Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a sovereign country in West Africa bordering Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Its southern coast is on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. Lagos is the most populous city in the country and the African continent, as well as one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. Nigeria is a multinational state inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups speaking 500 distinct languages, all identifying with a wide variety of cultures. The country has the world’s fifth-largest Muslim population and sixth-largest Christian population.
About Nigeria in brief
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a sovereign country in West Africa bordering Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Its southern coast is on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a federal republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja, is located. Lagos is the most populous city in the country and the African continent, as well as one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. Nigeria is a multinational state inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups speaking 500 distinct languages, all identifying with a wide variety of cultures. The country has the world’s fifth-largest Muslim population and sixth-largest Christian population, with a minority practicing indigenous religions, such as those native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. It experienced a civil war from 1967 to 1970, followed by a succession of democratically-elected civilian governments and military dictatorships, until achieving a stable democracy in 1999. The 2015 presidential election was the first time an incumbent president had lost re-election. Nigeria’s economy is the largest in Africa and the 24th largest in theWorld, worth almost USD 450 billion and USD 1 trillion in terms of nominal GDP and purchasing power parity, respectively. It has the third-largest youth population in the World, after India and China, with nearly half its population under the age of eighteen.
Nigeria has been called the \”Giant of Africa\”, owing to its large population and economy, and is also considered to be an emerging market by the World Bank. The modern state originated with British colonialization in the 19th century, taking its present territorial shape with the merging of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and Northern Nigeria protectorate in 1914 by Lord Frederick Lugard. The three largest ethnic groups are the Hausa–Fulani in the. north, Yoruba in the West, and Igbo in theEast, together comprising over 60% of the total population. The official language is English, chosen to facilitate linguistic unity at the national level. The constitution ensures freedom of religion, and the country is divided roughly in half between Muslims, who live mostly in the northern part of the country, and Christians, who living mostly in. the south. This name was coined on January 8, 1897, by British journalist Flora Shaw, who later married Lord Lugard, a British colonial administrator. The neighbouring Niger takes its name from the same river, The name Niger is uncertain, but is likely an alteration of the Tuareg name egerew nigerewen used by people along the river around the middle reaches of the river prior to 19thcentury European colonialism. The Nok civilization of Nigeria flourished between 1,500 BC and 200 AD. It produced life-sized terracotta figures that are some of the earliest known in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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This page is based on the article Nigeria published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 25, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
