Nigeria facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Federal Republic of Nigeria
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 Coat of arms
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Motto: "Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress"
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Anthem: "Nigeria, We Hail Thee"
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.svg) Show globe Show map of Africa |
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| Capital | Abuja 9°4′N 7°29′E / 9.067°N 7.483°E |
| Largest city | Lagos |
| Official languages | English |
| National languages | |
| Regional languages | Over 525 languages |
| Ethnic groups
(2018)
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| Demonym(s) | Nigerian |
| Government | Federal presidential republic |
| Bola Tinubu | |
| Kashim Shettima | |
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• Senate President
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Godswill Akpabio |
| Legislature | National Assembly |
| Senate | |
| House of Representatives | |
| Independence
from the United Kingdom
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| 1 January 1900 | |
| 1 January 1900 | |
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• Unification of Nigeria
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1 January 1914 |
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• Declared independent as a sovereign state
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1 October 1960 |
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• Became a republic
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1 October 1963 |
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• Current constitution
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29 May 1999 |
| Area | |
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• Total
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923,769 km2 (356,669 sq mi) (31st) |
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• Water (%)
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1.4 |
| Population | |
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• 2023 estimate
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 230,842,743 (6th) |
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• Density
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249.8/km2 (647.0/sq mi) (42nd) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
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• Total
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 $1.443 trillion (27th) |
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• Per capita
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$6,340 (142nd) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
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• Total
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 $252.738 billion (53rd) |
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• Per capita
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$1,110 (167th) |
| Gini (2020) | ▼ 35.1 medium |
| HDI (2022) | 0.548 low · 161st |
| Currency | Naira (₦) (NGN) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (WAT) |
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +234 |
| ISO 3166 code | NG |
| Internet TLD | .ng |
Nigeria is a country in west Africa. It has a population of 230,842,743, which is more than any other country in Africa. The capital of Nigeria is Abuja. Nigeria is known for being a large country, and the most rich in Africa.
Contents
History
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From the 1500s to the 1800s, many people from the land now called Nigeria (and other parts of West Africa) were taken away and turned into slaves by Europeans, and they were sent to work in the Americas. These slaves were bought and sold in the Americas by Europeans who lived there. Today, many people related to those slaves still live in America, though they are no longer slaves. They are called African-Americans.
From 1901 to 1960, the United Kingdom ruled Nigeria. However, by 1960 the people wanted independence very much, and Britain finally let them have it. Nigeria gained full independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960. For some time after this, Nigeria was a dictatorship, where the leaders stayed in control even if the majority of people disliked them. At this time, Nigeria had a big war called the Biafra War with Christian Igbo people who wanted their own country in the East. They did not want to be a part of Nigeria, which was ruled by a Muslim, and they wanted their own country called "Biafra". They did not get their country, and hundreds of thousands of people were killed.
In 1999, Nigeria became a democracy, where people choose their leaders. After that, Olusegun Obasanjo, a Yoruba Christian from the south, became President. In 2007, Umaru Yar'Adua, a Hausa Muslim, was elected to be the next President. Yar'Adua died in May, 2009. Goodluck Jonathan, the vice president, then became president.
Since 2002, there have been a battles in the north of the country. The battles are between government troops and the Islamist group Boko Haram. This group wants to have Sharia law for the country.
Geography
Nigeria has a total area of 923,768 km2 (356,669 sq mi). It is the world's 32nd-largest country. It shares a border with Benin (773 km), Niger (1497 km), Chad (87 km) and Cameroon (1690 km). It has a coastline of at least 853 km.
The highest point in Nigeria is Chappal Waddi at 2,419 m (7,936 ft). The main rivers are the Niger and the Benue River. They come together and empty into the Niger Delta, one of the world's largest river deltas. It is the location of a large area of Central African Mangroves.
Government
Nigeria is a federal republic, with 36 states and capital Abuja as an independent unit. The executive power is exercised by the President. The president is both head of state and head of the federal government; the president is elected by popular vote to a maximum of two four-year terms. State governors, like the president, are elected for four years and may serve a maximum of two terms. The president's power is checked by a Senate and a House of Representatives, which are combined in a bicameral body called the National Assembly. The Senate is a 109-seat body with three members from each state and one from the capital region of Abuja; members are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. The House contains 360 seats, with the number of seats per state determined by population.
