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Nigeria Geography Profile

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LocationWestern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon
Geographic coordinates10 00 N, 8 00 E
Map referencesAfrica
Areatotal: 923,768 sq km

land: 910,768 sq km

water: 13,000 sq km
Area - comparativeabout six times the size of Georgia; slightly more than twice the size of California
Land boundariestotal: 4,477 km

border countries (4): Benin 809 km, Cameroon 1975 km, Chad 85 km, Niger 1608 km
Coastline853 km
Maritime claimsterritorial sea: 12 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Climatevaries; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north
Terrainsouthern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast, plains in north
Elevation extremeshighest point: Chappal Waddi 2,419 m

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

mean elevation: 380 m
Natural resourcesnatural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, arable land
Land useagricultural land: 78% (2018 est.)

arable land: 37.3% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 7.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 33.3% (2018 est.)

forest: 9.5% (2018 est.)

other: 12.5% (2018 est.)
Irrigated land2,930 sq km (2012)
Total renewable water resources286.2 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Natural hazardsperiodic droughts; flooding
Geography - notethe Niger River enters the country in the northwest and flows southward through tropical rain forests and swamps to its delta in the Gulf of Guinea

Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021

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