COUNTRY FACT SHEET General indicators GENERAL Nigeria is located in the extreme east of West Africa. It is bordered Location by Niger and Chad to the north, Cameroon to the east, and Benin to the west. It also borders on the Bight of Benin and the Atlantic Ocean in the south. Total area 923,768 km2. This ranges from southern coastal swamps to tropical forests, open woodlands, grasslands and semidesert in the far north. The Terrain highest regions are Jos Plateau, which is between 1,200 and 2,400 metres above sea level, and the mountains along the border with Cameroon. Its climatic regions are subequatorial, tropical and sahel. It has Climate dry and wet (rainy) seasons. Its annual rainfall ranges from 381 cm along the coast to 64 cm or less in the far north. Drainage Its major rivers are the Niger, Benue, Sokoto, Kaduna, Hadejia, Gongola, Ogun, Osun, Osse, Imo and Cross. Total: 140,003,542 (2006 census estimate). Male: 71,709,859 (51.22 per cent). Female: 68,293,683 (48.78 per cent). Life expectancy: 46.5 years. Average growth rate: 3.2 per cent. Density (persons per km2): 150. Population characteristics Poverty incidence: 54.4 per cent. Population below poverty line (US$1 a day): 76,161,927. Adult literacy rate: 69.1 per cent. Human development index (2007/2008): 0.470. Human development index ranking (2007/2008): 158/177. Teledensity (2006): 38 million. Unemployment rate (2006): 11.9 per cent (excluding structural unemployment). The urban rate is 10.1 per cent, while the rural rate is 12.3 per cent. Administrative Independence The capital is Abuja. The commercial capital is Lagos. Independence was gained on 1 October 1960. Nigeria became a republic in 1963. The federal constitution was promulgated on 29 May 1999. This Constitution was the tenth since independence. It is based largely on the 1979 constitution. X