{ "Introduction": { "Background": { "text": "
In ancient and pre-colonial times, the area of present-day Nigeria was occupied by a variety of ethnic groups with different languages and traditions. These included large Islamic kingdoms such as Borno, Kano, and the Sokoto Caliphate dominating the north, the Benin and Oyo Empires that controlled much of modern western Nigeria, and more decentralized political entities and city states in the south and southeast. In 1914, the British amalgamated their separately administered northern and southern territories into a Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.
Nigeria achieved independence from Britain in 1960 and transitioned to a federal republic with three constituent states in 1963 under President Nnamdi AZIKIWE. This structure served to enflame regional and ethnic tension, contributing to a bloody coup led by predominately southeastern military officers in 1966 and a countercoup later that year masterminded by northern officers. In the aftermath of this tension, the governor of Nigeria’s Eastern Region, centered on the southeast, declared the region independent as the Republic of Biafra. The ensuring civil war (1967-1970), resulted in more than a million deaths, many from starvation. While the war forged a stronger Nigerian state and national identity, it contributed to long-lasting mistrust of the southeast’s predominantly Igbo population. Wartime military leader Yakubu GOWON ruled until a bloodless coup by frustrated junior officers in 1975. This generation of officers, including Olusegun OBASANJO, Ibrahim BABANGIDA, and Muhammadu BUHARI, who would all later serve as president, continue to exert significant influence in Nigeria to the present day.
Military rule predominated until the first durable transition to civilian government and adoption of a new constitution in 1999. The elections of 2007 marked the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the country's history. National and state elections in 2011 and 2015 were generally regarded as credible. The 2015 election was also heralded for the fact that the then-umbrella opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, defeated the long-ruling (since 1999) People's Democratic Party and assumed the presidency, marking the first peaceful transfer of power from one party to another. Presidential and legislative elections in 2019 and 2023 were deemed broadly free and fair despite voting irregularities, intimidation, and violence. The government of Africa's most populous nation continues to face the daunting task of institutionalizing democracy and reforming a petroleum-based economy whose revenues have been squandered through decades of corruption and mismanagement. In addition, Nigeria faces increasing violence from Islamic terrorism, largely in the northeast, large scale criminal banditry, secessionist violence in the southeast, and competition over land and resources nationwide.
Nigeria’s population is projected to grow from more than 186 million people in 2016 to 392 million in 2050, becoming the world’s fourth most populous country. Nigeria’s sustained high population growth rate will continue for the foreseeable future because of population momentum and its high birth rate. Abuja has not successfully implemented family planning programs to reduce and space births because of a lack of political will, government financing, and the availability and affordability of services and products, as well as a cultural preference for large families. Increased educational attainment, especially among women, and improvements in health care are needed to encourage and to better enable parents to opt for smaller families.
Nigeria needs to harness the potential of its burgeoning youth population in order to boost economic development, reduce widespread poverty, and channel large numbers of unemployed youth into productive activities and away from ongoing religious and ethnic violence. While most movement of Nigerians is internal, significant emigration regionally and to the West provides an outlet for Nigerians looking for economic opportunities, seeking asylum, and increasingly pursuing higher education. Immigration largely of West Africans continues to be insufficient to offset emigration and the loss of highly skilled workers. Nigeria also is a major source, transit, and destination country for forced labor and sex trafficking.
