LOCATION, POSITION AND SIZE OF NIGERIA
LOCATION: Nigeria lies within latitude 4˚N – 14˚N of the equator and longitude 3˚E – 15˚E of the Greenwich Meridian. It therefore follows that Nigeria has a latitudinal stretch of 10˚ and longitudinal extent of 12˚.
POSITION: Nigeria is in West Africa. She is bounded in the west by Benin Republic, in the north by Niger Republic, in the east by Cameroun Republic, in the north-east by Chad Republic and in the south by Atlantic Ocean.
SIZE: Nigeria is the fourth largest country in West Africa in terms of land area after Niger, Mali and Mauritania. The total land area of Nigeria is approximately 923,768 square kilometers. The greatest distance from east to west is approximately 1,300km while from north to south is about 1,100km.
In terms of population, Nigeria is the most populous single country in Africa with 140 million (i.e. 140,003,543) people in 2006. Hence, she is often referred to as “the giant of Africa”.
POLITICAL DIVISION: The country Nigeria came into existence in 1914 as a result of the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates. She became independent in 1960. As at independence, the country had three regions namely, North, East and West. The Northern region had its headquarters in Kaduna, East in Enugu and West in Ibadan.
In 1963, Nigeria became a Republic and the fourth region known as Mid-West was created from the then Western region with its headquarters in Benin City. The political divisions remained four until 1967 when the country was further divided into twelve states.
In 1976, the country was further divided into 19 states. In September 23rd 1987, two more states were created, making the total number to be 21. Nigeria presently has thirty six states and a Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja which is the federal capital of Nigeria.
