Country Facts - Nigeria

The People

Nationality

Nigerian(s)

Ethnic Composition

There are 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria, the largest ones are: Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5%.

Religious Composition

Muslim	50%
Christian	40%
Indigenous beliefs	10%

Languages Spoken

English (official), Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani.

Education and Literacy

Six years of primary education are compulsory. Education in the southern states is more advanced than in the northern states. The overall literacy of the country is 57.1 percent. Literacy of males is 67.3 percent; of females, 47.3 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 66 million (1999)
By occupation:

Agriculture	70%
Industry	10%
Services	4020%

(1999)

Geography

Land Mass Total

356,668 sq mi (923,768 sq km)

Land

351,649 sq mi (910,768 sq km)

Water

5,019 sq mi (13,000 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 2,514 mi (4,047 km)
Border countries: Benin 480 mi (773 km), Cameroon 1,050 mi (1,690 km), Chad 54 mi (87 km), Niger 930 mi (1,497 km)

Coastline

530 mi (853 km)

Maritime claim

Continental shelf: 656 ft (200 m) depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

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: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Chappal Waddi 7,936 ft (2,419 m)

Natural Resources

Petroleum, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc, natural gas, hydropower, arable land.

Land use

Arable land	31%
Permanent crops	3%
Other	66%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Periodic droughts.

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.

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.

Demographics

Population

129,934,911 (July 2002)
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.

Age structure

0-14 years:	43.6%	male: 28,503,211	female: 28,156,976
15-64 years:	53.6%	male: 35,418,119	female: 34,179,802)
65 years and over:	2.8%	male: 1,832,682	female: 1,844,121

(2002))

Growth Rate

2.54% (2002)

Life Expectancy

50.59 years (2002)
Female: 50.6 years
Male: 50.58 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$840 (2001

Infant Mortality

72.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.99 male(s)/female
Total population:	1.03 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

The oil-rich Nigerian economy, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, and poor macroeconomic management, is undergoing substantial economic reform under the new civilian administration. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from over dependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 20 percent of GDP, 95 percent of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65 percent of budgetary revenues. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, 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 US$1 billion credit from the IMF, both of which are contingent upon economic reforms. The agreement was allowed to expire by the IMF in November 2001, however, and Nigeria was ineligible to receive substantial multilateral assistance in 2002. As a result, GDP growth dropped from 2.8 percent in 2001 to 0.5 percent in 2002. Expectations for 2003 are 6.7-percent growth, but nagging mid-teen level inflation remains problematic.

Unemployment

28% (1992)

Inflation Rate

14.9% (2001)

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.

Exports

US$20.3 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$13.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$105.9 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 46%, Spain 11%, India 6%, France 5%, Brazil (2000)

Top Import Partners

UK 11%, US 9%, France 9%, Germany 7%, China (2000)

Top Exports

Petroleum and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber.

Top Imports

Machinery, chemicals, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food and animals.

Debt - external

US$32 billion (2000)

Economic aid

ODA US$250 million (1998)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 12:30p.m., 2p.m. to 4:30p.m.	Saturday 8a.m. to 12:30p.m.
Retail	8a.m. to 5p.m.	Saturday 8a.m. to 4:30p.m.
Banks	Sunday to Thursday 8:30a.m. to 2p.m.	Closed
Government	8a.m. to 3:30p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Festival of Sacrifice (Eid Al Adha)¹	February 12	February 2	January 21
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Birthday of Prophet Mohammad (Mawlid an Nabi)³	May 4	May 2	April 21
National Day	October 1	October 1	October 1
Start of Ramadan*¹	October 27	October 15	October 4
End of Ramadan (Eid Al Fatr)*²	November 26	November 14	November 3
Christmas Day*³	December 25	December 25	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26	December 26	December 26

¹	Culmination of the Haj or Holy Pilgrimage.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	The Birthday of the Prophet Mohammad is celebrated on the twelfth day in the month of Rabi'l of the Islamic calendar.
*¹	Ramadan (the month of fasting) begins with the first appearance of the new moon in the ninth month of the lunar Islamic Hijra calendar, and lasts 30 days. Dates for the start of Ramadan will vary from country to country, depending on the first appearance of the moon.
*²	Feasting that officially marks the end of Ramadan, and commonly lasts for 3 days.
*³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press