town, Ondo state, southwestern Nigeria, at the southern edge of the Yoruba Hills (elevation 1,130 feet 【344 m】) and at the intersection of roads from Akure, Kabba, Benin City, and Siluko. A major collecting point for cocoa, it also serves as a market centre (yams, cassava 【manioc】, corn 【maize】, rice, palm oil and kernels, pumpkins, okra). Cotton and teak are cultivated in the surrounding area, which was originally covered with dense tropical rain forest. Owo has secondary schools, a Federal Polytechnic, St. John's Teacher Training College, a government trade institute, a museum, and several hospitals. Pop. (2006) local government area, 218,886.