is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
It borders Cross River State to the east, Rivers State and Abia State to the west and north-west,
and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.
The state takes its name from the Qua Iboe River which bisects the state before flowing into the Bight of Bonny.
Akwa Ibom was split from Cross River State in 1987. The state has 31 local government areas, and its capital is Uyo.

Of the 36 states, Akwa Ibom is the 30th largest in area and fifteenth most populous,
with an estimated population of nearly 5.5 million as of 2016.Geographically,
the state is divided between the Central African mangroves in the coastal far south and the Cross–Niger transition forests
in the rest of the state.
Other important geographical features are the Imo and Cross rivers which flow along Akwa Ibom’s eastern and western borders
respectively while
the Kwa Ibo River bisects the state before flowing into the Bight of Bonny.
In the southeast corner of the state is the Stubb Creek Forest Reserve, a heavily threatened wildlife reserve that contains declining crocodile,
putty-nosed monkey,
red-capped mangabey, and Sclater’s guenon populations

along with potentially extirpated populations of African leopard and Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee Offshore,
the state is also biodiverse as there are large fish populations alongside various cetacean species, including bottlenose dolphins, pantropical
spotted dolphins, humpback whales,
and killer whales.
[citation needed]

Modern-day Akwa Ibom State has been inhabited by various ethnic groups for hundreds of years, primarily the closely related Ibibio, Annang,
and Oron peoples in the North-East, North-West,
and Southern zones of the state, respectively.
Economically, Akwa Ibom State is based around the production of crude oil and natural gas as highest oil-producing state in the country.
Key minor industries involve agriculture as the state
has substantial cocoyam, yam, and plantain crops along with fishing and heliciculture.
Despite its vast oil revenues,
Akwa Ibom has the seventeenth highest Human Development Index in the country in large part due to years of systemic corruption .