Federal Republic of Nigeria

President: Olusegun Obasanjo (1999)

Land area: 351,649 sq mi (910,771 sq km); total area: 356,669 sq mi (923,768 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 131,859,731 (growth rate: 2.4%); birth rate: 40.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 97.1/1000; life expectancy: 47.1; density per sq mi: 375

Capital (2003 est.): Abuja, 590,400 (metro. area), 165,700 (city proper)

Largest cities: Lagos (2003 est.), 11,135,000 (metro. area), 5,686,000 (city proper); Kano, 3,329,900; Ibadan, 3,139,500; Kaduna, 1,510,300

Monetary unit: Naira

Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani, and more than 200 others

Ethnicity/race: More than 250 ethnic groups, including Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Ibo 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5%

Religions: Islam 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%

Literacy rate: 68% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $132.9 billion; per capita $1,000. Real growth rate: 5.6%. Inflation: 15.6%. Unemployment: 2.9%. Arable land: 33%. Agriculture: cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; timber; fish. Labor force: 57.21 million; agriculture 70%, industry 10%, services 20% (1999 est.). Industries: crude oil, coal, tin, columbite; palm oil, peanuts, cotton, rubber, wood; hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food products, footwear, chemicals, fertilizer, printing, ceramics, steel, small commercial ship construction and repair. Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc, arable land. Exports: $52.16 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): petroleum and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber. Imports: $25.95 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals. Major trading partners: U.S., Brazil, Spain, China, UK, Netherlands, France, Germany (2004).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 500,000 (2000); mobile cellular: 200,000 (2001). Radio broadcast stations: AM 83, FM 36, shortwave 11 (2001). Radios: 23.5 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 3 (the government controls 2 broadcasting stations and 15 repeater stations) (2002). Televisions: 6.9 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 11 (2000). Internet users: 100,000 (2000).

Transportation: Railways: total: 3,557 km (2002). Highways: total: 194,394 km; paved: 60,068 km (including 1,194 km of expressways); unpaved: 134,326 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 8,575 km consisting of the Niger and Benue rivers and smaller rivers and creeks. Ports and harbors: Calabar, Lagos, Onne, Port Harcourt, Sapele, Warri. Airports: 70 (2002).

International disputes: ICJ ruled in 2002 on the Cameroon-Nigeria land and maritime boundary by awarding the potentially petroleum-rich Bakassi Peninsula and offshore region to Cameroon; Nigeria rejected the cession of the peninsula but the parties formed a Joint Border Commission to peaceably resolve the dispute and commence with demarcation in other less-contested sections of the boundary; several villages along the Okpara River are in dispute with Benin; Lake Chad Commission continues to urge signatories Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over lake region, which remains the site of armed clashes among local populations and militias; Nigeria agreed to ratify the treaty and relinquish sovereignty of disputed lands to Cameroon by December 2003.


 

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