]! ^! British influence and control over what would become Nigeria grew through the 19th century. A series of constitutions after World War II granted Nigeria greater autonomy; independence came in 1960. Following nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. The president faces the daunting task of reforming a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement, and institutionalizing democracy. In addition, the OBASANJO administration must defuse longstanding ethnic and religious tensions, if it is to build a sound foundation for economic growth and political stability. Although the April 2003 elections were marred by some irregularities, Nigeria is currently experiencing its longest period of civilian rule since independence. The general elections set for April 2007 would mark the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the country's history. 
]" ^" Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon ^# 10 00 N, 8 00 E ^$ Africa ^% `! 923,768 sq km `" 910,768 sq km `# 13,000 sq km ^& slightly more than twice the size of California ^' `! 4,047 km `Y Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690 km, Chad 87 km, Niger 1,497 km ^( 853 km ^) `$ 12 nm `N 200 nm `O 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation ^* varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north ^+ southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast, plains in north ^, `% Atlantic Ocean 0 m `& Chappal Waddi 2,419 m ^- natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, arable land ^. `' 33.02% `( 3.14% `) 63.84% (2005) ^/ 2,820 sq km (2003) ^0 periodic droughts; flooding ^1 soil degradation; rapid deforestation; urban air and water pollution; desertification; oil pollution - water, air, and soil; has suffered serious damage from oil spills; loss of arable land; rapid urbanization _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 the Niger enters the country in the northwest and flows southward through tropical rain forests and swamps to its delta in the Gulf of Guinea 
]# ^3 135,031,164 `* 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, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 42.2% (male 28,726,380/female 28,301,729) `, 54.7% (male 37,543,678/female 36,277,038) `- 3.1% (male 1,987,521/female 2,194,818) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 18.7 years `. 18.8 years `/ 18.6 years (2007 est.) ^6 2.379% (2007 est.) ^7 40.2 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 16.68 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 0.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.03 male(s)/female `1 1.015 male(s)/female `, 1.035 male(s)/female `- 0.906 male(s)/female `2 1.022 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 95.52 deaths/1,000 live births `. 102.44 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 88.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 47.44 years `. 46.83 years `/ 48.07 years (2007 est.) ^= 5.45 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 5.4% (2003 est.) ^? 3.6 million (2003 est.) ^@ 310,000 (2003 est.) _` `h very high `i bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: malaria `s meningococcal meningitis `x one of the most highly endemic areas for Lassa fever `* highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007) ^A `3 Nigerian(s) `4 Nigerian ^B Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups; the following are the most populous and politically influential: Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5% ^C Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10% ^D English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 68% `. 75.7% `/ 60.6% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 Federal Republic of Nigeria `7 Nigeria ^H federal republic ^I `8 Abuja `9 9 12 N, 7 11 E `: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 36 states and 1 territory*; Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Federal Capital Territory*, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara ^K 1 October 1960 (from UK) ^L Independence Day (National Day), 1 October (1960) ^M new constitution adopted 5 May 1999; effective 29 May 1999 ^N based on English common law, Islamic law (in 12 northern states), and traditional law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; President Olusegun OBASANJO (since 29 May 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government `< President Olusegun OBASANJO (since 29 May 1999) `= Federal Executive Council `> president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 19 April 2003 (next to be held on 21 April 2007) `? Olusegun OBASANJO elected president; percent of vote - Olusegun OBASANJO 61.9%, Muhammadu BUHARI 31.2%, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu OJUKWU 3.3%, other 3.6% ^Q bicameral National Assembly consists of Senate (109 seats - three from each state plus one from Abuja, members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and House of Representatives (360 seats, members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) `> Senate - last held 12 April 2003 (next to be held 21 April 2007); House of Representatives - last held 12 April 2003 (next to be held 21 April 2007) `? Senate - percent of vote by party - PDP 53.7%, ANPP 27.9%, AD 9.7%, other 8.7%; seats by party - PDP 76, ANPP 27, AD 6; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - PDP 54.5%, ANPP 27.4%, AD 8.8%, other 9.3%; seats by party - PDP 223, ANPP 96, AD 34, other 6; note - one seat is vacant ^R Supreme Court (judges appointed by the President); Federal Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the federal government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial Committee) ^S Action Congress or AC [Bise AKANDE]; Advanced Congress of Democrats or ACD [Alex ANIELO]; Alliance for Democracy or AD [Mojisoluwa AKINFENWA]; All Nigeria Peoples' Party or ANPP [Edwin UME-EZEOKE]; All Progressives Grand Alliance or APGA [disputed leadership]; Democratic People's Party or DPP [Jerry USENI]; Fresh Democratic Party [Chris OKOTIE]; Movement for the Restoration and Defense of Democracy or MRDD [Mohammed Gambo JIMETA]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Aliyu Habu FARI]; Peoples Democratic Party or PDP [Dr. Ahmadu ALI]; Peoples Redemption Party or PRP [Abdulkadir Balarabe MUSA]; Peoples Salvation Party or PSP [Lawal MAITURARE]; United Nigeria Peoples Party or UNPP [disputed leadership] ^T NA ^U ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, ONUB, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador Professor George A. OBIOZOR `S 3519 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 `T [1] (202) 986-8400 `U [1] (202) 775-1385 `V Atlanta, New York ^W `R Ambassador John CAMPBELL `_ 7 Mambilla Drive, Abuja `` P. O. Box 554, Lagos `T [234] (9) 523-0916/0906/5857/2235/2205 `U [234] (9) 523-0353 ^X three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green 
