Ondo State is a state in Nigeria created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It originally included what is now Ekiti State, which was split off in 1996. Akure is the state capital.

Ondo state borders Ekiti state to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to the southeast, Ogun State to the southwest, and Osun State to the northwest.

The ethnic composition of Ondo State is largely from the Yoruba subgroups of the Akoko, Akure, Okitipupa, Irele, Ilaje, Ondo, and Owo peoples. Ijaw such as Apoi and Arogbo populations inhabit the coastal areas, and a sizable number of the Ondo State people who speak a variant of the Yoruba language similar to Ife dialect reside in Oke-Igbo.