Nigeria

Thursday, 14 October 2010

Nigeria

The Federal Republic of Nigeria, mostly known as Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. There are three large and influential ethnic groups in Nigeria: the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba and in terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims and Christians with a very small minority who practices traditional religion.(what is this traditional religion?)

Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to begin trade in Nigeria; the Europeans traded with the ethnicities of the coast and also negotiated a trade in slaves, to the detriment and profit of many Nigerian ethnicities. Slavery was finally outlawed in northern Nigeria in 1936.

On January 1, 1901 Nigeria became part of the British Empire; many wars against subjugation had been fought by the states of what later became Nigeria against the British Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century.

In 1914, the Niger area was formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the northern and southern provinces and Lagos colony. Western education and the development of a modern economy proceeded more rapidly in the south than in the north, with consequences felt in Nigeria's political life ever since. The unification became the beginning of Nigeria’s independence which was declared and recognized on October the 1st of 1960 and on its third anniversary it became a republic.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the eighth most populous country in the world and the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is black. It is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies (the “Nest Eleven” economies consists of 11 countries that are considered to have the high potential of becoming the world's largest economies in the 21st century) and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Nigeria as only one official language: English, even though it is estimated that there are more that 500 languages spoken in the country. It’s also the third country with more native speakers of English.

Andreia Pinto