Relief
The physical relief of the State is basically flat.
There are in some areas, valleys, creeks and swamps due to the influence of the
Atlantic Ocean, the Qua Iboe and the Cross Rivers which traverse the length and
breadth of the State. The State has basically two distinct seasons: The rainy season
lasts from May to October, while the duration of the dry season is November to April.
However, in the coastal areas, rain falls almost all year round. The harmattan,
accompanied by the North-East Wind occurs in December and early January.
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Topography
The landscape of Akwa Ibom is mostly flat. This is because the
underlying geology of the state is predominantly coastal plain sediments. The coastal
nature of the state makes it the natural deposit of mosaic of marine, deltaic, estuarine,
lagoonal and fluvio- lacustrine material.
Around Itu and Ibiono Ibom Local Area Councils, the topography
of the land is undulating with some areas as high as 200 feet above sea level, while
there are in some areas valleys, marshes, ravines and swamps due to influence of
the Atlantic Ocean, Qua Ibo, Imo and the Cross Rivers. On the basis of terrain and
landform types, the State has five major physiographic regions as indicated below.
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Vegetation
The climate of the state allows for favourable cultivation and extraction of agricultural
and forest products such as palm produce, rubber, cocoa, rice, cassava, yam, plantain,
banana, maize, and timber.
There are basically two types of agriculture in Akwa lbom. The
first is the small-scale peasant farming usually practised on family basis, and
which produces food crops such as cassava, maize, rice, yam and cocoyam for family
consumption with the surplus sold in the local markets. The second type of farming
is the estate farming which specialises in growing cash crops such as rubber, cocoa,
rice and oil palm.
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The location of Akwa Ibom just north of the Equator and within the humid tropics
and its proximity to the sea makes the state generally humid. On the basis of its
geographical location the climate of Akwa Ibom State can be described as a tropical
rainy type which experiences abundant rainfall with very high temperature. The mean
annual temperature of the state lies between 26°C and 29°C and acerage sunshine
cumulates to 1,450 hours per year, while mean annual rainfall
ranges from 2.000mm to 3.000 mm, depending on the area. Naturally, maximum humidity
is recorded in July while the minimum occurs in January. Thick cloud cumulonimbus
type is commonly experienced in the months of March to November. Evaporation is
high with annual values that range from 1500 mm to 1800 mm.
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As with every Nigerian coastal area, the state experiences two main seasons, the
wet and the dry seasons. The wet or rainy season lasts between eight to nine months
starting from mid- march till the end of November. The dry season has a short duration
of between the last week of November or early December and lasts till early march.
Despite the seasonal variations, by the nature and location of the state along the
coast which exposes it to hot maritime air mass, rainfall is expected every month
of the year.
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Akwa Ibom's 6,900 sq Km land area is located between Cross River, Abia, and
Rivers on the sandy coastal plain of the Gulf of Guinea. It is bordered on the south
by the Atlantic Ocean which stretches from Ikot Abasi to Oron. A sprawling volume
of water seemingly kissing the skyline from flank to flank.
Akwa Ibom State lies between latitude 40 32’ and 5 0 53’ North; and Longitudes 70
25’ and 80 25’ East. In terms of structural make up, Akwa Ibom is triangular in
shape and covers a total land area of 8,412 km2, encompassing the Qua Iboe River
Basin, the western part of the lower Cross River Basin and the Eastern part of the
Imo River Basin. With an ocean front which spans a distance of 129 kilometers from
Ikot Abasi in the west to Oron in the east, Akwa Ibom presents a picture of captivating
coastal, mangrove forest and beautiful sandy beach resorts.
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