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Embassies

Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Ambassador: Mr. Xu Jianguo
Address: Plot 302-303, A.O. Central Area, Abuja, Nigeria
Tel: +234-9-4618661, 4618662
      +234-8065842688 (24-Hour Telephone)
Fax: +234-9-4618660
Email: chinaemb_ng@mfa.gov.cn
Website: http://ng.china-embassy.org/eng/
 
Consular Office
Tel: +234-9-4614841, 4618661, 4618662
Fax: +234-9-4618660
Office Hours: 08:30-12:30, 15:00-17:00, Monday-Friday (except holidays)
Application Time: 09:00-12:00, Monday, Wednesday, Friday (except holidays)
Pick-up Time: 15:00-17:00, Monday, Wednesday (except holidays) 


Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Beijing
Ambassador: H.E. Mr. Jonathan O. Coker
Address: No. 2, Dong Wu Jie, San Li Tun, Chaoyang District
Postal Code: 100600
Tel: (+86)10 6532 3631, 6532 3632, 6532 3633
Fax: (+86)10 6532 1650
Website: http://www.nigeriaembassy.cn/
Visa Office
Tel: (+86)10 6532 2517
Visa Application Time: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Mon, Wed.



Geography

Nigeria is located in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and has a total area of 923,768 km? (356,669 mi?),[37] making it the world's 32nd-largest country (after Tanzania). It shares a 4047 km (2515-mile) border with Benin (773 km), Niger (1497 km), Chad (87 km), Cameroon (1690 km), and has a coastline of at least 853 km.[
Nigeria has a varied landscape. From the Obudu Hills in the southeast through the beaches in the south, the rainforest, the Lagos estuary and savannah in the middle and southwest of the country and the Sahel to the encroaching Sahara in the extreme north. The highest point in Nigeria is Chappal Waddi at 2,419 m (7,936 ft).
Nigeria's main rivers are the Niger and the Benue which converge and empty into the Niger Delta, the world's largest river deltas.
Nigeria is also an important centre for biodiversity. It is widely believed that the areas surrounding Calabar, Cross River State, contain the world's largest diversity of butterflies. The drill monkey is only found in the wild in Southeast Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon.
When dividing Nigeria by climatic regions, three regions, the far south, the far north, and the rest of the country emerge. The far south is defined by its tropical rainforest climate, where annual rainfall is 60 to 80 inches a year.[ The far north is defined by its almost desert-like climate, where rain is less than 20 inches per year. The rest of the country, everything in between the far south and the far north, is savannah, and rainfall is between 20 and 60 inches per year.




Government

Nigeria is a Federal Republic divided into thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory, modelled after the United States, with executive power exercised by the president and with overtones of the Westminster System model in the composition and management of the upper and lower houses of the bicameral legislature.
The current president of Nigeria is Umaru Musa Yar'Adua who was elected in 2007. The president presides as both Chief of State and Head of Government and is elected by popular vote to a maximum of two four-year terms. The president's power is checked by a Senate and a House of Representatives, which are combined in a bicameral body called the National Assembly. The Senate is a 109-seat body with three members from each state and one from the capital region of Abuja; members are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. The House contains 360 seats and the number of seats per state is determined by population.




Population

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa but exactly how populous is a subject of speculation. The United Nations estimates that the population in 2004 was at 131,530,000,[53] with the population distributed as 51.7% rural and 48.3% urban, and with a population density of 139 people per square kilometer.
Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups, with varying languages and customs, creating a country of rich ethnic diversity. The largest ethnic groups are the Fulani/Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, accounting for 68% of population, while the Edo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, Ebira Nupe and Tiv comprise 27%; other minorities make up the remaining 7 percent. The middle belt of Nigeria is known for its diversity of ethnic groups, including the Pyem, Goemai, and Kofyar.
There are small minorities of British, Americans, East Indians, Chinese (est. 50,000), white Zimbabweans,Japanese, Syrian, Lebanese and refugees and immigrants from other West African or East African nations. These minorities mostly reside in major cities such as Lagos and Abuja, or in the Niger Delta as employees for the major oil companies. A number of Cubans settled Nigeria as political refugees following the Cuban Revolution.
The number of languages currently estimated and catalogued in Nigeria is 521.
The official language of Nigeria, English, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country. The choice of English as the official language was partially related to the fact that a part of the Nigerian population spoke English as a result of British colonization that ended in 1960.
Nigeria is home to a variety of religions which tend to vary regionally. This situation accentuates regional and ethnic distinctions and has often been seen as a source of sectarian conflict amongst the population.The main religions are Islam. Christianity and indigenous religions, most notably Yoruba Orisha or Orisa veneration and Ifá and Igbo Odinani. Christianity is concentrated in the south while Islam dominates in the north; central regions tend to be religiously divided.
The majority of Nigerian Muslims are Sunni (95%), but a significant Shia minority exists . Some northern states have incorporated Sharia law into their previously secular legal systems, which has brought about some controversy. Kano State has sought to incorporate Sharia law into its constitution.
Christian Nigerians are about evenly split between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
Population: 149,229,090
country comparison to the world: 9
note: 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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 41.5% (male 31,624,050/female 30,242,637)
15-64 years: 55.5% (male 42,240,641/female 40,566,672)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 2,211,840/female 2,343,250) (2009 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.999% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 59
Birth rate: 36.65 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 30
Death rate: 16.88 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 13
Urbanization 48% of total population (2008)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 46.94 years
country comparison to the world: 212
male: 46.16 years
female: 47.76 years (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 3.1% (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 23
HIV/AIDS - people living
with HIV/AIDS:		 2.6 million (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 170,000 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
Religions: Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%
Education expenditures: 0.9% of GDP (1991)
country comparison to the world: 180




Economy

Oil-rich Nigeria, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic management, has undertaken several reforms over the past decade. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from its overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 95% of foreign exchange earnings and about 80% of budgetary revenues. 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. Since 2008 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. Based largely on increased oil exports and high global crude prices, GDP rose strongly in 2007 and 2008. President YAR'ADUA has pledged to continue the economic reforms of his predecessor with emphasis on infrastructure improvements. Infrastructure is the main impediment to growth. The government is working toward developing stronger public-private partnerships for electricity and roads..
GDP (purchasing power parity): $338.1 billion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 35
$318.7 billion (2007)
$299.5 billion (2006)
GDP (official exchange rate): $220.3 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 6.1% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 55
6.4% (2007 est.)
6.2% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,300 (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 180
$2,200 (2007 est.)
$2,100 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 18%
industry: 50.9%
services: 31.1% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 51.04 million (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 10
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 70%
industry: 10%
services: 20% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 4.9% (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 59
Household income
or consumption by % share		 lowest 10%: 1.9%
highest 10%: 33.2% (2003)
Population below poverty rate 70% (2007 est.)
Budget: revenues: $29.49 billion
expenditures: $30.61 billion (2008 est.)
Public debt: 12.2% of GDP (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 109
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.6% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 157
5.4% (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products: cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; timber; fish
Industries: 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
Electricity - production: 22.11 billion kWh (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 70
Electricity - consumption: 15.85 billion kWh (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 72
Telephones - main lines in use: 1.58 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 65
Telephones - mobile cellular: 40.395 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 24
Telephone system general assessment: further expansion and modernization of the fixed-line telephone network is needed
Internet hosts: 1,048 (2008)
country comparison to the world: 153
Internet users: 10 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 29



- Imagine Media, 2009 -