State: Gombe

Gombe State sits in Nigeria’s northeast, with Gombe city as its capital. It was created on 1 October 1996, cut out of the old Bauchi State.

The state borders Borno and Yobe near the Gongola River and Lake Dadin Kowa to the north, Taraba to the south, Adamawa to the southeast, and Bauchi to the west.

Fulani communities dominate the north and center of the state, while the Tangale people are strongest in the south and central areas. Hausa, Longuda, Dadiya, Waja, Tera, and Kanuri groups round out the population.

Farming drives the economy, with sorghum, maize, groundnuts, millet, beans, rice, and tomatoes grown mainly in the central and southern parts of the state. Livestock herding and services add to that, and the state also sits on deposits of uranium, gypsum, and limestone that remain largely untapped.

The Gongola River and Lake Dadin Kowa dominate the state’s landscape in the north, while the Muri Mountains rise in the south, offering some of the more scenic terrain in Nigeria’s northeast.

Amina J. Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, comes from Gombe, along with former Communications Minister Isa Ali Pantami, ex-governor and senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, and novelist Helon Habila.