]% ^Y Oil-rich Nigeria, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic management, is undertaking some reforms under a new reform-minded administration. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from its overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid population growth - Nigeria is Africa's most populous country - and the country, once a large net exporter of food, now must import food. Following the signing of an IMF stand-by agreement in August 2000, Nigeria received a debt-restructuring deal from the Paris Club and a $1 billion credit from the IMF, both contingent on economic reforms. Nigeria pulled out of its IMF program in April 2002, after failing to meet spending and exchange rate targets, making it ineligible for additional debt forgiveness from the Paris Club. In the last year the government has begun showing the political will to implement the market-oriented reforms urged by the IMF, such as to modernize the banking system, to curb inflation by blocking excessive wage demands, and to resolve regional disputes over the distribution of earnings from the oil industry. In 2003, the government began deregulating fuel prices, announced the privatization of the country's four oil refineries, and instituted the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy, a domestically designed and run program modeled on the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for fiscal and monetary management. In November 2005, Abuja won Paris Club approval for a debt - relief deal that eliminated $18 billion of debt in exchange for $12 billion in payments - a total package worth $30 billion of Nigeria's total $37 billion external debt. The deal requires Nigeria to be subject to stringent IMF reviews. GDP rose strongly in 2006, based largely on increased oil exports and high global crude prices. ^Z $188.5 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $83.36 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 5.3% (2006 est.) ^] $1,400 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 17.3% `A 53.2% `B 29.5% (2006 est.) ^_ 48.99 million (2006 est.) ^` `@ 70% `A 10% `B 20% (1999 est.) ^a 5.8% (2006 est.) _! 60% (2000 est.) _" `C 1.6% `D 40.8% (1996-97) _d 50.6 (1996-97) _# 10.5% (2006 est.) _V 26.4% of GDP (2006 est.) _$ `E $17.86 billion `F $19.05 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) _% 10.4% of GDP (2006 est.) _& cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; timber; fish _' crude oil, coal, tin, columbite; palm oil, peanuts, cotton, rubber, wood; hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food products, footwear, chemicals, fertilizer, printing, ceramics, steel, small commercial ship construction and repair _( -1.6% (2006 est.) _) 19.06 billion kWh (2004) _* 17.71 billion kWh (2004) _+ 20 million kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 2.451 million bbl/day (2005 est.) _. 290,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _W 36.25 billion bbl (2006 est.) _1 21.8 billion cu m (2004 est.) _2 9.21 billion cu m (2004 est.) _X 12.59 billion cu m (2004 est.) _Y 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Z 4.984 trillion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) _Q $12.59 billion (2006 est.) _3 $59.01 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _4 petroleum and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber _5 US 52.5%, Spain 8.2%, Brazil 6.1% (2005) _6 $25.1 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _7 machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals _8 China 10.4%, US 7.3%, UK 6.7%, Netherlands 6%, France 5.9%, Brazil 4.3%, Germany 4.2% (2005) _[ $42.97 billion (2006 est.) _9 $6.278 billion (2006 est.) _: $250 million (1998) _; naira (NGN) _< nairas per US dollar - 127.38 (2006), 132.59 (2005), 132.89 (2004), 129.22 (2003), 120.58 (2002) _= calendar year 
]& _> 1.223 million (2005) _? 21.571 million (2006) _@ `G expansion and modernization of the fixed-line telephone network has been slow due to faltering efforts at privatization `H the addition of a second fixed-line provider in 2002 resulted in faster growth of this service; wireless telephony has grown rapidly, in part responding to the shortcomings of the fixed-line network; 4 wireless (GSM) service providers operate nationally; the combined growth resulted in a sharp increase in teledensity reported to be over 18% in March 2006 `I country code - 234; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia _A AM 83, FM 36, shortwave 11 (2001) _B 3 (the government controls 2 of the broadcasting stations and 15 repeater stations) (2002) _C .ng _D 1,549 (2006) _E 5 million (2005) 
]' _F 69 (2006) _G `! 36 `a 6 `J 12 `b 10 `c 6 `W 2 (2006) _R `! 33 `b 2 `c 13 `W 18 (2006) _] 1 (2006) _^ condensate 126 km; gas 2,812 km; liquid petroleum gas 125 km; oil 4,278 km; refined products 3,517 km (2006) _e `! 3,505 km `n 3,505 km 1.067-m gauge (2005) _H `! 194,394 km `K 60,068 km `L 134,326 km (1999) _b 8,600 km (Niger and Benue rivers and smaller rivers and creeks) (2005) _S `! 52 ships (1000 GRT or over) 277,709 GRT/475,414 DWT by type: cargo 6, chemical tanker 5, combination ore/oil 1, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 36, specialized tanker 2 `X 4 (Norway 1, Pakistan 1, Singapore 1, Spain 1) `d 28 (Bahamas 2, Bermuda 11, Cambodia 2, Comoros 2, Panama 7, Poland 1, Seychelles 1, unknown 2) (2006) _I Bonny Inshore Terminal, Calabar, Lagos, Port Harcourt 
]( _J Nigerian Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force (2007) _T 18 years of age for voluntary military service (2006) _K males age 18-49: 26,802,678 females age 18-49: 25,668,446 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 15,052,914 females age 18-49: 13,860,806 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 1,353,180 females age 18-49: 1,329,267 (2005 est.) _U 1.6% (2006 est.) 
]) _N Joint Border Commission with Cameroon reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately cedes sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a phase-out of Nigerian control within two years while resolving patriation issues; the ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but imprecisely defined coordinates in the ICJ decision and a sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River all contribute to the delay in implementation; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries _c `o 6,051 (Liberia) `k undetermined (communal violence between Christians and Muslims since President OBASANJO's election in 1999; displacement is mostly short-term) (2006) _O a transit point for heroin and cocaine intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets; consumer of amphetamines; safe haven for Nigerian narcotraffickers operating worldwide; major money-laundering center; massive corruption and criminal activity; Nigeria has improved some anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in June 2006; Nigeria's anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF 