Africa's most populous country, between the tropical Atlantic coast and the Sahelian savannahs
With 923,769 km², Nigeria is one of the large countries of West Africa, bordered by the Gulf of Guinea along some 853 km of coastline and crossed from north to south by the Niger River, which joins its main tributary, the Benue, at Lokoja before forming the vast Niger Delta on the Atlantic coast. The terrain, generally modest, rises towards the east to the country's highest point, Chappal Waddi (2,419 m), in the highlands on the border with Cameroon.
923,769 km²
Area
2,419 m
Highest point · Chappal Waddi
4
Land borders
The main rivers of Nigeria. Click a river to see its length, source and mouth.
Climate
The climate gets hotter and drier from south to north: tropical monsoon climate and equatorial forest on the coast and in the Niger Delta, tropical savannah with contrasting seasons on the central plateaus, then a semi-arid Sahelian climate in the far north, where the dry season can last eight months. The harmattan, a hot, dust-laden wind from the Sahara, blows across the whole country from November to March.
Bordering countries
Administrative divisions
Nigeria is a federation of 36 states, plus the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja, the capital since 1991). Each state is in turn subdivided into Local Government Areas (LGAs), the basic tier of Nigerian administration, numbering 774 nationwide. Nigeria has no overseas territory.
36
States
1
Abuja, the country's capital since 1991.
774
The basic administrative tier, spread across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The 37 regions of the mainland territory of Nigeria.