The Mid-Western Region was a division of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

from 1963 to 1991, from 1976 being known as the Bendel state. It was formed in June 1963 from

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

and

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

provinces of the Western Region, and its capital was

Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...

. It was renamed a province in 1966, and in 1967 when the other provinces were divided into several states, it remained territorially intact, becoming a state. During the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

, the Biafran forces invaded the new Mid-Western state, en route to Lagos, in an attempt to force a quick end to the war. While under Biafran occupation, the state was declared the " Republic of Benin". As Nigerian forces retook the region, the republic collapsed only a day after the declaration when Nigerian troops captured Benin City. In 1976, the state was renamed Bendel. It was divided into

Delta State Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...

and

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

in 1991.

Demographics

The region was composed of the old Benin and Delta Provinces. The Benin provinces had Owan, Ishan, Bini, and Afenmai/Etsako speaking people while the Delta province had Okpe, Ijaws, Isekiri, Urhobo, Isoko and Igbo (Ukwuani) speaking people excluding Ika and Aniocha.

Economy

The region had a timber and rubber industry in Sapele which was also supported by a port. In addition, it produced palm related products, maize, beans and other food produce for household consumption. In the Southern Delta province, oil was discovered and was positioned to benefit the region.

References

* Former Nigerian administrative divisions States and territories established in 1963 {{EdoNG-geo-stub