Background: Nigeria has been ruled by the military since 1983.

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 853 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 30 nm

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%

Population: 122,470,574 (July 1991), growth rate 3.0% (1991)

Nationality: noun--Nigerian(s; adjective--Nigerian

Ethnic groups: 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

Languages: English (official; Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani, and several other languages also widely used

Religions: Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%

Birth rate: 46 births/1000 population (1991)

Death rate: 16 deaths/1000 population (1991)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1000 population (1991)

Environment
Current issues: recent droughts in north severely affecting marginal agricultural activities; desertification; soil degradation, rapid deforestation

Infant mortality rate: 118 deaths/1000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 50 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1991)

Literacy: 51% (male 62%, female 40%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Country name: conventional long form: Federal Republic of Nigeria

Government 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)

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 October (1960)

Constitution: 1 October 1979, amended 9 February 1984, revised 1989

Legal system: based on English common law, Islamic, and tribal law

Suffrage: universal at age 21

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government--President and Commander in Chief of Armed Forces Gen. Ibrahim BABANGIDA (since 27 August 1985)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Police Force

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeal

International organization participation: 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
In the us: Ambassador Hamzat AHMADU; Chancery at 2,201 M Street NW, Washington DC 20,037; 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) 610,097; there is a US Consulate General in Kaduna

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green Nigeria NigeriaNigeria

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.

Agriculture products: 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

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

Industrial production growth rate: 7.2% (1990 est.), accounts for 23% of GDP, including petroleum

Labor force: 42,844,000; agriculture 54%, industry, commerce, and services 19%, government 15%; 49% of population of working age (1985)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $8.0 billion; expenditures $8.0 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

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

Debt external: $35 billion (December 1990 est.)

Exchange rates: naira (4) 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)

Electricity
Capacity: 4,737,000 kW capacity; 11,270 million kWh produced, 100 kWh per capita (1989)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: $300 million, 1% of GNP (1990 est.)

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

Pipelines: 2,042 km crude oil; 500 km natural gas; 3,000 km refined products

Waterways: 8,575 km consisting of Niger and Benue Rivers and smaller rivers and creeks

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

Disputes international: 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

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