" }, "Age structure": { "0-14 years": { "text": "40.4% (male 48,856,606/female 46,770,810)" }, "15-64 years": { "text": "56.2% (male 66,897,900/female 66,187,584)" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "3.4% (2024 est.) (male 3,759,943/female 4,274,287)" } }, "Dependency ratios": { "total dependency ratio": { "text": "86" }, "youth dependency ratio": { "text": "80.6" }, "elderly dependency ratio": { "text": "5.5" }, "potential support ratio": { "text": "18 (2021 est.)" } }, "Median age": { "total": { "text": "19.3 years (2024 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "19.1 years" }, "female": { "text": "19.6 years" } }, "Population growth rate": { "text": "2.52% (2024 est.)" }, "Birth rate": { "text": "33.8 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)" }, "Death rate": { "text": "8.4 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)" }, "Net migration rate": { "text": "-0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)" }, "Population distribution": { "text": "largest population of any African nation; significant population clusters are scattered throughout the country, with the highest density areas being in the south and southwest as shown in this population distribution map" }, "Urbanization": { "urban population": { "text": "54.3% of total population (2023)" }, "rate of urbanization": { "text": "3.92% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)" } }, "Major urban areas - population": { "text": "15.946 million Lagos, 4.348 million Kano, 3.875 million Ibadan, 3.840 million ABUJA (capital), 3.480 million Port Harcourt, 1.905 million Benin City (2023)" }, "Sex ratio": { "at birth": { "text": "1.06 male(s)/female" }, "0-14 years": { "text": "1.04 male(s)/female" }, "15-64 years": { "text": "1.01 male(s)/female" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "0.88 male(s)/female" }, "total population": { "text": "1.02 male(s)/female (2024 est.)" } }, "Mother's mean age at first birth": { "text": "20.4 years (2018 est.)", "note": "note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49" }, "Maternal mortality ratio": { "text": "1,047 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)" }, "Infant mortality rate": { "total": { "text": "53.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "58.9 deaths/1,000 live births" }, "female": { "text": "48.2 deaths/1,000 live births" } }, "Life expectancy at birth": { "total population": { "text": "62.2 years (2024 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "60.4 years" }, "female": { "text": "64.2 years" } }, "Total fertility rate": { "text": "4.52 children born/woman (2024 est.)" }, "Gross reproduction rate": { "text": "2.19 (2024 est.)" }, "Contraceptive prevalence rate": { "text": "16.6% (2018)" }, "Drinking water source": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: 95.3% of population" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: 68.8% of population" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 82.6% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: 4.7% of population" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: 31.2% of population" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 17.4% of population (2020 est.)" } }, "Current health expenditure": { "text": "3.4% of GDP (2020)" }, "Physician density": { "text": "0.38 physicians/1,000 population (2018)" }, "Sanitation facility access": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: 81.6% of population" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: 41.4% of population" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 62.3% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: 18.4% of population" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: 58.6% of population" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 37.7% of population (2020 est.)" } }, "Obesity - adult prevalence rate": { "text": "8.9% (2016)" }, "Alcohol consumption per capita": { "total": { "text": "4.49 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "beer": { "text": "0.73 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "wine": { "text": "0.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "spirits": { "text": "0.4 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "other alcohols": { "text": "3.27 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" } }, "Tobacco use": { "total": { "text": "3.7% (2020 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "6.9% (2020 est.)" }, "female": { "text": "0.5% (2020 est.)" } }, "Children under the age of 5 years underweight": { "text": "18.4% (2019/20)" }, "Currently married women (ages 15-49)": { "text": "66.2% (2023 est.)" }, "Child marriage": { "women married by age 15": { "text": "12.3%" }, "women married by age 18": { "text": "30.3%" }, "men married by age 18": { "text": "1.6% (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: due to prolonged insecurity concerns, some parts of states, including Borno state, were not sampled" }, "Education expenditures": { "text": "0.5% of GDP (2013)" }, "Literacy": { "definition": { "text": "age 15 and over can read and write" }, "total population": { "text": "62%" }, "male": { "text": "71.3%" }, "female": { "text": "52.7% (2018)" } } }, "Environment": { "Environment - current issues": { "text": "serious overpopulation and rapid urbanization have led to numerous environmental problems; urban