Nigeria: Regions, Cities & Travel Guide

What is Nigeria known for?

Nigeria is known as the Giant of Africa, the most populous country on the continent. It stretches across West Africa, from the dry Sahel in the north down to the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic coast. Lagos leads its cities.

The inland capital, Abuja, sits near the country's centre, while hundreds of peoples and languages meet across its states. Its reach is vast.

Where is Nigeria?

Nigeria occupies a broad stretch of West Africa, facing the Atlantic Ocean along its whole southern edge. The Gulf of Guinea forms that coast, a low shore of beaches, creeks and lagoons where Lagos sits. Behind it the coastal lowlands give way to farmland and hills.

Inland the land rises and grows drier. It climbs north through forest and open country toward the Sahel, the semi-desert belt that marks the country's northern reaches. This is among the largest countries in all of Africa.

Distances here are long. Four nations ring its land borders on the map. Niger lies to the north and Chad to the northeast, while Cameroon runs down the eastern side and Benin closes the west.

Rivers cross the interior toward the sea. They water broad farmland before reaching the coast. The federation is divided into 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the planned capital of Abuja stands near the country's centre.

From the humid coast to the dry north, Nigeria spans a long reach of climate and landscape between the Gulf of Guinea and the Sahel.

What is the history of Nigeria?

Nigeria draws together many peoples who have lived across this part of West Africa for a very long time. Their roots run deep in the region. More than 250 ethnic groups and some 500 languages trace back through its history, from the Sahel in the north to the Gulf of Guinea in the south.

No single people fills the land. The country became a federal republic in 1963, binding these communities under one central government. That federal shape has framed its story since.

Power sits in a federation of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. For its centre the country built a new capital at Abuja, set inland near the middle of the map, away from the crowded coast. Lagos, the largest city, kept its place as the commercial heart on the Gulf of Guinea.

Both remain among the country's defining cities. The two cities have pulled in different directions ever since, one administrative and central, the other coastal and commercial. Across the states, the many peoples of Nigeria hold to their own languages and traditions.

That balance still defines the republic.

What is Nigeria like?

Nigeria is strikingly diverse. More than 250 ethnic groups live within its borders, speaking some 500 languages between them. Those peoples have shared this land for centuries.

English serves as the common language, the shared tongue of a country with no single mother language. It carries government, schooling and trade across every group. Across West Africa few places match its variety.

Each region carries its own dress, music and food, and none of it blends into one national style. The country's culture splits roughly between the north and the south. Contrasts run the length of the country.

In the north, older traditions of the Sahel shape daily life, while the southern regions along the Gulf of Guinea look to the coast and the wider world. Food, faith and language shift from state to state. Markets, festivals and places of worship fill the calendar right across the federation.

Each of the states adds its own layer to the whole. What holds it together is a shared national identity, carried in English and in the pride of the Giant of Africa. The mix is loud, deep and its own.

What is the climate of Nigeria?

Nigeria has a tropical climate that changes from south to north. The coast on the Gulf of Guinea stays hot, humid and wet for much of the year. The far north is drier.

Toward the Sahel, long dry spells and dusty winds give way to a short, heavy rainy season. Heat is the one constant.

How do you get to Nigeria?

Nigeria is reached mainly through Lagos, the country's busiest airport and seaport on the Gulf of Guinea. Flights land there from across Africa, Europe and beyond. The central capital, Abuja, takes a steady share of that traffic, and from both cities roads and domestic flights fan out to the 36 states.

Overland routes cross to Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The country is big, so distances run long.