Biafra (/biˈæfrə/ bee-AF-rə; from Igbo: Bìá fá rá), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 to 1970. Its territory consisted of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria, predominantly inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group. Biafra was established on 30 May 1967 by Igbo military officer and Eastern Region governor Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu under his presidency, following a series of ethnic tensions and military coups after Nigerian independence in 1960 that culminated in the 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom.
The Nigerian military attempted to reclaim the territory of Biafra, resulting in the beginning of the Nigerian Civil War. Biafra was officially recognized as a sovereign and independent country by Gabon, Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, and Zambia while receiving de facto recognition and covert military support from France, Portugal, Israel, South Africa, and Rhodesia. After nearly three years of war, during which around two million Biafran civilians died, president Ojukwu fled into exile in the Ivory Coast as the Nigerian military approached the capital of Biafra. Philip Effiong became the second president of Biafra, overseeing the surrender of Biafran forces to Nigeria.