Talk:Ushongo

Ushongo Local Government, Benue State, Nigeria

Ushongo is located between latitude 6° 30!N and 8° 23!N; and Longitude 7°00! E and 9°50! E It has a nodal structure with intra- state and inter-state roads interconnecting the area. Ushongo local government is bounded in the North by Gboko and Buruku Local Government Areas and Katsina-Ala to the northeast. To the south by, Vandeikya Local Government, with Kwande and Konshisha Local Government Areas to East and West respectively. It covers an area of about 400sqkm. The major relief features in the area include Ushongo Hills and streams such as: Igor, Iyaav and Igbo with their sources taken from Ushongo hills.

The soils of Ushongo local government area are sandy, coarse in nature with some areas having loamy soils and alluvia soils which are found along the stream floodplains and its tributaries, with some traces of clay soils discovered near Igye stream in Atirkyese, reflecting the influence of a tropical continental climate marked by low to moderate seasonal rainfall and consistently high temperatures throughout the year. The rainfall type is convectional in nature with high intensity. Temperature is normally high throughout the year ranging from 280C-350C. The months of March and April record the highest temperatures. During the harmattan, there is a slight cooling effect especially during the nights in the months of December and January (Ndare, 2005). According to 2006 National Population Census, Ushongo Local Government Area has a population of about 188,341. The local government is made up of 11 Council wards. The people are of the Tiv speaking tribe. The Mbagwa district which is the biggest district in the local government contains more than half of the population in the local government area. The people are predominantly farmers and engage in tree-cropping (citrus) form of agriculture. The settlement in the local government area is a scattered type of settlement with mostly farmsteads and hamlets. As farmers, the people of Ushongo live in small compounds near their farms within the vicinity of their paternal group (Ityo). The settlement pattern is largely dispersed with nucleated settlements in few locations. There are areas of low population density with less than 50 persons per sq.km as in the case of farmsteads while some are fairly populated with densities ranging from 150 persons to 400 making up hamlets and villages. Traditional affinity to kinship as well as the desire to expand ownership of land is the major reason for the dispersed nature of settlements. IorwueseIorshagher (talk) 10:50, 27 August 2024 (UTC)