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Facts and figures about Nigeria
20/04/2007 16:06 - (SA)
Lagos - Facts and figures about Nigeria, where presidential elections were being held on Saturday.
The land: Set on the Gulf of Guinea on the west African coast, Nigeria is twice the size of California and borders on Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin.
The people: A population of more than 140 million - the largest in Africa - of whom about 61 million are registered to vote.
Of more than 250 ethnic groups, about 40% are Christian, 50% are Muslim and the rest are adherents of indigenous beliefs.
English is the main official language, but hundreds of African languages and dialects are widely spoken.
The main three language groups are Yoruba, Hausa and Ibo. Twelve northern states practice Islamic law.
The economy: Africa's largest oil exporter and the money from its crude provides 95% of government revenues.
The banking, telecommunications and aviation industry have all grown recently.
The majority of Nigerians live in poverty. Massive government corruption and a decayed infrastructure discourage foreign investment and a once-flourishing agricultural sector is now below subsistence level.
History: Gained independence from Britain in 1960. In 1967, ethnic and economic tensions inflamed by a recent coup led to a series of massacres of eastern Ibo traders in the north.
The oil-rich east declared the independent republic of Biafra, sparking a 30-month civil war that cost about a million lives before the secession campaign was defeated.
Peace and an oil boom in the 1970s brought billions of dollars into government coffers, but military leaders squandered and stole much of it.
In 1979 then-military ruler President Olusegun Obasanjo returned power to civilian president Shegu Shagari, who was overthrown by Muhammadu Buhari.
He ruled the country for 20 months before being removed from power for investigating corruption among his colleagues.
The notoriously corrupt Ibrahim Babangida took over, but was forced out after annulling what are generally agreed to be Nigeria's freest elections in 1993.
Later that year the brutal General Sani Abacha took power and ruled until his death in 1998. The following year Nigeria held elections and returned former military ruler Obasanjo to power. He was re-elected in a 2003 vote marred by widespread rigging and violence.
The most recent round of polls should mark the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in Nigeria's history. Obasanjo must step down due to constitutional term limits.
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