Basic Facts

AREA: 927,000 square kilometres, including mangrove swamps and rainforests in the south, woodland savannah in the centre and arid savannha in the extreme north. It borders Benin to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the south, Cameroon to the east and Niger and Chad to the north. - ORIGIN: The various people making up the country had lived independently for many centuries before British colonial conquest in 1900. Northern and southern Nigeria were governed as separate colonies until they were merged in 1914. The country gained independence in 1960. - CLIMATE: Tropical. The rainy season lasts from April to October and the dry season is from November to March. Average annual temperature is 32 Celsius, with high humidity in the south while the north is drier. - POPULATION: More than 120 million people, the highest in Africa, divided into over 250 distinct ethnic and language groups. The three main groups are: Hausa-Fulani in the north, mostly Muslim; Igbo in the east, mostly Christian; Yoruba in the southwest, split almost evenly between Christians and Muslims. These groups make up more than 60 percent of the total population. - CAPITAL: Abuja became the political and administrative capital in 1991. The old capital, Lagos, remains the commercial capital and the biggest city, with more than 12 million people. - GOVERNMENT: Presidential system: executive president, bicameral legislature and judiciary. The country is divided into 36 states, each of which has a governor and a legislature, and a federal capital territory. - LANGUAGE: The official language is English. A pidgin variety is more widely spoken. Hausa is more widely spoken in the north, Yoruba in the southwest and Igbo in the southeast. - RELIGION: About 90 percent of the population are almost equally split between Christians and Muslims. Adherents of traditional African beliefs make up about 10 percent of the population, although many Christians and Muslims combine their faith with traditional beliefs. - ECONOMY: Oil and gas account for more than 95 percent of Nigeria's export income and 80 percent of government revenue. Nigeria is a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and under OPEC's quota regime is allowed to export 2.018 million barrels per day but has the capacity to produce three million barrels daily. - CURRENCY: Naira. 127.02 = US $1 - GDP: About US $40 billion. - EXTERNAL DEBT: US $ 28 billion. - DEFENCE: 80,00-strong armed forces, including army, navy and air force. A Nigeria-dominated West African force intervened and helped end civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.