The Nigerian president is elected in a modified two-round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive a relative majority of the votes and more than 25% of the votes in at least 24 of the 36 states. If no candidate reaches this hurdle, a second round of voting takes place between the leading candidate and the next candidate who received the majority of votes in the highest number of states. By convention, presidential candidates take a running mate (candidate for the vice presidency) who is both ethnically and religiously the opposite of themselves.
Administrative divisions
Nigeria is divided into thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory, which are further sub-divided into 774 local government areas. In some contexts, the states are aggregated into six geopolitical zones: North West, North East, North Central, South West, South East, and South South.
Nigeria has five cities with a population of over a million (from largest to smallest): Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Benin City and Port Harcourt. Lagos is the largest city in Africa, with a population of over 12 million in its urban area.
The south of the country in particular is characterised by very strong urbanisation and a relatively large number of cities. According to an estimate from 2015, there are 20 cities in Nigeria with more than 500,000 inhabitants, including ten cities with a population of one million.
Economy
Nigeria is classified as a mixed economy emerging market. It has reached lower middle income status according to the World Bank, with its abundant supply of natural resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, transport sectors and stock exchange (the Nigerian Stock Exchange), which is the second largest in Africa.
Nigeria is trying to reach the first of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is to end poverty in all its forms by 2030.
Agriculture
In 2021, about 23.4% of Nigeria's GDP is contributed by agriculture, forestry and fishing combined. Nigeria is the world's largest producer of cassava. Further major crops include maize, rice, millet, yam beans, and guinea corn (sorghum). Cocoa is the principal agricultural export, and one of the country's most significant non-petroleum products. Nigeria is also one of the world's top twenty exporters of natural rubber, generating $20.9 million in 2019.
Before the Nigerian Civil War and the oil boom, Nigeria was self-sufficient in food. Agriculture used to be the principal foreign exchange earner of Nigeria. Agriculture has failed to keep pace with Nigeria's rapid population growth, and Nigeria now relies upon food imports to sustain itself. It spends US$6.7 billion yearly for food imports, four times more than revenues from food export. The Nigerian government promoted the use of inorganic fertilizers in the 1970s.
Nigeria's rice production increased by 10% from 2017/18 to 2021/22 to 5 million tonnes a year, but could hardly keep up with the increased demand. Rice imports therefore remained constant at 2 million tonnes per year. In August 2019, Nigeria closed its border with Benin and other neighbouring countries to stop rice smuggling into the country as part of efforts to boost local production.
Until now, Nigeria exported unhusked rice but had to import husked rice, the country's staple food. The rice mill in Imota, near Lagos, is intended to handle the corresponding processing at home, improve the balance of trade and the labour market, and save unnecessary costs for transport and middlemen. When fully operational at the end of 2022, the plant, the largest south of the Sahara, is expected to employ 250,000 people and produce 2.5 million 50-kg bags of rice annually.
Oil
Nigeria is the 15th largest producer of petroleum in the world, the 6th largest exporter, and has the 9th largest proven reserves. Petroleum plays a large role in the Nigerian economy and politics, accounting for about 80% of government earnings. Nigeria also has the 9th largest proven natural gas reserves estimated by OPEC; the government's value of its about 206.53 trillion cubic feet has been valued at $803.4 trillion. Natural gas is seen as having the potential to unlock an economic miracle on the Niger River. Nigeria each year loses to gas flaring an estimate of US$2.5 billion, and over 120,000 barrels of oil per day to crude theft in the Niger Delta, its main oil-producing region. This has led to piracy and conflict for control in the region and has led to disruptions in production preventing the country from meeting its OPEC quota and exporting petroleum at full capability.
Nigeria has a total of 159 oil fields and 1,481 wells in operation according to the Department of Petroleum Resources. The most productive region of the nation is the coastal Niger Delta Basin in the Niger Delta or "south-south" region which encompasses 78 of the 159 oil fields. Most of Nigeria's oil fields are small and scattered, and as of 1990, these small fields accounted for 62.1% of all Nigerian production. This contrasts with the sixteen largest fields which produced 37.9% of Nigeria's petroleum at that time. Petrol was Nigeria's main import commodity until 2021, accounting for 24% of import volume.
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Mining
Nigeria also has a wide array of underexploited mineral resources which include natural gas, coal, bauxite, tantalite, gold, tin, iron ore, limestone, niobium, lead and zinc. Despite huge deposits of these natural resources, the mining industry in Nigeria is still in its infancy.