air and water pollution; rapid deforestation; soil degradation; loss of arable land; oil pollution - water, air, and soil have suffered serious damage from oil spills" }, "Environment - international agreements": { "party to": { "text": "Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands" }, "signed, but not ratified": { "text": "Tropical Timber 2006" } }, "Climate": { "text": "varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "78% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 37.3% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 7.4% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 33.3% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "9.5% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "12.5% (2018 est.)" } }, "Urbanization": { "urban population": { "text": "54.3% of total population (2023)" }, "rate of urbanization": { "text": "3.92% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)" } }, "Food insecurity": { "widespread lack of access": { "text": "due to persistent civil conflict in the northern areas, floods, high food prices, and an economic slowdown - about 24.86 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity during the June to August 2023 lean season, which is more than the 19.45 million people estimated to be acutely food insecure in 2022; acute food insecurity is mostly the result of worsening insecurity and conflicts in northern states, which, as well as impeding farmers’ physical access to their lands and disrupting agricultural activities, led to the displacement of about 3.57 million people as of April 2023; macroeconomic challenges, marked by persistent high inflation, depreciation of the naira on the informal market, high fuel prices and the lingering impacts of cash shortages following the introduction of new banknotes at the start of 2023, have aggravated the food security conditions of vulnerable households (2023)" } }, "Revenue from forest resources": { "text": "1.02% of GDP (2018 est.)" }, "Revenue from coal": { "text": "0% of GDP (2018 est.)" }, "Air pollutants": { "particulate matter emissions": { "text": "55.64 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)" }, "carbon dioxide emissions": { "text": "120.37 megatons (2016 est.)" }, "methane emissions": { "text": "143.99 megatons (2020 est.)" } }, "Waste and recycling": { "municipal solid waste generated annually": { "text": "27,614,830 tons (2009 est.)" } }, "Major lakes (area sq km)": { "fresh water lake(s)": { "text": "Lake Chad (endorheic lake shared with Niger, Chad, and Cameroon) - 10,360-25,900 sq km" }, "note": "Note - the president is chief of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces" }, "Legislative branch": { "legislature name": { "text": "National Assembly" }, "legislative structure": { "text": "bicameral" } }, "Legislative branch - lower chamber": { "chamber name": { "text": "House of Representatives" }, "number of seats": { "text": "360 (all directly elected)" }, "electoral system": { "text": "plurality/majority" }, "scope of elections": { "text": "full renewal" }, "term in office": { "text": "4 years" }, "most recent election date": { "text": "2/25/2023" }, "parties elected and seats per party": { "text": "All Progressives Congress (APC) (180); People's Democratic Party (PDP) (116); Labour Party (LP) (35); New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) (19); Other (10)" }, "percentage of women in chamber": { "text": "3.9%" }, "expected date of next election": { "text": "February 2027" } }, "Legislative branch - upper chamber": { "chamber name": { "text": "Senate" }, "number of seats": { "text": "109 (all directly elected)" }, "electoral system": { "text": "plurality/majority" }, "scope of elections": { "text": "full renewal" }, "term in office": { "text": "4 years" }, "most recent election date": { "text": "2/25/2023" }, "parties elected and seats per party": { "text": "All Progressives Congress (APC) (59); People's Democratic Party (PDP) (36); Labour Party (LP) (8); Other (6)" }, "percentage of women in chamber": { "text": "2.8%" }, "expected date of next election": { "text": "February 2027" } }, "Judicial branch": { "highest court(s)": { "text": "Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and 15 justices)" }, "judge selection and term of office": { "text": "judges appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, a 23-member independent body of federal and state judicial officials; judge appointments confirmed by the Senate; judges serve until age 70" }, "subordinate courts": { "text": "Court of Appeal; Federal High Court; High Court of the Federal Capital Territory; Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory; Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory; state court system similar in structure to federal system" } }, "Political parties": { "text": "Accord Party or ACC
Nigeria is a major hub for transnational drug trafficking networks entrenched throughout the world and supplying cocaine to Asia and Europe, heroin to Europe and North America, and methamphetamine to South Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand; also exporting massive quantities of opioids such as tramadol and captagon along with crack cocaine; a major source of precursor or essential chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics
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