Nigeria

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

Civil air

76 major transport aircraft

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

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

Pipelines

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

Ports

Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Onne, Sapele

Railroads

3,505 km 1.067-meter gauge

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

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Police Force

Defense expenditures

$300 million, 1% of GNP (1990 est.)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 28,070,431; 16,040,870 fit for military service; 1,302,970 reach military age (18) annually

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

Budget

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

Currency

naira (plural--naira); 1 naira (4) = 100 kobo

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

Electricity

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

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)

Exports

$13.0 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.); commodities--oil 95%, cocoa, rubber; partners--EC 51%, US 32%

External debt

$35 billion (December 1990 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$27.2 billion, per capita $230; real growth rate 2.7% (1990 est.)

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

Imports

$9.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.); commodities--consumer goods, capital equipment, chemicals, raw materials; partners--EC, US

Industrial production

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

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

16% (1990)

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.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Climate

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

Coastline

853 km Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation; Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 30 nm

Comparative area

slightly more than twice the size of California

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

Environment

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

Land boundaries

4,047 km total; Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690 km, Chad 87 km, Niger 1,497 km

Land use

arable land 31%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures 23%; forest and woodland 15%; other 28%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Natural resources

crude oil, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc, natural gas

Terrain

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

Total area

923,770 km2; land area: 910,770 km2

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

Capital

Lagos; note--some government departments have relocated to the designated new capital in Abuja

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

Constitution

1 October 1979, amended 9 February 1984, revised 1989

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

Executive branch

president of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, Armed Forces Ruling Council, National Council of State, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Flag

three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green

Independence

1 October 1960 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeal Chief of State and Head of Government--President and Commander in Chief of Armed Forces Gen. Ibrahim BABANGIDA (since 27 August 1985)

Legal system

based on English common law, Islamic, and tribal law

Legislative branch

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

Long-form name

Federal Republic of Nigeria

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 1 October (1960)

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 President--scheduled for 1 October 1992; National Assembly--scheduled for early 1992

Type

military government since 31 December 1983

Birth rate

46 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

16 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

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

Infant mortality rate

118 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

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

Language

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

Life expectancy at birth

48 years male, 50 years female (1991)

Literacy

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

Nationality

noun--Nigerian(s); adjective--Nigerian

Net migration rate

NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)

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)

Population

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

Religion

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

Total fertility rate

6.5 children born/woman (1991)