostly divided between the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic in the far north and the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests in the majority of the interior. The Central African mangroves in the far-south coastal region and a portion of the montane forests of the Cameroonian Highlands in the far-north are the minor ecoregions. The Cross River, which divides the state's interior and forms a large portion of its western border before emptying into the Cross River Estuary, is the state's most notable geographical feature. The Calabar and Great Kwa rivers, which originate in the interior Oban Hills and flank the city of Calabar before emptying into the Cross River Estuary, are other significant rivers. Several biodiverse protected areas, including as Cross River National Park, Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, and Mbe Mountains Community Forest, are located in the state's forested interior. Along with some of the last remaining populations of Nigeria's Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, drill, African forest elephant, and Cross River gorilla, these wildlife reserves are home to populations of Preuss's red colobus, African forest buffalo, bat hawk, tree pangolin, grey-necked rockfowl, and West African slender-snouted crocodile. 

Several ethnic groups have lived in the present-day Cross River State for hundreds of years, primarily the Efik of the riverside south and Calabar, the Ekoi (Ejagham) of the inland south, the Akunakuna, Boki, Bahumono, and Yakö (Yakurr) of the central region, and the Bekwarra, Bette, Igede, and Ukelle (Kukele) of the northern region. What is now Cross River State was separated into different ethnic groups during the pre-colonial era; part of these groups joined the Aro Confederacy, while the Efik established the Akwa Akpa (Old Calabar) city-state. The latter became a British protectorate in 1884 as the Oil Rivers Protectorate's capital, but it wasn't until the early 1900s that the British actually secured full control of the entire region. At about the same time, the protectorate—now known as the Niger Coast Protectorate—became a part of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate, which subsequently united with British Nigeria. [10] Following the merger, a large portion of present-day Cross River developed as a hub of anti-colonial resistance during the Women's War and trade via the international seaport at Calabar. 

The territory that is presently Cross River was a part of the Eastern Region upon independence in 1960 until the region was split in 1967, at which point it became a part of the South-Eastern State. Less than two months later, the Igbo-dominated former Eastern Region attempted to secede as the state of Biafra; in the three-year-long Nigerian Civil War, Calabar and its port were hard fought over in Operation Tiger Claw while people from Cross River were persecuted by Biafran forces as they were primarily non-Igbo. The South-Eastern State was reconstructed after the war and Nigeria's reunification, and it remained that such until 1976, when it changed its name to Cross River State. Eleven years later, the western portion of Cross River State was carved off to create the new Akwa Ibom State. The Greentree Agreement required Cameroon to acquire the oil-producing Bakassi Peninsula, which was previously part of the state. 

As an agricultural state, Cross River State's economy is largely dependent on products including cocoyam, rubber, oil palm, yam, cocoa, cashews, and plantains, as well as fishing. Tourism in and surrounding nature reserves, at the historic site of the Ikom Monoliths, at the Calabar Carnival, and at Obudu Mountain Resort are important minor enterprises. Cross River is home to many tertiary institutions and has the joint thirteenth-highest Human Development Index in the nation. 

Geography 

The Cross River, which runs through the state, is where Cross River State gets its name. It is a coastal state that is 20,156 square kilometers in size and situated in the Niger Delta. It is bordered to the north by Benue State, to the west by Ebonyi and Abia States, to the east by the Sud-Ouest Province of Cameroon, and to the south by Akwa-Ibom and the Atlantic Ocean. The state has 18 Local Government Councils. 

Agriculture 

About 70% of the state's working force is employed in agriculture, which also contributes significantly to its economic output. The state's agricultural output may be considerably enhanced by investing in infrastructure and cutting-edge inputs including fertilizer, seeds, tools, and agro-chemicals. The main cash crops of Cross River State are oil palms, rubber, and cocoa. The tremendous potential for increasing cocoa agricultural production in Cross River State, Nigeria's second-largest producer of cocoa, presents an alluring investment opportunity. Additionally, the state provides commercial quantities of high-quality oil palm, rubber, and cashews. Other crops include cassava, yams, rice, plantains, bananas, cocoyams, maize/corn, groundnuts/peanuts, mangoes, oranges, sugar canes, and pine apples. 

Tourism

In order to draw domestic and foreign tourists to the state, Cross River State is developing tourism-related infrastructure and activities. The State is very culturally diverse and offers breathtaking tourist attractions like the Cross River National Park, which is home to a variety of rare and endangered animals, Agbokim Waterfalls, The Old Residency Museum, and Obudu Mountain Resort, which boasts breathtaking views of the hilltops rising 5200 feet above sea level, a 4-km cable car ride over the mountains, a canopy walkway through tropical forests, and water parks.