Nigeria is a populous West African country on the Gulf of Guinea. Benin, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon are its neighbors. The coast of Nigeria is low-lying, with lagoons and sandy beaches. In the center of the nation, there is a high plateau of extinct volcanoes, as well as a hilly territory near the border with Cameroon.

Nigeria’s geography is diverse, with climates ranging from dry to humid tropical. Nigeria’s most diverse trait, though, is its people. Yoruba, Igbo, Fula, Hausa, Edo, Ibibio, Tiv, and English are among the hundreds of languages spoken in the nation. The country is endowed with an abundance of natural resources, particularly vast amounts of petroleum and natural gas.

Capital

The national capital is Abuja, which is located in the Federal Capital Territory, which was established by decree in 1976.

Lagos, the historic capital, continues to be the country’s most important commercial and industrial center.

The British Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria were united to become modern Nigeria in 1914. The country gained independence on October 1, 1960, and in 1963 adopted a republican constitution while remaining a Commonwealth member.

Land

Nigeria is bounded to the north by Niger, to the east by Chad and Cameroon, to the south by the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Guinea, and to the west by Benin. Nigeria is not just big in area—it is larger than the state of Texas in the United States—but it is also Africa’s most populated country.

Relief

Nigeria’s terrain is characterized by lowlands in the north and south, which are broken up by plateaus. Nigeria’s terrain is characterized by lowlands in the north and south, which are punctuated by plateaus and hills in the center of the nation.

The Sokoto Plains are located in the country’s northwest region, while the Borno Plains are located in the country’s northeastern corner and extend all the way to the Lake Chad basin. Soft, geologically young sedimentary strata underpin the Lake Chad basin and coastal regions, including the Niger River delta and western sections of the Sokoto region in the extreme northwest.

These locations have gently sloping plains that become wet during the rainy season. The plateaus’ distinctive features are high plains with broad, shallow valleys interspersed with several hills or solitary mountains known as inselbergs.

Although sandstones emerge in river regions, the underlying rocks are crystalline. The Jos Plateau rises practically in the center of the country and is made up of vast lava surfaces studded with several extinct volcanoes. Other degraded surfaces rise suddenly above the plains at heights of at least 1,000 feet, such as the Udi-Nsukka escarpment (see Udi-Nsukka Plateau) (300 metres). The Cameroon Highlands ascend to the highest elevations in the nation, Chappal Waddi (7,936 feet [2,419 metres]) in the Gotel Mountains and Mount Dimlang (6,699 feet [2,042 metres]) in the Shebshi Mountains, near the country’s southern border.