South East (Nigeria)

South East
Geopolitical Zone
Country	Nigeria
States	Abia State Anambra State Ebonyi State Enugu State Imo State
Largest city	Onitsha
Major cities	Aba Enugu Owerri Nnewi Umuahia Awka Abakaliki Nsukka
Area
• Total	29,388 km2 (11,347 sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (WAT)
Major languages	English Ezaa Idoma Igala Igbo Ikwo Izi Mgbo Nigerian Sign Language Ngwa

The South East (often written as South-East) is the one of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria representing both a geographic and political region of the country's inland southeast. It comprises five states – Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo.

The zone is bounded by the River Niger on the west, the riverine Niger Delta on the south, the flat North Central to the north, and the Cross River on the east. It is divided between the Cross–Niger transition forests ecoregions in the south and the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic in the drier north. Culturally, the vast majority of the zone falls within Igboland–the indigenous cultural homeland of the Igbo people, a group which makes up the largest ethnic percentage of the southeastern population.

Although the South East is the smallest geopolitical zone, it contributes greatly to the Nigerian economy due to oil and natural gas reserves along with a growing industrialized economy. The region has a population of about 36 million people, around 18% of the total population of the country. Onitsha and Aba are the two most populous cities in the South East. Other large southeastern cities include Umuahia, Owerri, Nnewi, Awka, and Abakaliki.^[1]

The South East is predominantly Igbo ethnically and linguistically. Various Igbo subgroups and their dialects in South East are: Owerri people, Mbaise people, Nkanu people, Ngwa people, Omambala people, Nsukka people, Enuani people, Ezza people, Afikpo people, Arochukwu people, Oguta people, Aguata/Orumba, Okigwe people, Egbema people, Izzi people, Effium people, Idemili people, Agbaja people, Ikwo people, Ndoki people, Abriba people, Ohafia people Orlu people, Ohaji people,Ohaozara people, Anaedo people and many others