Manufacturing and technology
Nigeria has a manufacturing industry that includes leather and textiles (centred on Kano, Abeokuta, Onitsha, and Lagos), Nigeria currently has an indigenous auto manufacturing company; Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing located in Nnewi. It produces Buses and SUVs.car manufacturing (for the French car manufacturer Peugeot as well as for the English truck manufacturer Bedford, now a subsidiary of General Motors), T-shirts, plastics and processed food.
Nigeria in recent years has been embracing industrialisation. It currently has an indigenous vehicle manufacturing company, Innoson Motors, which manufactures Rapid Transit Buses, trucks and SUVs with an upcoming introduction of cars. Nigeria also has few Electronic manufacturers like Zinox, the first Branded Nigerian Computer and Electronic gadgets (like tablet PCs) manufacturers.
Government satellites
The Nigerian government has commissioned the overseas production and launch of four satellites. The Nigeriasat-1 was the first satellite to be built under the Nigerian government sponsorship. The satellite was launched from Russia on 27 September 2003. Nigeriasat-1 was part of the worldwide Disaster Monitoring Constellation System.
NigeriaSat-2, Nigeria's second satellite, was built as a high-resolution earth satellite by Surrey Space Technology Limited, a United Kingdom-based satellite technology company.
NigComSat-1, a Nigerian satellite built in 2004, was Nigeria's third satellite and Africa's first communication satellite.
Society
Demographics
Nigeria's population increased by 57 million from 1990 to 2008, a 60% growth rate in less than two decades. As of 2017, the population stood at 191 million. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and accounts for about 17% of the continent's total population as of 2017; however, exactly how populous is a subject of speculation.
Nigeria's largest city is Lagos. Lagos has grown from about 300,000 in 1950 to an estimated 13.4 million in 2017.
| Largest Cities in Nigeria, 2017 | |||
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| City | Million | ||
| Lagos | 13.463 | ||
| Kanos | 3.82 | ||
| Ibadan | 3.383 | ||
| Abuja | 2.919 | ||
| Port Harcourt | 2.343 | ||
| Benin City | 1.628 | ||
Ethnic groups
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| A Hausa harpist | Igbo men | Yoruba drummers |
Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups, with varying languages and customs, creating a country of rich ethnic diversity. The largest ethnic groups are the Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Fulani, together accounting for more than 70% of the population, while the Urhobo-Isoko, Edo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, Ebira, Nupe, Gbagyi, Jukun, Igala, Idoma and Tiv comprise between 25 and 30%; other minorities make up the remaining 5%.
In the middle of the 19th century, a number of ex-slaves of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian descent and emigrants from Sierra Leone established communities in Lagos and other regions of Nigeria. Many ex-enslaved people came to Nigeria following the emancipation of slaves in the Americas. Many of the immigrants, sometimes called Saro (immigrants from Sierra Leone) and Amaro (ex-slaves from Brazil) later became prominent merchants and missionaries in these cities.
Languages
[Five hundred and twenty-five languages have been spoken in Nigeria; out of these 525 languages, eight are now extinct. In some areas of Nigeria, ethnic groups speak more than one language. The official language of Nigeria, English, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country, owing to the influence of British colonisation which ended in 1960.
The major languages spoken in Nigeria represent three major families of languages of Africa: the majority are Niger-Congo languages, such as Igbo, Yoruba, Ibibio, Ijaw, Fulfulde, Ogoni, and Edo. Kanuri, spoken in the northeast, primarily in Borno and Yobe State, is part of the Nilo-Saharan family, and Hausa is an Afroasiatic language. Even though most ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their languages, English as the official language is widely used for education, business transactions and official purposes. English as a first language is used by only a small minority of the country's urban elite, and it is not spoken at all in some rural areas. Hausa is the most widely spoken of the three main languages spoken in Nigeria.
With the majority of Nigeria's populace in rural areas, the major languages of communication in the country remain indigenous languages.
Religion
Nigeria is a religiously diverse society, with Nigerians nearly equally divided into Muslims and Christians, with a tiny minority of adherents of traditional African religions and other religions.
A 2012 report on religion and public life by the Pew Research Center stated that in 2010, 49.3% of Nigeria's population was Christian, 48.8% was Muslim, and 1.9% were followers of indigenous and other religions (such as the Bori in the North) or unaffiliated.
National Anthem Of Nigeria
In Nigeria, there are two national anthems. The first one is called "Nigeria We Hail Thee". The second and current national anthem is called "Arise O' Compatriots. The first one was written by Lilian Jean William and composed by Frances Berda. The second one was written by 5 people and was composed by the Police band. Arise O' Compatriots was first heard during Nigeria's independence.
