General Information

Capital:

Abuja 339,100 (1995 est.)

Note: On December 12, 1991 the Capital was officially moved from Lagos to Abuja, though many government offices remain in Lagos pending completion of facilities in Abuja.

Area:

923,768 sq km (356,669 sq mi)

Form of government

Republic in transition from military to civilian rule

GDP per capita

Purchasing power parity - $970 (1999 est.)

Population

123,337,822

Note: Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, as well as changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.

Ethnic composition

Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Ibo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, Tiv, many others

Official Language(s)

English

Minority Language(s)

Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani (four main languages spoken by 2/3 of the population), others - Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, Tiv, Edo, Efik, igbirra, Itsekiri etc.

According to the Ethnologue (Summer Institute of Linguistic, 1996) the number of living languages listed for Nigeria is 470.

Top of page