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, 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. (1989 est.) 193,900.