Tourism
Tourism in Nigeria centers largely on events, due to the country's ample amount of ethnic groups, but also includes rain forests, savannah, waterfalls, and other natural attractions.
Abuja is home to several parks and green areas with the largest one being Millennium Park. Millennium Park was designed by architect Manfredi Nicoletti and was officially opened by the United Kingdom's Elizabeth II in December 2003. Another open area park is located in Lifecamp Gwarimpa; near the residence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. The park is located on a slightly raised hilltop which contains sport facilities like Basketball and Badminton courts another park is the city park, it is located in wuse 2 and is home to numerous outdoor and indoor attractions such as a 4D cinema, astro-turf, lawn tennis court, paintball arena and a variety of restaurants.
Lagos, subsequent to the re-modernization project achieved by the previous administration of Governor Raji Babatunde Fashola, is gradually becoming a major tourist destination, being one of the largest cities in Africa and in the world. Lagos is currently taking steps to become a global city. The 2009 Eyo carnival (a yearly festival originated from Iperu Remo, Ogun State), which took place on 25 April, was a step toward world city status. Currently, Lagos is primarily known as a business-oriented and a fast-paced community.
Lagos has become an important location for African and "black" cultural identity. Lots of festivals are held in Lagos; festivals vary in offerings each year and may be held in different months. Some of the festivals are Festac Food Fairs held in Festac Town Annually, Eyo Festival, Lagos Black Heritage Carnival, Lagos Carnival, Eko International Film Festival, Lagos Seafood Festac Festival, LAGOS PHOTO Festival and the Lagos Jazz Series, which is a unique franchise for high-quality live music in all genres with a focus on jazz. Established in 2010, the event takes place over a 3–5 day period at selected high quality outdoor venues. The music is as varied as the audience itself and features a diverse mix of musical genres from rhythm and blues to soul, Afrobeat, hip hop, bebop, and traditional jazz. The festivals provide entertainment of dance and song to add excitement to travelers during a stay in Lagos.
Lagos has a number of sandy beaches by the Atlantic Ocean, including Elegushi Beach and Alpha Beach. Lagos also has a number of private beach resorts including Inagbe Grand Beach Resort and several others in the outskirts.
Lagos has a variety of hotels ranging from three star to five star hotels, with a mixture of local hotels such as Eko Hotels and Suites, Federal Palace Hotel and franchises of multinational chains such as Intercontinental Hotel, Sheraton and Four Points by Hilton. Other places of interest include the Tafawa Balewa Square, Festac town, The Nike Art Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos and the Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos.
Obudu Mountain Resort is a ranch and resort on the Obudu Plateau in Cross River State. It was developed in 1951 by M. McCaughley, a Scot who first explored the mountain ranges in 1949. He camped on the mountaintop of the Oshie Ridge on the Sankwala Mountains for a month before returning with Mr. Hugh Jones, a fellow rancher, in 1951. Together with Dr. Crawfeild, they developed the Obudu Cattle Ranch. Although the ranch has been through troubles since, it has been rehabilitated to its former glory.
Since 2005, a cable car climbing 870 metres (2,850 ft) from the base to the top of the plateau gives visitors a scenic view while bypassing the extremely winding road to the top.
The resort is found on the Obudu Plateau, close to the Cameroon border in the northeastern part of Cross River State, approximately 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the town of Ogoja and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from the town of Obudu in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State. It is about 30 minutes drive from Obudu town and is about a 332 kilometres (206 mi) drive from Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
Charter air service is available to the Bebi Airport which lies between the village of Obudu and the resort.
The ranch has in recent times seen an influx of both Nigerian and international tourists because of the development of tourist facilities by Cross-River State Government, which has turned the ranch into a well known holiday and tourist resort center in Nigeria.
Culture
Music
The music of Nigeria includes many kinds of folk and popular music, some of which are known worldwide. The singer and social activist Fela Kuti was instrumental in Nigeria's musical development.
Traditional musicians use a number of diverse instruments, such as Gongon drums. The kora and the kakaki are also important.
Other traditional cultural expressions are found in the various masquerades of Nigeria, such as the Eyo masquerades, the Ekpe and Ekpo Masquerades of the Efik/Ibibio/Annang/Igbo peoples of coastal southeastern Nigeria, and the Northern Edo Masquerades. The most popular Yoruba manifestations of this custom are the Gelede masquerades.
