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

Area
Total: 923,770 km²
Land: 910,770 km²
Comparative: 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; boundary commission created with Cameroon to discuss unresolved land and maritime boundaries - has not yet convened

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: 126,274,589 (July 1992), growth rate 3.0% (1992; note - a new population figure of 88.5 million is in the process of being incorporated into revised Census Bureau figures (April 1992)

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 (1992)

Death rate: 16 deaths/1000 population (1992)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1000 population (1992)

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

Infant mortality rate: 110 deaths/1000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 50 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1992)

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: Abuja; note - on 12 December 1991 the capital was officially moved from Lagos to Abuja; many government offices remain in Lagos pending completion of facilities in Abuja

Administrative divisions:

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 law, and tribal law

Suffrage: universal at age 21
National Assembly:
President: first presidential elections since the 31 December 1983 coup scheduled for late 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

Executive branch:

Legislative branch: National Assembly was dissolved after the military coup of 31 December 1983

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeal

International organization participation:
Diplomatic representation:
US:

Flag description: 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 $250 per capita GDP. In 1991 massive government spending, much of it to help ensure a smooth transition to civilian rule, ballooned the budget deficit and caused inflation and interest rates to rise. The lack of fiscal discipline forced the IMF to declare Nigeria not in compliance with an 18-month standby facility started in January 1991. Lagos has set ambitious targets for expanding oil production capacity and is offering foreign companies more attractive investment incentives. Government efforts to reduce Nigeria's dependence on oil exports and to sustain noninflationary growth, however, have fallen short because of inadequate new investment funds and endemic corruption. Living standards continue to deteriorate from the higher level of the early 1980s oil boom.
GDP: exchange rate conversion - $30 billion, per capita $250; real growth rate 5.2% (1990 est.)

Agriculture products: accounts for 32% of GDP 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: growth rate 7.2% (1990; accounts for 8.5% of GDP

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

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $10 billion; expenditures $10 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $13.6 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
Commodoties: oil 95%, cocoa, rubber
Partners: EC 51%, US 32%

Imports: $6.9 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
Commodoties: consumer goods, capital equipment, chemicals, raw materials
Partners: EC, US

Exchange rates: naira (N) per US$1 - 10.226 (February 1992), 9.909 (1991), 8.038 (1990), 7.3647 (1989), 4.5370 (1988), 4.0160 (1987)

Electricity
Production: 4,740,000 kW capacity; 11,280 million kWh produced, 90 kWh per capita (1991)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $300 million, 1% of GDP (1990 est.)

Airports:

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

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

Merchant marine:
Civil air: 57 major transport aircraft

Illicit drugs: