The country Nigeria
came into existence in 1914 as a
result of amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates.
She became Independent in 1960. As at Independent,
the country had three regions namely (NORTH,
EAST and WEST). The northern region
had its Headquarters in KADUNA, eastern region in ENUGU and WESTERN in IBADAN.
In 1963, Nigeria
became a republic and the fourth region known as MID-WEST was created from the then WESTERN REGION with its Headquarters in BENIN CITY. The political division remained four until 1967 when the
country was further divided into Twelve
States.
In 1976, the
country was further divided into 19
States. In September 23rd
1987, two more states were created making the total number of 21 States.
Nigeria presently has 36 States and a federal capital territory (FCT) is ABUJA.
Nigeria is
the fourth Largest country in WEST AFRICA in term of Land area after MALI and MAURITANIA. This country is
bordered to the East by Cameroon Republic, to the North by Niger
Republic ,to the North East by Chad Republic
and to the West Republic of Benin. To the South of Nigeria is Gulf Guinea which is part of the Atlantic
Ocean .
Nigeria
lies between Longitude 3°E and 15° and
between Latitude 4°N and 14°N.
The total area of Land is approximately 923768 sq.km. The widest point from East to West is 1300km while from North to South stretch
is 1100km.
In term of
population, Nigeria is the most Populous
single Country in Africa with 88.5millin
people in 1991. Hence she is often refers to as the GIANT OF AFRICA. They lived more
or less where they are now for a long . They have major language groups, The HAUSA, FULANI, TIRI, NUPE, YORUBA,
IGBO,IBIBIO, ANNANJA, IJAW and EFIK. You can click on the link below to see
all the state, capital and their, L.G.A.