Nigeria | Facts & Information

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

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Facts & Figures

  • President: Muhammadu Buhari (2015)

    Land area: 351,649 sq mi (910,771 sq km); total area: 356,667 sq mi (923,768 sq km)

    Population (2022 est.): 225,082,083 (growth rate: 2.53%); birth rate: 34.19/1000; infant mortality rate: 56.68/1000; life expectancy: 61.33

    Capital (2022 est.): Abuja, 3.652 million

    Largest cities: Lagos (2022 est.), 15.388 million; Kano, 4.219 million; Ibadan, 3.756 million; Port Harcourt 3.325 million; Benin City, 1.841 million

    Monetary unit: Naira

    Current government officials

    Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, over 500 additional indigenous languages

    Ethnicity/race: Hausa 30%, Yoruba 15.5%, Igbo (Ibo) 15.2%, Fulani 6%, Tiv 2.4%, Kanuri/Beriberi 2.4%, Ibibio 1.8%, Ijaw/Izon 1.8%, other 24.9% (2018 est.)

    Religions: Muslim 53.5%, Roman Catholic 10.6%, other Christian 35.3%, other .6% (2018 est.)

    National Holiday: Independence Day (National Day), October 1

    Literacy rate: 62% (2018 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2020 est.): $1,013,530,000,000; per capita $4,900 Real growth rate: 0.8%. Inflation: 11.3%. Unemployment: 16.5%. Arable land: 37.3%. Agriculture: cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; timber; fish. Labor force: 60.08 million (2017 est); 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: $39.94 billion (2020 est.): petroleum and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber. Imports: $72.18 billion (2020 est.): machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals. Major trading partners: U.S., Brazil, Spain, China, UK, Netherlands, France, Germany (2012).

    Member of Commonwealth of Nations

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 107,031 (2020); mobile cellular: 204,228,678 (2020). Broadcast media: nearly 70 federal government-controlled national and regional TV stations; all 36 states operate TV stations; several private TV stations operational; cable and satellite TV subscription services are available; network of federal government-controlled national, regional, and state radio stations; roughly 40 state government-owned radio stations typically carry their own programs except for news broadcasts; about 20 private radio stations; transmissions of international broadcasters are available (2018). Internet hosts: 1,234 (2012). Internet users: 74,210,251 (2020).

    Transportation: Railways: total: 3,798 km (2014). Roadways: total: 195,000 km; paved: 60,000 km; unpaved: 135,000 km (2017 est.). Waterways: 8,600 km (Niger and Benue rivers and smaller rivers and creeks) (2011). Ports and harbors: Bonny Inshore Terminal, Calabar, Lagos. Airports: 54 (2021).

    International disputes: Joint Border Commission with Cameroon reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately cedes sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a phase-out of Nigerian control within two years while resolving patriation issues; the ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but imprecisely defined coordinates in the ICJ decision and a sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River all contribute to the delay in implementation; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries; location of Benin-Niger-Nigeria tripoint is unresolved.

    Major sources and definitions

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