Location:
Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea between Benin and Cameroon
Geographic Coordinates:
10º N, 8ºE
Area:
Total: 923,768 sq km; Land: 910,768 sq km; Water: 13,000 sq km; Coastline: 853 km
Maritime Claims:
Territorial Sea: 12nm; Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 200nm; Continental Shelf: 200m depth or to the depth of exploitation.
Climate:
Equatorial in the South, Tropical in the Centre & Arid in the North.
Elevation Extremes: Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0m; Highest point: Chappal Waddi 2,419m.
Land use:
Arable Land: 31.29%; Permanent crops: 2.96%; Others: 65.75%, Irrigated land: 2,330sq km
Ethnic Groups:
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country made up of people belonging to more than 250 ethnic groups; the major groups being: Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio and Tiv.
Religion:
Muslim, Christian and Indigenous (traditional) beliefs
Federal Republic of Nigeria (short form: Nigeria)
Government type:
Federal Republic
Government & Politics:
Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic consisting of thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad & Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the North. Its coast lies on the Gulf of Guinea, part of the Atlantic Ocean, in the south.
Nigeria is a Federal Republic with executive power exercised by the President operating a Parliamentary system in the composition and management of the Upper and Lower houses of the Legislature.
The seat of power is located in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Lagos is however the commercial and cultural nerve centre of Nigeria and therefore the largest city.
The current President is His Excellency, President Umaru, Musa Yar’Adua who was elected in April, 2007. The President presides as both the Chief of State and Head of Government and is elected by popular vote to a maximum of two terms of four years each.
The President’s powers are checked by a Senate and House of Representatives, which combined, make up the Legislature or the National Assembly. The Senate is a 109-seat body with three members from each state and one from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; members are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. The House contains 360 seats and the number of seats per state depends on population.
Administrative Divisions:
Capital: Federal Capital Territory, Abuja
States: 36 states
North West zone: Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara
North east zone: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe
North central zone: Benue, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger, Plateau
South east zone: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo
South west zone: Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo
South South zone: Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Rivers
Independence:
1 October, 1960; National Day, 1 October, annually
Constitution:
Federal Constitution of May 1999.
Principal Officers:
President: Umaru Yar’Adua (PDP)
Vice President: Goodluck Jonathan (PDP)
Senate President: David Mark (PDP)
Speaker of the House: Dimeji Bankole (PDP)
Chief Justice: Justice Idris Kutigi
Legal system:
English Common Law; Islamic Sharia Law (in 12 Northern states) and regional traditional law.
Economy:
Nigeria is endowed with natural resources in the form of huge deposits of Natural Gas, Petroleum, Tin, Ore, Coal, Limestone, Lead, Zinc, Bitumen, Bauxite as well as a vast pool of human capital.
The oil sector provides 95% of foreign exchange earnings and about 65% of budgetary revenue. The largely subsistence agricultural sector is however being rapidly empowered to engineer a swift shift to mechanized farming, capable of sustaining export and of course, local demand. The private sector is being empowered to lead in the running of the improving economy, and all erstwhile monopoly sectors are being deregulated to encourage private and foreign investment.
The currency unit of Nigeria is the Nigerian Naira (sub unit, kobo 1/100)
As of April 2006, Nigeria became the first African Country to pay fully off her debt (estimated at about $30billion) owed to the Paris Club.
|
