NIGERIA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 923,770 km2; land area: 910,770 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of California
Land boundaries: 4,047 km total; Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690 km,
Chad 87 km, Niger 1,497 km
Coastline: 853 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 30 nm
Disputes: demarcation of international boundaries in Lake
Chad, the lack of which has led to border incidents in the past, is
completed and awaiting ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and
Nigeria; Nigerian proposals to reopen maritime boundary negotiations and
redemarcate the entire land boundary have been rejected by Cameroon
Climate: varies--equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in
north
Terrain: southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus;
mountains in southeast, plains in north
Natural resources: crude oil, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal,
limestone, lead, zinc, natural gas
Land use: arable land 31%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures
23%; forest and woodland 15%; other 28%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment: recent droughts in north severely affecting marginal
agricultural activities; desertification; soil degradation, rapid
deforestation
PEOPLE
Population: 122,470,574 (July 1991), growth rate 3.0% (1991)
Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 16 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 118 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 50 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Nigerian(s); adjective--Nigerian
Ethnic divisions: more than 250 tribal groups; Hausa and Fulani
of the north, Yoruba of the southwest, and Ibos of the southeast make
up 65% of the population; about 27,000 non-Africans
Religion: Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%
Language: English (official); Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani, and
several other languages also widely used
Literacy: 51% (male 62%, female 40%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 42,844,000; agriculture 54%, industry, commerce, and
services 19%, government 15%; 49% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: 3,520,000 wage earners belong to 42 recognized
trade unions, which come under a single national labor federation--the
Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Federal Republic of Nigeria
Type: military government since 31 December 1983
Capital: Lagos; note--some government departments have relocated
to the designated new capital in Abuja
Administrative divisions: 21 states and 1 territory*;
Abuja Capital Territory*, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bendel, Benue,
Borno, Cross River, Gongola, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kwara, Lagos,
Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto
Independence: 1 October 1960 (from UK)
Constitution: 1 October 1979, amended 9 February 1984, revised 1989
Legal system: based on English common law, Islamic, and tribal law
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 October (1960)
Executive branch: president of the Armed Forces Ruling Council,
Armed Forces Ruling Council, National Council of State, Council of
Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: National Assembly was dissolved after the
military coup of 31 December 1983
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeal
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President and Commander in
Chief of Armed Forces Gen. Ibrahim BABANGIDA (since 27 August 1985)
Political parties and leaders: two political parties established by
the government in 1989--Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National
Republican Convention (NRC)
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections:
President--scheduled for 1 October 1992;
National Assembly--scheduled for early 1992
Communists: the pro-Communist underground consists of a small
fraction of the Nigerian left; leftist leaders are prominent in the
country's central labor organization but have little influence on the
government
Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77,
GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMO, IMF, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPEC,
PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU, WCL, WHO, WMO,
WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Hamzat AHMADU; Chancery at
2201 M Street NW, Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 822-1500;
there are Nigerian Consulates General in Atlanta, New York and San
Francisco;
US--Ambassador Lannon WALKER; Embassy at 2 Eleke Crescent,
Victoria Island, Lagos (mailing address is P. O. Box 554, Lagos);
telephone 234 (1) 610097; there is a US Consulate General in Kaduna
Flag: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and
green
ECONOMY
Overview: Although Nigeria is Africa's leading oil-producing
country, it remains poor with a $280 per capita GDP. In 1990, despite
rising oil prices and a sharp drop in inflation, performance remained
slack with continuing underutilization of industrial capacity and a
second year of relatively weak agricultural performance. Agricultural
production was up only 4.2% in 1990, still below the 1987 level.
Industrial output showed a 7.2% increase, but remained below the 1985
level. Government efforts to reduce Nigeria's dependence on oil exports
and to sustain noninflationary growth have fallen short due to inadequate
new investment funds. Living standards continue to deteriorate from the
higher level of the early 1980s oil boom.
GDP: $27.2 billion, per capita $230; real growth rate 2.7%
(1990 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 16% (1990)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $8.0 billion; expenditures $8.0 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)
Exports: $13.0 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--oil 95%, cocoa, rubber;
partners--EC 51%, US 32%
Imports: $9.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--consumer goods, capital equipment, chemicals, raw
materials;
partners--EC, US
External debt: $35 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 7.2% (1990 est.); accounts
for 23% of GDP, including petroleum
Electricity: 4,737,000 kW capacity; 11,270 million kWh produced,
100 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: crude oil and mining--coal, tin, columbite;
primary processing industries--palm oil, peanut, cotton, rubber,
wood, hides and skins; manufacturing industries--textiles,
cement, building materials, food products, footwear, chemical, printing,
ceramics, steel
Agriculture: accounts for 28% of GNP and half of labor force;
inefficient small-scale farming dominates; once a large net exporter of
food and now an importer; cash crops--cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, rubber;
food crops--corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava, yams;
livestock--cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; fishing and forestry resources
extensively exploited
Illicit drugs: illicit heroin and some cocaine trafficking;
marijuana cultivation for domestic consumption and export; major transit
country for heroin en route from Southwest Asia via Africa to Western
Europe and the US; growing transit route for cocaine from South America
via West Africa to Western Europe and the US
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $705
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-87), $2.5 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $2.2 billion
Currency: naira (plural--naira); 1 naira (N) = 100 kobo
Exchange rates: naira (N) per US$1--8.707 (December 1990),
8.038 (1990), 7.3647 (1989), 4.5370 (1988), 4.0160 (1987), 1.7545 (1986),
0.8938 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 3,505 km 1.067-meter gauge
Highways: 107,990 km total 30,019 km paved (mostly
bituminous-surface treatment); 25,411 km laterite, gravel, crushed stone,
improved earth; 52,560 km unimproved
Inland waterways: 8,575 km consisting of Niger and Benue Rivers and
smaller rivers and creeks
Pipelines: 2,042 km crude oil; 500 km natural gas; 3,000 km refined
products
Ports: Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Onne, Sapele
Merchant marine: 28 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 420,658
GRT/668,951 DWT; includes 18 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 1
roll-on/roll-off cargo, 6 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1
chemical tanker, 1 bulk
Civil air: 76 major transport aircraft
Airports: 81 total, 68 usable; 32 with permanent-surface runways;
1 with runways over 3,659 m; 14 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
21 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: above-average system limited by poor
maintenance; major expansion in progress; radio relay and cable routes;
155,000 telephones; stations--37 AM, 19 FM, 38 TV; 2 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, domestic, with 19 stations; 1 coaxial
submarine cable
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Police Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 28,070,431; 16,040,870 fit for
military service; 1,302,970 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $300 million, 1% of GNP (1990 est.)