The rest of the world hardly ever pays attention to Africa unless there are children starving or wars breaking out or an uprising in the government. These areas of Africa get all of the media attention and consequently are imprinted in the public consciousness as representative of the entire continent. Few people know that there are dozens of countries within Africa, many of which have governments that are functional and relatively peaceful. One of these is the West African nation of Nigeria. Rectify your ignorance and learn more about the nation of Nigeria by reading the articles on this website.

What's going on in Nigeria? Up to date news here.

Nigerians have a very long history. Archaeologists have been able to show that people were living in Nigeria as early as 9000 BC. There are many different kingdoms whose histories have influenced the living Nigeria, including the Nok, Kano, and Oyo, but today there are three major ethnic groups that make up the population, each with its own official language. They are the Hausa, the Igbo, and the Yoruba. There is also a small minority of Europeans living in Nigeria who are a holdover from the country's old days as a British Colony.

Though North Americans have perhaps heard only rarely of Nigeria, it is actually the seventh most populous nation in the world. Over 155 million people live in this country of 923,000 square kilometers. With so many mouths to feed, you might expect Nigeria to be poor, but you'd be wrong. Nigeria's GDP is over $337 billion dollars, making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world and one of the Next Eleven nations to watch according to the Goldman Sachs Investment Bank. Its key sectors include petroleum, telecommunications, and financial services. The Nigerian government has even launched several satellites into space.

Nigeria enjoys a democratic government that has been modeled after the one in the United States. The current president is Muhammadu Buhari. Though Nigeria is free from civil war, it does have its political issues, most notably government corruption, the opposition minority ethnic groups have to the big three retaining most of the government positions, and human rights issues. However, this has not stopped Nigeria from being an active, founding member of the African Union and from regularly responding to troop requests from the United Nations when troubles arise nearby in countries like the Congo and the Sudan.

There is much more to learn about Nigeria. Like every nation, it has its good points and its bad ones. There are good things like the Niger River, the free education system, the ethnic cuisine, and the beautiful countryside, and there are bad things, such as organized crime, and ethnic conflict. In order to gain a more balanced view of Nigeria and its place in the world, we recommend you take a look at some of the articles we have posted on our site. Just choose a category and roll over it to see what articles we have on that topic