Rivers State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria. Its capital is Port Harcourt. It is bounded on the South by the Atlantic Ocean, to the North by Imo and Abia States, to the East by Akwa Ibom State and to the West by Bayelsa and Delta states.
The inland part of Rivers state consists of tropical rainforest; towards the coast the typical Niger Delta environment features many mangrove swamps.
Rivers state was part of the Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 till 1893, when it became part of the Niger Coast Protectorate. In 1900 the region was merged with the chartered territories of the Royal Niger Company to form the colony of Southern Nigeria.
The state was formed in 1967 with the split of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. Until 1996 the state contained the area which is now in the Bayelsa State.
Rivers State is divided into twenty-three Local Government Areas (LGAs):
Rivers State is the second largest economy in the Nigeria after Lagos State which is the first. It had a total GDP in US$ of US$21,073,410,422 which is larger than most national GDP's in the African Continent. The State has two major Refineries, Two major Seaports, Airports, and various Industrial Estates spread across the State particularly in the State capital.