The importance of tertiary services in the functional structure of rural settlements: a case study of the Awka-Nnewi region of Nigeria

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Periodical article

Title:	The importance of tertiary services in the functional structure of rural settlements: a case study of the Awka-Nnewi region of Nigeria
Author:	Okafor, F.C.
Year:	1981
Periodical:	The Nigerian Geographical Journal
Volume:	24
Issue:	1-2
Pages:	131-145
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	rural society service industries
Abstract:	Centrality is a geographical concept meant to focus attention on the location of a place and the focal character of its human activities. The present study focuses on the agents of centrality, by examining the importance of nonfarm activities in the hierarchical structure of some rural service centres in the Awka-Nnewi region of Anambra State, Nigeria. Data were obtained through a detailed field study conducted in fifteen settlements in 1976-1977. Four sets of occupational and employment data were used to establish the functional hierarchy of the settlements. These are: percentage of the adult population in nonfarm employment, number of people employed in rural industries, number of lockup stalls in the daily market, and the number of stranger elements in each settlement. A positive correlation was found between population and the importance of settlements as centres for nonfarm activities, with some anomalies, explicable by the interaction of settlement history, physical environment, and accessibility. Bibliogr.