|
|
|
Background:
|
Following
nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was
adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian
government was completed. The president faces the
daunting task of rebuilding a petroleum-based economy,
whose revenues have been squandered through corruption
and mismanagement, and institutionalizing democracy. In
addition, the OBASANJO administration must defuse
longstanding ethnic and religious tensions, if it is to
build a sound foundation for economic growth and
political stability. Despite some irregularities, the
April 2003 elections marked the first civilian transfer
of power in Nigeria's history. |
|
Location:
|
Western
Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and
Cameroon |
|
Geographic coordinates:
|
10 00 N,
8 00 E |
|
Map references:
|
Africa
|
|
Area:
|
total:
923,768 sq km
land: 910,768 sq km
water: 13,000 sq km |
|
Area - comparative:
|
slightly
more than twice the size of California |
|
Land boundaries:
|
total:
4,047 km
border countries: Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690
km, Chad 87 km, Niger 1,497 km |
|
Coastline:
|
853 km
|
|
Maritime claims:
|
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of
exploitation |
|
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 |
|
Elevation extremes:
|
lowest
point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Chappal Waddi 2,419 m |
|
Natural resources:
|
natural
gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium,
lead, zinc, arable land |
|
Land use:
|
arable
land: 31.29%
permanent crops: 2.96%
other: 65.75% (2001) |
|
Irrigated land:
|
2,330 sq
km (1998 est.) |
|
Natural hazards:
|
periodic
droughts; flooding |
|
Environment - current issues:
|
soil
degradation; rapid deforestation; urban air and water
pollution; desertification; oil pollution - water, air,
and soil; has suffered serious damage from oil spills;
loss of arable land; rapid urbanization |
|
Environment - international agreements:
|
party
to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer
Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements |
|
Geography - note:
|
the Niger
enters the country in the northwest and flows southward
through tropical rain forests and swamps to its delta in
the Gulf of Guinea |
|
Population:
|
128,771,988
note: estimates for this country explicitly take
into account the effects of excess mortality due to
AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher
infant mortality and death rates, lower population and
growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be
expected (July 2005 est.) |
|
Age structure:
|
0-14
years: 42.3% (male 27,466,766/female 27,045,092)
15-64 years: 54.6% (male 35,770,593/female
34,559,414)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 1,874,157/female
2,055,966) (2005 est.) |
|
Median age:
|
total:
18.63 years
male: 18.71 years
female: 18.55 years (2005 est.) |
|
Population growth rate:
|
2.37%
(2005 est.) |
|
Birth rate:
|
40.65
births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
|
Death rate:
|
17.18
deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
|
Net migration rate:
|
0.27
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
|
Sex ratio:
|
at
birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
|
|
Infant mortality rate:
|
total:
98.8 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 105.69 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 91.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
|
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total
population: 46.74 years
male: 46.21 years
female: 47.29 years (2005 est.) |
|
Total fertility rate:
|
5.53
children born/woman (2005 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|
5.4%
(2003 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|
3.6
million (2003 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|
310,000
(2003 est.) |
|
Major infectious diseases:
|
degree
of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and
protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
aerosolized dust or soil contact disease: one of
the most highly endemic areas for Lassa fever (2004)
|
|
Nationality:
|
noun:
Nigerian(s)
adjective: Nigerian |
|
Ethnic groups:
|
Nigeria,
Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than
250 ethnic groups; the following are the most populous
and politically influential: Hausa and Fulani 29%,
Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio
3.5%, Tiv 2.5% |
|
Religions:
|
Muslim
50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10% |
|
Languages:
|
English
(official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani |
|
Literacy:
|
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 68%
male: 75.7%
female: 60.6% (2003 est.) |
|
Country name:
|
conventional long form: Federal Republic of Nigeria
conventional short form: Nigeria |
|
Government type:
|
federal
republic |
|
Capital:
|
Abuja;
note - on 12 December 1991 the capital was officially
transferred from Lagos to Abuja; most federal government
offices have now moved to Abuja |
|
Administrative divisions:
|
36 states
and 1 territory*; Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra,
Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta,
Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Federal Capital Territory*,
Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi,
Kwara, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo,
Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara |
|
Independence:
|
1 October
1960 (from UK) |
|
National holiday:
|
