Polity · 1961 CE – present
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Nijeriya · Naigeria · Nàìjíríà
Also recorded as Nigeria
- Peak recorded area
- 911,198 km²
- 1961 CE
- Rulers on record
- 6
- from 1999 CE
- Data series
- 470
- 1961 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of 923,769 square kilometres (356,669 mi2). With a population of more than 236 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world's sixth-most populous country. Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
3 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 3 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 88 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population216 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 237.5Mpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy165 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 54.78years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | -15.3Kpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 2.06% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 55.12years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 54.45years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 167 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP220 obs · 1800 CE–2019 CE | 7,083int'l $ (inflation adj.)2019 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP per capita126 obs · 1885 CE–2022 CE | 5,070.492011 int'l $2022 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Real Wage104 obs · 1871 CE–1997 CE | 14.07index (1500=1)1997 CE · Clio-Infra |
| GDP Current Usd101 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 290.8Bcurrent US$2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Inflation66 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 23.01% annual2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Asses Stocks64 obs · 1961 CE–2024 CE | 1.3Mhead2024 CE · FAOSTAT |
Military
6 of 59 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Military Expenditure % GDP130 obs · 1960 CE–2024 CE | 0.5554% of GDP2024 CE · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |
| Military Expenditure Constant Usd65 obs · 1960 CE–2024 CE | 1,989.33millions_usd_20232024 CE · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |
| Military Expenditure Usd65 obs · 1960 CE–2024 CE | 1.1Bcurrent US$2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arms Imports Tiv Million62 obs · 1959 CE–2024 CE | 93tiv_million2024 CE · SIPRI Arms Transfers TIV |
| CINC Score57 obs · 1960 CE–2016 CE | 0.0094CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption57 obs · 1960 CE–2016 CE | 112.1Mcoal-ton equivalents2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Territory & resources
6 of 66 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %126 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 40.48% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Gas Production125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 468.46TWh2024 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 917.54TWh2024 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Coal Production117 obs · 1900 CE–2016 CE | 0.347TWh2016 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Forest Area %68 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 23.21% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 76.2%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Governance
6 of 29 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index111 obs · 1914 CE–2024 CE | 0.502index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index111 obs · 1914 CE–2024 CE | 0.337index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type111 obs · 1914 CE–2024 CE | 2RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index111 obs · 1914 CE–2024 CE | 0.243index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index110 obs · 1914 CE–2024 CE | 0.315index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity253 obs · 1960 CE–2012 CE | 4index (-10 to 10)2012 CE · Clio-Infra |
Development
6 of 61 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Tech Railway Line Km126 obs · 1873 CE–1998 CE | 3,523km1998 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Freedom Of Expression Index111 obs · 1914 CE–2024 CE | 0.888index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Mail Items85 obs · 1895 CE–1982 CE | 898items1982 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telephones69 obs · 1922 CE–2002 CE | 776.3Kcount2002 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Freight Tkm68 obs · 1926 CE–1993 CE | 2,185tonne-km1993 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telegraph68 obs · 1901 CE–1972 CE | 1.49count1972 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
6 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Olusegun ObasanjoHead of State1999 CE – 2007 CE
- Umaru Musa Yar'AduaHead of State2007 CE – 2010 CE
- Goodluck JonathanHead of State2010 CE – 2015 CE
- Muhammadu BuhariHead of State2015 CE – 2023 CE
- Bola Ahmed TinubuHead of Government2023 CE –
- Bola Ahmed TinubuHead of State2023 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon
- Government type
- federal presidential republic
- Executive branch
- chief of state: President Bola Ahmed Adekunle TINUBU (since 29 May 2023); head of government: President Bola Ahmed Adekunle TINUBU (since 29 May 2023); cabinet: Federal Executive Council appointed by the president but constitutionally required to include at least one member from each of the 36 states;
- Ethnic groups
- Hausa 30%, Yoruba 15.5%, Igbo (Ibo) 15.2%, Fulani 6%, Tiv 2.4%, Kanuri/Beriberi 2.4%, Ibibio 1.8%, Ijaw/Izon 1.8%, other 24.9% (2018 est.)
- Natural resources
- natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, arable land
- Economy
- largest African market economy; enormous but mostly lower middle income labor force; major oil exporter; key telecommunications and finance industries; susceptible to global energy price shocks; regional leader in critical infrastructure; primarily agrarian employment
Language & currency
- Currency
- nairas (NGN)
Memberships
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · member1960 CE –
- Commonwealth of NationsCWInternational organisation · member1960 CE –
- OPECOPECEconomic bloc · member1971 CE –
- ECOWASECOWASEconomic bloc · founding member1975 CE –
- 16-member Non-Aggression Pact (1977)Historical alliance · member1978 CE – 1981 CE
- 16-member Defense Pact (1981)Military alliance · member1981 CE –
- Organisation of Islamic CooperationOICInternational organisation · member1986 CE –
- African UnionAUInternational organisation · founding member2002 CE –
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
CIA World Factbook 2024
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI (2024). Arms Transfers Database (Trend-Indicator Values).
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database2024
SIPRI (2024). Military Expenditure Database.
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Federal Republic of Nigeria is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.