About Nigeria

Location: West Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon

Area: total: 923,768 sq km

water: 13,000 sq km

land: 910,768 sq km

Climate: varies, equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north

Natural

Resources: natural gas, petroleum, tin, columbite, iron ore,

coal, limestone, lead, zinc, arab land

Population: 129,934,911

Population

Growth rate: 2.54%

Birth Rate: 39.22 births/1,000

Death Rate: 14.1 deaths/1,000

Infant

Mortality Rate: 72.49 deaths/1,000 live births

Nationality: Nigerian(s)

Ethnic Groups: there are more than 25 ethnic groups, the most populous and politically influential are: 29% Hausa and Fulani, 21% Yoruba,18% Igbo (Ibo), 10% Ijaw, 4% Kanuri, 3.5% Ibibio, 2.5% Tiv

Religion: 50% Muslim, 40% Christianity, 10% Indigenous beliefs

Languages: English (official) Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 57.1%

male: 67.3%

female: 47.3%

Country Name: conventional long form: Federal Republic of Nigeria

conventional short form: Nigeria

Flag: three vertical stripes- emerald green, immaculate white, and emerald green. The green represents agriculture and the white represents unity and peace.

Government type: republic transforming from military to civilian rule

Capital: Abuja; note- on December 12, 1991 the capital was officially transferred from Lagos to Abuja.

Independence: October 1, 1960 from the United Kingdom

Constitution: new constitution adopted May 1999

Legal System: based on English common law, Islamic Shariah law (only in some northern states),

and traditional law

GDP: purchasing power parity - $105.9 billion (2001 est.)

GDP – per capita: purchasing power parity - $840 (2001 est.)

Population Below

Poverty Line: 45% (2000 est.)

Agricultural

Products: cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber,

cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, timber, fish

Currency: naira (NGN)

Exchange rates: naira per US dollar – 115 (January 2002), 101.697 (2000), 92.338 (1999),

21.886 (1998), 21.886 (1997)

for current exchange rate click on Bloomberg.com: Currency Calculator

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source: CIA - World Fact Book 2002 - Nigeria