Independence Day (National Day), 1 October (1960) |
|
Constitution:
|
new
constitution adopted May 1999 |
|
Legal system:
|
based on
English common law, Islamic Shariah law (in 12 northern
states), and traditional law |
|
Suffrage:
|
18 years
of age; universal |
|
Executive branch:
|
chief
of state: President Olusegun OBASANJO (since 29 May
1999); note - the president is both the chief of state
and head of government
head of government: President Olusegun OBASANJO
(since 29 May 1999); note - the president is both the
chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Federal Executive Council
elections: president is elected by popular vote
for no more than two four-year terms; election last held
19 April 2003 (next to be held NA 2007)
election results: Olusegun OBASANJO elected
president; percent of vote - Olusegun OBASANJO (PDP)
61.9%, Muhammadu BUHARI (ANPP) 31.2%, Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu OJUKWU (APGA) 3.3%, other 3.6% |
|
Legislative branch:
|
bicameral
National Assembly consists of Senate (109 seats - 3 from
each state plus one from Abuja, members elected by
popular vote to serve four-year terms) and House of
Representatives (346 seats, members elected by popular
vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 12 April 2003 (next
to be held NA 2007); House of Representatives - last
held 12 April 2003 (next to be held NA 2007)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by
party - PDP 53.7%, ANPP 27.9%, AD 9.7%; seats by party -
PDP 76, ANPP 27, AD 6; House of Representatives -
percent of vote by party - PDP 54.5%, ANPP 27.4%, AD
8.8%, other 9.3%; seats by party - PDP 223, ANPP 96, AD
34, other 6; note - one seat is vacant |
|
Judicial branch:
|
Supreme
Court (judges appointed by the President); Federal Court
of Appeal (judges are appointed by the federal
government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial
Committee) |
|
Political parties and leaders:
|
Alliance
for Democracy or AD [Alhaji Adamu ABDULKADIR]; All
Nigeria Peoples' Party or ANPP [Don ETIEBET]; All
Progressives Grand Alliance or APGA [Chekwas OKORIE];
National Democratic Party or NDP [Aliyu Habu FARI];
Peoples Democratic Party or PDP [Dr. Ahmadu ALI];
Peoples Redemption Party or PRP [Abdulkadir Balarabe
MUSA]; Peoples Salvation Party or PSP [Lawal MAITURARE];
United Nigeria Peoples Party or UNPP [Saleh JAMBO] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders:
|
Niger
Delta People's Volunteer Force or NDPVF [Mujahid Dokubo
ASARI]; Nigerian Labor Congress or NLC [Adams OSHIOMOLE]
|
|
International organization participation:
|
ACP,
AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA,
MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN,
UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE,
UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US:
|
chief
of mission: Ambassador Professor George A. OBIOZOR
chancery: 3519 International Court NW,
Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 986-8400
FAX: [1] (202) 775-1385
consulate(s) general: Atlanta and New York |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US:
|
chief
of mission: Ambassador John CAMPBELL
embassy: 7 Mambilla Drive, Abuja
mailing address: P. O. Box 554, Lagos
telephone: [234] (9) 523-0916/0906/5857/2235/2205
FAX: [234] (9) 523-0353 |
|
Flag description:
|
three
equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and
green |
|
Economy - overview:
|
Oil-rich
Nigeria, long hobbled by political instability,
corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor
macroeconomic management, is undertaking some reforms
under the new civilian administration. Nigeria's former
military rulers failed to diversify the economy away
from overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector,
which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange
earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues. The
largely subsistence agricultural sector has failed to
keep up with rapid population growth - Nigeria is
Africa's most populous country - and the country, once a
large net exporter of food, now must import food.
Following the signing of an IMF stand-by agreement in
August 2000, Nigeria received a debt-restructuring deal
from the Paris Club and a $1 billion credit from the
IMF, both contingent on economic reforms. Nigeria pulled
out of its IMF program in April 2002, after failing to
meet spending and exchange rate targets, making it
ineligible for additional debt forgiveness from the
Paris Club. In the last year the government has begun
showing the political will to implement the
market-oriented reforms urged by the IMF, such as to
modernize the banking system, to curb inflation by
blocking excessive wage demands, and to resolve regional
disputes over the distribution of earnings from the oil
industry. During 2003 the government began deregulating
fuel prices, announced the privatization of the
country's four oil refineries, and instituted the
National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy, a
domestically designed and run program modeled on the
IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for fiscal
and monetary management. GDP rose strongly in 2004. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity):
|
$125.7
billion (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
6.2%
(2004 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 36.3%
industry: 30.5%
services: 33.3% (2004 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
55.67
million (2004 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture 70%, industry 10%, services 20% (1999 est.)
