British influence and control over what would become Nigeria and Africa's most populous country grew through the 19th century. A series of constitutions after World War II granted Nigeria greater autonomy; independence came in 1960. Following nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. The government continues to face the daunting task of reforming a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement, and institutionalizing democracy. In addition, Nigeria continues to experience longstanding ethnic and religious tensions. Although both the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections were marred by significant irregularities and violence, Nigeria is currently experiencing its longest period of civilian rule since independence. The general elections of April 2007 marked the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the country's history. In January 2010, Nigeria assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2010-11 term.

Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon

slightly more than twice the size of California

varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north

southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast, plains in north

natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, arable land

periodic droughts; flooding

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

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

36.65 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

16.56 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

-0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

4.82 children born/woman (2010 est.)

2.6 million (2007 est.)

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%

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

English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani

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

1 October 1960 (from the UK)

Independence Day (National Day), 1 October (1960)

adopted 5 May 1999; effective 29 May 1999

based on English common law, Islamic law (in 12 northern states), and traditional law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

18 years of age; universal

bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (109 seats, 3 from each state plus 1 from Abuja; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and House of Representatives (360 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Supreme Court (judges recommended by the National Judicial Council and appointed by the president); Federal Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the federal government from a pool of judges recommended by the National Judicial Council)

Accord Party [Augustine MAZIE, acting]; Action Congress or AC [Bisi AKANDE]; All Nigeria Peoples Party or ANPP [Edwin UME-EZEOKE]; All Progressives Grand Alliance or APGA [Victor C. UMEH]; Alliance for Democracy or AD [Mojisoluwa AKINFENWA]; Conference of Nigerian Political Parities or CNPP [Abdulkadir Balarabe MUSA]; Democratic Peoples Party or DPP [Jeremiah USENI]; Fresh Democratic Party [Chris OKOTIE]; Labor Party [Dan NWANYANWU]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Aliyu Habu FARI]; Peoples Democratic Party or PDP [Vincent OGBULAFOR]; Peoples Progressive Alliance [Larry ESIN]

Academic Staff Union for Universities or ASUU; Campaign for Democracy or CD; Civil Liberties Organization or CLO; Committee for the Defense of Human Rights or CDHR; Constitutional Right Project or CRP; Human Right Africa; National Association of Democratic Lawyers or NADL; National Association of Nigerian Students or NANS; Nigerian Bar Association or NBA; Nigerian Labor Congress or NLC; Nigerian Medical Association or NMA; the press; Universal Defenders of Democracy or UDD

ACP, AfDB, AU, C, D-8, ECOWAS, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green; the color green represents the forests and abundant natural wealth of the country, white stands for peace and unity

Oil-rich Nigeria, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic management, has undertaken several reforms over the past decade. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from its overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 95% of foreign exchange earnings and about 80% of budgetary revenues. 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. Since 2008 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. In 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. In November 2005, Abuja won Paris Club approval for a debt-relief deal that eliminated $18 billion of debt in exchange for $12 billion in payments - a total package worth $30 billion of Nigeria's total $37 billion external debt. The deal subjects Nigeria to stringent IMF reviews. Based largely on increased oil exports and high global crude prices, GDP rose strongly in 2007-09. President YAR'ADUA has pledged to continue the economic reforms of his predecessor with emphasis on infrastructure improvements. Infrastructure is the main impediment to growth. The government is working toward developing stronger public-private partnerships for electricity and roads.

$339 billion (2009 est.)

$319.5 billion (2008 est.)

$303.4 billion (2007 est.)

$173.4 billion (2009 est.)

47.33 million (2009 est.)

30.8% of GDP (2009 est.)

14.3% of GDP (2009 est.)

9.4% of GDP (2008 est.)

9.75% (31 December 2008)

9.5% (31 December 2007)

15.48% (31 December 2008)

16.94% (31 December 2007)

$35.29 billion (31 December 2008)

$26.82 billion (31 December 2007)

$32.04 billion (31 December 2008)

$22.78 billion (31 December 2007)

$49.51 billion (31 December 2008)

$35.68 billion (31 December 2007)

$33.37 billion (31 December 2009)

$49.8 billion (31 December 2008)

$86.35 billion (31 December 2007)

cocoa, peanuts, cotton, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; timber; fish

crude oil, coal, tin, columbite; rubber products, wood; hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food products, footwear, chemicals, fertilizer, printing, ceramics, steel

21.92 billion kWh (2007 est.)

19.21 billion kWh (2007 est.)

2.211 million bbl/day (2009 est.)

280,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

2.327 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

170,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)

36.22 billion bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

32.82 billion cu m (2008 est.)

12.28 billion cu m (2008 est.)

20.55 billion cu m (2008 est.)

5.215 trillion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

$10.01 billion (2009 est.)

$39.36 billion (2008 est.)

$47.75 billion (2009 est.)

$78.34 billion (2008 est.)

petroleum and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber

US 35.08%, India 10.43%, Brazil 9.32%, Spain 7.19%, France 4.65% (2009)

$32.99 billion (2009 est.)

$34.35 billion (2008 est.)

machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals

China 14.89%, US 8.88%, Netherlands 8.18%, South Korea 5.46%, UK 4.63%, France 4.19% (2009)

$46.79 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$53 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$9.689 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$9.996 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$53.67 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$50.67 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$12.91 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$12.86 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

nairas (NGN) per US dollar - 150.48 (2009), 117.8 (2008), 127.46 (2007), 127.38 (2006), 132.59 (2005)

1.308 million (2008)

62.988 million (2008)

nearly 70 federal-government-controlled national and regional TV stations; all 36 states operate TV stations; several private TV stations operational; cable and satellite TV subscription services are available; network of federal-government-controlled national, regional, and state radio stations; roughly 40 state-government-owned radio stations typically carry their own programs except for news broadcasts; about 20 private radio stations also operate; transmissions of international broadcasters are available (2007)

condensate 26 km; gas 2,565 km; liquid petroleum gas 97 km; oil 3,424 km; refined products 4,090 km (2009)

8,600 km (Niger and Benue rivers and smaller rivers and creeks) (2008)

Bonny Inshore Terminal, Calabar, Lagos

the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea as high risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships; numerous commercial vessels have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway; crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen

Nigerian Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force (2008)

18 years of age for voluntary military service (2007)

Joint Border Commission with Cameroon reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately cedes sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a phase-out of Nigerian control within two years while resolving patriation issues; 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 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; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries

a transit point for heroin and cocaine intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets; consumer of amphetamines; safe haven for Nigerian narcotraffickers operating worldwide; major money-laundering center; massive corruption and criminal activity; Nigeria has improved some anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in June 2006; Nigeria's anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF