Nigeria

• 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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

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 est.)

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 est.)

noun:

Nigerian(s)

adjective:

Nigerian

• Nigeria, which is 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%

conventional long form:

Federal Republic of Nigeria

conventional short form:

Nigeria

• Abuja;
• note - on 12 December 1991 the capital was officially transferred from Lagos to Abuja;
• most federal government offices have now made the move to Abuja

• Supreme Court (judges appointed by the President);
• Federal Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the federal government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial Committee)

• All People's Party or APP [leader NA];
• Alliance for Democracy or AD [Alhaji Adamu ABDULKADIR];
• People's Democratic Party or PDP [Audu OGBEH]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jibril AMINU

consulate(s) general:

Atlanta and New York

FAX:

[1] (202) 775-1385

telephone:

[1] (202) 986-8400

chancery:

1333 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

chief of mission:

Ambassador Howard Franklin JETER

embassy:

7 Mambilla Drive, Abuja

mailing address:

P. O. Box 554, Lagos

telephone:

[234] (9) 523-0916/0906/5857/2235/2205

FAX:

[234] (9) 523-0353

lowest 10%:

2%

highest 10%:

41% (1996-97)

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

general assessment:

an inadequate system, further limited by poor maintenance; major expansion is required and a start has been made

domestic:

• intercity traffic is carried by coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, a domestic communications satellite system with 19 earth stations, and a coastal submarine cable;
• mobile cellular facilities and the Internet are available

international:

satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); coaxial submarine cable SAFE (South African Far East)

total:

3,557 km

narrow gauge:

3,505 km 1.067-m gauge

standard gauge:

52 km 1.435-m gauge

note: years of neglect of both the rolling stock and the right-of-way have seriously reduced the capacity and utility of the system; a project to restore Nigeria's railways is now underway (2001)

total:

193,200 km

paved:

59,892 km (including 1,194 km of expressways)

note: many of the roads reported as paved may be graveled; because of poor maintenance and years of heavy freight traffic - in part the result of the failure of the railroad system - much of the road system is barely usable (2001)

unpaved:

133,308 km

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

total:

43 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 331,094 GRT/614,171 DWT

note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Bulgaria 1, Greece 1, Norway 1, Pakistan 1, Togo 1, United States 1 (2002 est.)

ships by type:

bulk 1, cargo 7, chemical tanker 4, petroleum tanker 29, roll on/roll off 1, specialized tanker 1

• Nigeria disputes several villages with Benin along the Okpara River, and only 35 km of their common boundary are demarcated;
• the Benin-Niger-Nigeria tripoint remains undemarcated;
• Lake Chad Basin Commission urges signatories Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over lake region, the site of continuing armed clashes;
• oral arguments on the land and maritime boundary disputes between Cameroon and Nigeria were presented to the ICJ;
• disputes center around Bakasi Peninsula, where armed clashes continue, Bouram Island on Lake Chad, and the maritime boundary and economic zone dispute in the Gulf of Guinea, which also involves Equatorial Guinea;
• Nigeria requests and Chad rejects redemarcation of boundary, which lacks clear demarcation in sections and has caused several cross-border incidents

• a transit point for heroin and cocaine intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets;
• safehaven for Nigerian narcotraffickers operating worldwide;
• major money-laundering center;
• massive corruption and criminal activity, along with unwillingness of the government to address the deficiencies in its anti-money-laundering regime make money laundering a major problem