NIGERIA                                                                         
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 923,770 km2; land area: 910,770 km2                                 
                                                                                
Comparative area: 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; Nigerian proposals to reopen maritime boundary negotiations and        
redemarcate the entire land boundary have been rejected by Cameroon             
                                                                                
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%               
                                                                                
Environment: recent droughts in north severely affecting marginal               
agricultural activities; desertification; soil degradation, rapid               
deforestation                                                                   
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 122,470,574 (July 1991), growth rate 3.0% (1991)                    
                                                                                
Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 16 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)                       
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 118 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                      
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 50 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Nigerian(s); adjective--Nigerian                             
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: 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                             
                                                                                
Religion: Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%                     
                                                                                
Language: English (official); Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani, and                   
several other languages also widely used                                        
                                                                                
Literacy: 51% (male 62%, female 40%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 42,844,000; agriculture 54%, industry, commerce, and               
services 19%, government 15%; 49% of population of working age (1985)           
                                                                                
Organized labor: 3,520,000 wage earners belong to 42 recognized                 
trade unions, which come under a single national labor federation--the          
Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC)                                                   
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Federal Republic of Nigeria                                     
                                                                                
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)                                          
                                                                                
Constitution: 1 October 1979, amended 9 February 1984, revised 1989             
                                                                                
Legal system: based on English common law, Islamic, and tribal law              
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 October (1960)                            
Executive branch: president of the Armed Forces Ruling Council,                 
Armed Forces Ruling Council, National Council of State, Council of              
Ministers (cabinet)                                                             
                                                                                
Legislative branch: National Assembly was dissolved after the                   
military coup of 31 December 1983                                               
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeal                         
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State and Head of Government--President and Commander in               
Chief of Armed Forces Gen. Ibrahim BABANGIDA (since 27 August 1985)             
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders: two political parties established by             
the government in 1989--Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National              
Republican Convention (NRC)                                                     
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 21                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--scheduled for 1 October 1992;                                        
                                                                                
National Assembly--scheduled for early 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                                                                      
                                                                                
Member of: 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: Ambassador Hamzat AHMADU; Chancery at                
2201 M Street NW, Washington DC 20037; 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) 610097; there is a US Consulate General in Kaduna           
                                                                                
Flag: 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 $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.                                       
                                                                                
GDP: $27.2 billion, per capita $230; real growth rate 2.7%                      
(1990 est.)                                                                     
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 16% (1990)                                    
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $8.0 billion; expenditures $8.0 billion, including             
capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)                                         
                                                                                
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                                                                
                                                                                
External debt: $35 billion (December 1990 est.)                                 
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 7.2% (1990 est.); accounts                   
for 23% of GDP, including petroleum                                             
                                                                                
Electricity: 4,737,000 kW capacity; 11,270 million kWh produced,                
100 kWh per capita (1989)                                                       
                                                                                
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                                                                 
                                                                                
Agriculture: 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                                                           
                                                                                
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                                    
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $705                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-87), $2.5 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $2.2 billion            
                                                                                
Currency: naira (plural--naira); 1 naira (N) = 100 kobo                         
                                                                                
Exchange rates: naira (N) 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)                                                                   
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 3,505 km 1.067-meter gauge                                           
                                                                                
Highways: 107,990 km total 30,019 km paved (mostly                              
bituminous-surface treatment); 25,411 km laterite, gravel, crushed stone,       
improved earth; 52,560 km unimproved                                            
                                                                                
Inland waterways: 8,575 km consisting of Niger and Benue Rivers and             
smaller rivers and creeks                                                       
                                                                                
Pipelines: 2,042 km crude oil; 500 km natural gas; 3,000 km refined             
products                                                                        
                                                                                
Ports: Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Onne, Sapele                       
                                                                                
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                                                         
                                                                                
Civil air: 76 major transport aircraft                                          
                                                                                
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                                                   
                                                                                
Telecommunications: above-average system limited by poor                        
maintenance; major expansion in progress; radio relay and cable routes;         
155,000 telephones; stations--37 AM, 19 FM, 38 TV; 2 Atlantic Ocean             
INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, domestic, with 19 stations; 1 coaxial        
submarine cable                                                                 
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Police Force                      
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 28,070,431; 16,040,870 fit for              
military service; 1,302,970 reach military age (18) annually                    
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $300 million, 1% of GNP (1990 est.)                       
                                                                                
