Nigeria - Geography

The Federal Republic of Nigeria lies on the Gulf of Guinea and has borders with Benin (west), Niger (north), Chad (north-east across Lake Chad) and Cameroon (east).

Area: 923,768 sq km

Main towns: Abuja (federal capital since 1991, pop. 693,900 in 2006), Lagos (commercial centre and former capital, Lagos State, 9.02m), Kano (Kano State, 3.74m), Ibadan (Oyo, 3.71m), Kaduna (Kaduna, 1.62m), Port Harcourt (Rivers, 1.18m), Maiduguri (Borno, 1.16m), Benin City (Edo, 1.15m), Zaria (Kaduna, 998,000), Aba (Abia, 931,900), Ogbomosho (Oyo, 902,800), Jos (Plateau, 839,300), Ilorin (Kwara, 831,700), Oyo (Oyo, 771,700), Enugu (Enugu, 671,500), Abeokuta (Ogun, 612,300), Sokoto (Sokoto, 583,000), Onitsha (Anambra, 576,600), Warri (Edo, 546,600), Oshogbo (Osun, 523,600), Okene (Kogi, 489,500), Calabar (Cross River, 471,000), Katsina (Katsina, 445,800), Akure (Ondo, 436,100), Ife (Osun), Bauchi (Bauchi), Ikorodu (Lagos), Makurdi (Benue), Minna (Niger), Efon Alaye (Ekiti).

Topography: Nigeria is a large country, 1,045km long and 1,126km wide. It has several important rivers, notably the Niger and its main tributary, the Benue, both of which are navigable. The Niger forms a delta some 100km wide, running into the sea west of Port Harcourt. In the north-east rivers drain into Lake Chad. The coastal region is low-lying, with lagoons, sandy beaches and mangrove swamps. Inland the country rises to the central Jos Plateau at 1,800m. The Adamawa Massif, bordering Cameroon, rises to 2,042m at Dimlang (Vogel Peak).

Climate: Tropical; hot and humid on the coast, with greater extremes of temperature inland and cold nights in the north during December and January. The rainy season is generally March–November in the south and May–September in the north. In the dry season the harmattan wind blows from the Sahara.

Environment: The most significant environmental issues are rapid deforestation, soil degradation, and desertification.

Vegetation: Mangrove and freshwater swamps in coastal areas, merging into an area of rainforest, containing hardwoods and oil palms. Moving north, the savannah and plateau regions have grasslands and hardy trees such as the baobab and tamarind. There is semi-desert vegetation in the north-east. In the north, forest depletion has been caused by overgrazing, bush fires and the use of wood as fuel, but there has been government-sponsored planting in an attempt to arrest the southward advance of the Sahara. Oil palms occur naturally and, being valuable, are often spared when forests are cleared. Forest covers 12% of the land area, having declined at 2.4% p.a. 1990–2005. 76% of forest is savannah woodland, 20% tropical rainforest and 4% swamp forest. Arable land comprises 34% and permanent cropland 3.2% of the total land area.

Wildlife: The Yankari National Park is an important stopover for migrating birds (some 600 species call there), and also has an elephant population. The Okomo Sanctuary is home to the endangered white-throated monkey. On the grasslands of the savannah are camels, antelope, hyenas and giraffes. An area of 30,100 sq km is protected (2003), or 3.3% of the land area.

Transport: 194,390km of roads, 31% paved, link all main centres. Some secondary roads are impassable during the rains.

There are 3,505km of railway, the main routes running from Lagos to Kano, and from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, with a branch line from Zaria to Gusau and Kaura Namoda. Much of the network is single-track, and the narrow gauge restricts speed and load-carrying capacity.

Main ports are at Apapa, Tin Can Island, Warri, Sapele, Port Harcourt and Calabar. Ferry services operate along the Niger and Benue rivers and along the coast.

Lagos international airport is 22km north of Lagos; other main international airports are at Abuja (35km from the city), Kano and Port Harcourt, and main domestic airports at Benin City, Calabar, Enugu, Jos, Kaduna, Lagos, Maiduguri, Sokoto and Yola.