Cuisine
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Nigerian cuisine, like West African cuisine in general, is known for its richness and variety. Many different spices, herbs and flavourings are used in conjunction with palm oil or groundnut oil to create deeply flavoured sauces and soups often made very hot with chili peppers. Nigerian feasts are colourful and lavish, while aromatic market and roadside snacks cooked on barbecues or fried in oil are plentiful and varied.
Clothing
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Women wear long flowing robes and headscarves made from local markets who dye and weave the fabric locally.
Southern Nigerian women choose to wear western-style wear. People in urban regions of Nigeria dress in western style, the youth mainly wearing jeans and T-shirts.
Other Nigerian men and women typically wear a traditional style called Buba. For men the loose fitting shirt goes down to halfway down the thigh. For women, the loose fitting blouse goes down a little below the waist. Other clothing gear includes a gele, which is the woman's headgear. For men their traditional cap is called fila.
The dressing and colours of the garments can sometimes change according to the occasion to be attended.
Sport
Association football is Nigeria's national sport. The country has its own Premier League of football. Nigeria's Men's national football team, known as the Super Eagles, has made the World Cup five times. These were in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and most recently in 2014, where they were eliminated by the French National Team in the Round of 16. They won the African Cup of Nations in 1980, 1994 and 2013. They also hosted the Junior World Cup. They won the gold medal for football in the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Nigeria is also involved in other sports such as basketball, cricket, sprints and track and field. Boxing is also an important sport in Nigeria; Dick Tiger and Samuel Peter are both former World Champions.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Nok sculpture, terracotta
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Depiction of Benin City by a Dutch illustrator in 1668. The wall-like structure in the centre probably represents the walls of Benin, housing the Benin bronze decorated historic Benin City Palace.
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Flag of the Lagos Colony
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The Lord and Lady Lugard, 1908
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1953 postage stamp with portrait of Queen Elizabeth II
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Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, prime minister of Nigeria, 1962
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The Republic of Biafra in June 1967, when it declared its independence from the rest of Nigeria
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Yakubu Gowon, civil war national leader of Nigeria
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Flag of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, 1979
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Moshood Abiola, Hope campaign poster in 1993
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Abdulsalami Abubakar, military ruler in 1998 saw the return to democracy in 1999
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Olusegun Obasanjo served as president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007.
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Goodluck Jonathan in a handshake with his successor, Buhari at the inauguration in 2015
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Muhammadu Buhari was president of Nigeria, serving from 2015 to 2023.
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Topography of Nigeria
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Climate map of Nigeria
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Shrinking of Lake Chad in north-eastern Nigeria, with the outline of the British Isles for size comparison
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Photo of Lake Chad from Apollo 7, 1968
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The Obudu mountains in the southern region of Nigeria
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The Mambilla Plateau in the North-Eastern region of Nigeria
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Deforestation in Nigeria 1981–2020
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Coat of arms of Nigeria in current use
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja
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Nigerian Army self-propelled anti-aircraft gun
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Nigerian Air Force attack helicopter
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Attacks by Boko Haram, 2011 to date (as of October 2022), each figure represents 1,000 deaths.
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GDP per capita in West Africa, 2019
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Nigerian palm nuts put out to dry
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Oil and gas fields in the Niger delta
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Overflight photo of the creeks of the Niger Delta
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Kainji Dam on the Niger River, built in the 1960s
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Nigeria EduSat-1, the first satellite built by Nigeria by the Federal University of Technology Akure
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Òwú waterfalls, visited by Nigerian undergraduates
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Second Niger bridge under-construction (completed as at 2022)
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Third Mainland bridge across the Lagos lagoon
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Abuja Light Rail in Idu Station
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An A340-500 of Arik Air
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B737-300 of Air Peace
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Population density (persons per square kilometer) in Nigeria
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Map of Nigeria's linguistic groups
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Paediatric ward, General hospital, Ilorin
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Abisogun Leigh Science Building, for the Lagos State University's Faculty of Science
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End SARS is a decentralised social movement and series of mass protests against police brutality in Nigeria.
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Chinua Achebe, winner Booker Prize 2007 and Peace Award of the German book trade 2002
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An Eyo Iga Olowe Salaye masquerade jumping in 2011
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Nigeria at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
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Nigerian football supporters at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia
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See also
In Spanish: Nigeria para niños
