Geography

Nigeria is an extremely large country with a land area of about 923,000 km2 and a dense population of some 130 million people. It is bounded to the north by Niger Republic, to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by Cameroon and by Benin Republic to the west. The country is divided into 36 States with the Federal Capital in Abuja.

Mangrove Swamps
Lekki Peninsula, near Lagos, Nigeria
Photo: Ian Nason

The country has a seasonal tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. Annual rainfall and length of the wet season generally decrease northwards from the coast, varying from over 155 cm in the south to less than 50 cm in the extreme north. This results in a much higher level of humidity in the south with a more constant temperature. The north on the other hand experiences great extremes of temperature being very hot and dry during April and May before the rain begins and very cool when the harmattan winds are blowing from November to February.

Sahel, near the Bulatura Oases near the Niger border
Yobe State, north of Gashua, Nigeria
Photo: Ian Nason

The land elevation is from sea level gradually rising to 600 m in the north interrupted only by the valleys of the Niger and Benue Rivers and their tributaries and the trough of the Chad Basin. There are montane areas along the eastern border at Obudu and Mambilla which rise to over 1,500 m and another upland area in the centre of the country, the Jos Plateau, which is at about 1,500 m. The official language is English but there are over 250 other languages spoken in the country of which Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo and Ijaw are the most important.