Nigeria

Airports

total: 80 usable: 67 with permanent-surface runways: 34 with runways over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 21

Highways

total: 107,990 km paved: mostly bituminous-surface treatment 30,019 km unpaved: gravel, crushed stone, improved earth 25,411 km; unimproved earth 52,560 km

Inland waterways

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

Merchant marine

33 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 432,704 GRT/686,718 DWT, bulk 1, cargo 18, chemical tanker 3, liquified gas 1, oil tanker 9, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1

Pipelines

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

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 microwave and cable routes; broadcast stations - 35 AM, 17 FM, 28 TV; satellite earth stations - 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 20 domestic stations; 1 coaxial submarine cable

Affiliation

(free association with New Zealand)

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Police Force

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $172 million, about 1% of GDP (1992)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 22,468,803; fit for military service 12,840,029; reach military age (18) annually 986,518 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for 35% 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

Budget

revenues: $9 billion expenditures: $10.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)

Currency

1 naira (N) = 100 kobo

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $705 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $3 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $2.2 billion

Electricity

capacity: 4,740,000 kW production: 8.3 billion kWh consumption per capita: 70 kWh (1991)

Exchange rates

naira (N) per US$1 - 21.886 (November 1993), 17.298 (1992), 9.909 (1991), 8.038 (1990), 7.3647 (1989)

Exports

$11.9 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: oil 95%, cocoa, rubber partners: US 54%, EC 23%

External debt

$29.5 billion (1992)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

passenger and cargo air hub for West Africa; facilitates movement of heroin en route from Southeast and Southwest Asia to Western Europe and North America; increasingly a transit route for cocaine from South America intended for West European, East Asian, and North American markets

Imports

$8.3 billion (c.i.f., 1992) commodities: machinery and equipment, manufactured goods, food and animals partners: EC 64%, US 10%, Japan 7%

Industrial production

growth rate 7.7% (1991); accounts for 43% 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)

60% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $95.1 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$1,000 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

4.1% (1992)

Overview

The oil-rich Nigerian economy continues to be hobbled by poor macroeconomic management that has resulted in an average annual inflation rate of 60%, a growing foreign debt, and a worsening balance of payments. A deepening political crisis in 1993 has compounded the government's failure to reign in deficit spending, which prevents it from reaching an agreement with the IMF and its bilateral creditors on debt relief. Investment in both oil and non-oil sector industry has been undermined by corruption and squandered on white elephant projects that have failed to generate diversification or new employment.

Unemployment rate

28% (1992 est.)

Area

total area: 923,770 sq km land area: 910,770 sq km comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of California

Climate

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

Coastline

853 km

Environment

current issues: soil degradation; rapid deforestation; desertification; recent droughts in north severely affecting marginal agricultural activities natural hazards: periodic droughts international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change

International 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, but a commission was formed January 1994 to study a flare-up of the dispute

Irrigated land

8,650 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 4,047 km, 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%

Location

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean between Benin and Cameroon

Map references

Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 30 nm

Natural resources

petroleum, 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

Administrative divisions

30 states and 1 territory*; Abia, Abuja Capital Territory*, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe

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

Constitution

1979 constitution still in force; plan for 1989 constitution to take effect in 1993 was not implemented

Digraph

NI

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Zubair Mahmud KAZAURE chancery: 1333 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: (202) 986-8400 consulate(s) general: New York

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council and Commander in Chief of Armed Forces and Defense Minister Gen. Sani ABACHA (since 17 November 1993); Vice-Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council Oladipo DIYA (since 17 November 1993) cabinet: Federal Executive Council

FAX

[234] (1) 610257 consulate(s) general: Kaduna

Flag

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

House of Representatives

suspended after coup of 17 November 1993

Independence

1 October 1960 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeal

Legal system

based on English common law, Islamic law, and tribal law

Legislative branch

bicameral National Assembly

Member of

ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMO, IMF, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, NAM, OAU, OIC (observer), OPEC, PCA, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UPU, WCL, WHO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Federal Republic of Nigeria conventional short form: Nigeria

National holiday

Independence Day, 1 October (1960)

Political parties and leaders

note: two political party system suspended after the coup of 17 November 1993

Senate

suspended after coup of 17 November 1993

Suffrage

21 years of age; universal

Type

military government since 31 December 1983; plans to institute a constitutional conference to prepare for a new transition to civilian rule after plans for a transition in 1993 were negated by General BABANGIDA

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Walter CARRINGTON embassy: 2 Eleke Crescent, Lagos mailing address: P. O. Box 554, Lagos telephone: [234] (1) 610050

Birth rate

43.52 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

12.43 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

north: Hausa and Fulani southwest: Yoruba southeast: Ibos non-Africans 27,000 note: Hausa and Fulani, Yoruba, and Ibos together make up 65% of population

Infant mortality rate

75 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

42.844 million by occupation: agriculture 54%, industry, commerce, and services 19%, government 15% note: 49% of population of working age (1985)

Languages

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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 55.33 years male: 54.11 years female: 56.59 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

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

Nationality

noun: Nigerian(s) adjective: Nigerian

Net migration rate

0.36 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

98,091,097 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

3.15% (1994 est.)

Religions

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

Total fertility rate

6.37 children born/woman (1994 est.)