Warri, town and port, Delta state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the Warri River in the western Niger River delta, 30 miles (48 km) upstream from the port of Forcados on the Bight of Benin. Founded by Prince Ginuwa from Benin (60 miles [97 km] north) in the late 15th century, it grew to become the political and trading capital of the Itsekiri kingdom of Warri (Ouwerre). From the 15th to the 17th century, its obis (“kings”) had considerable contact with the Portuguese, and several converted to Roman Catholicism; they later became quite active in the slave trade. Although Warri switched to the export of palm oil and kernels in the mid-19th century, the kingdom declined and its territory came under British protection in 1884.
Long a market centre for local produce as well as a port, the town has assumed new economic importance with the discovery of natural gas and petroleum in the area. A Petroleum Training Institute opened there in 1972, and in 1978 Warri became the site of Nigeria’s second petroleum refinery. An oil-products pipeline runs from the refinery to Kaduna and Kano in northern Nigeria. At nearby Aladja, an integrated steel plant, designed to make greater Warri one of the leading steel centres in the country, opened in 1981. Warri town has furniture and soft-drink factories, secondary schools, trade schools, government hospitals, and a handicraft centre. Pop. (2006) local government area, 557,398.