NIGERIAN GEOGRAPHY

NIGERIAN GEOGRAPHY
Nigerian Location: Western African bordering on the Gulf of Guinea between Benin and Cameroon

Overall Area:
• Total Area: 923, 768 sq km
• Land Area: 910, 768 Sq km
• Water: 13, 000 Sq km
• Coastline: 853 km

Ares comparative:  slightly more than twice the size of California in the United States of America.

Land Boundaries: 4, 047 km all together

Border Countries: On the west by the Republic of Benin 773 km, and Cameroon 1, 690 km, north by Niger 1, 497 km and  Chad Republics 80km and south by the Atlantic Ocean.

Martime Claims:
• Continental Shelf: 200m depth or the depth of exploitation
• Exclusive Economic Zone: 200NM
• Territory Sea: 12NM

Nigerian Climate:  Varies; Equatorial in South, Tropical in centre and in north.
Terrain: Southern lowlands merge into central hill and Plateaus Mountains in south-east, plain in north.

Natural Resources: Petroleum, Tin, Columbite, Iron Ore, Coal, Limestone, Lead, Zinc, Natural Gas, Hydropower and Arable Land.

LAND USE:
• Arable Land: 33%
• Permanent Crops: 3%
• Permanent Pastures: 44%
• Forests and Woodland: 12%
• Others 8%
• Irrigated Land: 9, 570 Sq km (1993 east)


Nigerian Environmental-International Agreement:
Party to Biodiversity, Climate change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the sea, Manne Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear test Ban, Ozone Layer protection, Wetlands

PEOPLE

• POPULATION: 140 Million as at July 2006 Census Est.
• Population Growth rate: 3% as at July 2006 Est.
• Nationality: Nigeria
• Main Religions: Christianity, Islamic, and Indigenous beliefs
• Major Ethnic Groups: Hausa Yoruba and Ibo
• Official Language: English
• Port and Harbour: Calabar, Lagos, Onne, Port-Harcourt, Sapele, Warri.

Economy
• Major Industries: Oil & Gas, Coal, Tin, Columbite, Palm Oil, Peanut, Cotton, Rubber, wood, Hides and Skin, Textile, Cement and other construction material, Food  Production, Footwear, Chemicals Fertilizer, Printing, Ceramics, Steel.

Agriculture:
• Cash Crops: Cocoa, Peanuts, Palm oil, Rubber
• Food Crops: Corn, Rice, Sorghum, Millet, Cassava, Yam
• Livestock: Cattle, Sheep, Goat, Pig, Fishing and
• Forestry Resources: Extensively Exploited

Fiscal Year: Calendar year

Time: GMT + 1 Hour

Currency: 1 Naira (N) = 100 kobo