|
|
Unemployment rate:
|
NA |
|
Population below poverty line:
|
60% (2000
est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest
10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 40.8% (1996-97) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|
50.6
(1996-97) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
16.5%
(2004 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed):
|
18% of
GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues: $11.78 billion
expenditures: $11.47 billion, including capital
expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
|
Public debt:
|
20% of
GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products:
|
cocoa,
peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava
(tapioca), yams, rubber; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs;
timber; fish |
|
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 |
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
1.8%
(2004 est.) |
|
Electricity - production:
|
19.85
billion kWh (2002) |
|
Electricity - production by source:
|
fossil
fuel: 61.9%
hydro: 38.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
18.43
billion kWh (2002) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
30
million kWh (2002) |
|
Electricity - imports:
|
0 kWh
(2002) |
|
Oil - production:
|
2.356
million bbl/day (2004 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption:
|
275,000
bbl/day (2001 est.) |
|
Oil - exports:
|
NA |
|
Oil - imports:
|
NA |
|
Oil - proved reserves:
|
34
billion bbl (2004 est.) |
|
Natural gas - production:
|
15.68
billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - consumption:
|
7.85
billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - exports:
|
7.83
billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports:
|
0 cu m
(2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves:
|
4.007
trillion cu m (2004) |
|
Current account balance:
|
$5.228
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Exports:
|
$33.99
billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities:
|
petroleum
and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber |
|
Exports - partners:
|
US 47.5%,
Brazil 10.7%, Spain 7.1% (2004) |
|
Imports:
|
$17.14
billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured
goods, food and live animals |
|
Imports - partners:
|
China
9.4%, US 8.4%, UK 7.8%, Netherlands 5.9%, France 5.4%,
Germany 4.9%, Italy 4% (2004) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|
$14.71
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$30.55
billion (2004 est.) |
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
IMF $250
million (1998) |
|
Currency (code):
|
naira
(NGN) |
|
Currency code:
|
NGN |
|
Exchange rates:
|
nairas
per US dollar - 132.89 (2004), 129.22 (2003), 120.58
(2002), 111.23 (2001), 101.7 (2000) |
|
Fiscal year:
|
calendar
year |
|
Telephones - main lines in use:
|
853,100
(2003) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular:
|
3,149,500
(2003) |
|
Telephone system:
|
general assessment: an inadequate system, further
limited by poor maintenance; major expansion is required
and a start has been made
domestic: intercity traffic is carried by coaxial
cable, microwave radio relay, a domestic communications
satellite system with 19 earth stations, and a coastal
submarine cable; mobile cellular facilities and the
Internet are available
international: country code - 234; satellite
earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1
Indian Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC)
provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
|
Radio broadcast stations:
|
AM 83, FM
36, shortwave 11 (2001) |
|
Radios:
|
23.5
million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations:
|
3 (the
government controls 2 of the broadcasting stations and
15 repeater stations) (2002) |
|
Televisions:
|
6.9
million (1997) |
|
Internet country code:
|
.ng |
|
Internet hosts:
|
1,142
(2004) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
|
11 (2000)
|
|
Internet users:
|
750,000
(2003) |
|
Railways:
|
total:
3,557 km
narrow gauge: 3,505 km 1.067-m gauge
standard gauge: 52 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) |
|
Highways:
|
total:
194,394 km
paved: 60,068 km (including 1,194 km of
expressways)
unpaved: 134,326 km (1999 est.) |
|
Waterways:
|
8,600 km
(Niger and Benue rivers and smaller rivers and creeks)
(2004) |
|
Pipelines:
|
condensate 105 km; gas 1,896 km; oil 3,638 km; refined
products 3,626 km (2004) |
|
Ports and harbors:
|
Calabar,
Lagos, Onne, Port Harcourt |
|
Merchant marine:
|
total:
46 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 327,808 GRT/608,076 DWT
by type: cargo 5, chemical tanker 6, combination
ore/oil 1, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum
tanker 31, refrigerated cargo 1
foreign-owned: 3 (Norway 2, Pakistan 1)
registered in other countries: 25 (2005) |
|
Airports:
|
70 (2004
est.) |
|
Airports - with paved runways:
|
total:
36
over 3,047 m: 7
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 9
914 to 1,523 m: 6
under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways:
|
total:
34
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 13
under 914 m: 18 (2004 est.) |
|
Heliports:
|
1 (2004
est.) |
|
Military branches:
|
Army,
Navy, Air Force |
|
Military service age and obligation:
|
18 years
of age for voluntary military service (2001) |
|
Manpower available for military service:
|
males
age 18-49: 26,804,314 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower fit for military service:
|
males
age 18-49: 15,053,936 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
|
males:
1,353,161 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
|
$544.6
million (2004) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
|
0.8%
(2004) |
|
Disputes - international:
|
ICJ ruled
in 2002 on the entire Cameroon-Nigeria land and maritime
boundary but the parties formed a Joint Border
Commission to resolve differences bilaterally and have
commenced with demarcation in less-contested sections of
the boundary, starting in Lake Chad in the north;
Nigeria initially rejected cession of the Bakassi
Peninsula, then agreed, but has yet to withdraw its
forces while much of the indigenous population opposes
cession; in 2004, some 17,000 Nigerian refugees fleeing
ethnic conflicts between pastoralists and farmers in
2002 still reside in Cameroon; 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,
the unresolved Bakasi allocation, 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; a joint task force was
established in 2004 that resolved disputes over and
redrew the maritime and the 870-km land boundary with
Benin on the Okpara River; only Nigeria and Cameroon
have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to
ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes Chad
and Niger |
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
|
IDPs:
250,000 (communal violence between Christians and
Muslims since President OBASANJO's election in 1999)
(2004) |
|
Illicit drugs:
|
a transit
point for heroin and cocaine intended for European, East
Asian, and North American markets; safehaven for
Nigerian narcotraffickers operating worldwide; major
money-laundering center; massive corruption and criminal
activity; remains on Financial Action Task Force
Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories List for
continued failure to address deficiencies in
money-laundering control regime |
|
This page was last updated on
20 October, 2005 |
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