Rivers State in the context of "Eastern Region of Nigeria"

Rivers State is the sixth-largest geographic area in Nigeria according to 2006 census data. The state has an indigenously diverse population with major riverine and upland divisions. The dominant tribes are: Ikwerre, Ogoni, and Ijaw, representing three dominant Ethno-Linguistic blocs in the State, in no particular order (Igboid, Ijoid and Ogoni). Upland Rivers State, covering about 45%, is composed mainly of Ogba & Iwhuruogha / ancient Bini speaking people, and Ogoni . The riverine, including most of the state's towns and villages surrounded by water, is moderately inhabited. It covers approximately 39% of the total land mass and is home to the Ijaw people.

This list refers to the various autochthonous ethnic groups residing within Rivers State's boundaries in addition to its upland and riverine areas.

The Ijaw people, also known as the Izon people, are an ethnic group found in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria, with primary population clusters in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers. They also have significant population clusters in Edo,Ondo. and small parts of Akwa Ibom.

The Ijaw people are located in about 29 of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, primarily across six Nigerian states.Many are found as migrant fishermen in fishing camps and settlements in Benue, and Kogi states and as far west as Sierra Leone, Ghana and as far east as Gabon.

The Ogoni is an ethnic group located in Rivers South-East senatorial district of Rivers State, in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria. They number just over 2 million and live in a 1,050-square-kilometre (404-square-mile) homeland which they also refer to as Ogoniland. They share common oil-related environmental problems with the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta.

The Ogoni rose to international attention after a massive public protest campaign against Shell Oil, led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which is also a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO).

The Edoid languages are a few dozen languages spoken in southern Nigeria. Edoid-speaking ethnic groups are predominantly located in the States of Edo and Delta however, smaller Edoid-speaking communities are also present in the states of Ondo, Bayelsa, and Rivers. The term "Edoid" for the language group derives from its most widely spoken member, Edo, which is natively spoken in Southern Edo. Edoid languages collectively have approximately 10 million primary and secondary speakers.

Anambra Listen (Igbo: Alaọha Anambra) is a state in the Southeastern region of Nigeria bordered by Delta to the west, Imo and Rivers to the south, Enugu to the east and Kogi to the north. Awka is the state's capital while Onitsha is its most populous city.

The state name was inherited from the former Anambra State, a territory that consisted of the present day Enugu State, Anambra State and parts of Ebonyi State. The old Anambra State was formed in 1976 from the former East Central State. The state is named after Omambala River, a river that runs through the state. Anambra is the anglicized form of Omambala. The State capital is Awka. The city of Onitsha, a historic port city from the pre-colonial era, remains an important centre of commerce within the state,while Nnewi is the second largest commercial and industrial city in the state.

Imo (Igbo: Alaọha Imo) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo River which flows along the state's eastern border. The state capital is Owerri and the State's slogan is the "Eastern Heartland."

Of the 36 States in Nigeria, Imo is the third smallest in area, but is the fourteenth most populous, with an estimated population of over 5.4 million as of 2022. Geographically, the state is divided between the Niger Delta swamp forests in the far east and the drier Cross–Niger transition forests in the rest of the state. Other key geographical features are the state's rivers and lakes with the Awbana, Imo, Orashi, and Otamiri rivers along with the Oguta Lake in western Imo State.

Port Harcourt (Pidgin: Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa) is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is located in the oil rich Niger Delta region. As of 2023, Port Harcourt's urban population is approximately 3,480,000. The population of the metropolitan area of Port Harcourt is almost twice its urban area population with a 2015 United Nations estimate of 2,344,000. In 1950, the population of Port Harcourt was 59,752. Port Harcourt has grown by 150,844 since 2015, which represents a 4.99% annual change.

The colonial administration of Nigeria created the port to export coal from the collieries of Enugu located 243 kilometres (151 mi) north of Port Harcourt, to which it was linked by a railway called the Eastern Line, also built by the British.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is a federal government agency that governs and operates the ports of Nigeria. The major ports controlled by the NPA include: the Lagos Port Complex and Tin Can Island Port in Lagos; Calabar Port, Delta Port, Rivers Port at Port Harcourt, and Onne Port. Operations of the NPA are carried out in affiliation with the Presidency of (Nigeria) and the Nigerian Shippers' Council. The Head office of the Nigerian Ports Authority is located in Marina, Lagos.

However, with the concessioning programme of the federal government, which is aimed at promoting efficiency through, public and private partnership, the Nigerian Ports, has since 2005, being concessioned.