11 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT NIGERIA-by Lucía Fernández-Cuesta

Do you ever wonder how it would be like living in an African country such as Nigeria? I must admit that, before writing this post, I didn't have a clue about what to answer if I was asked about Nigeria and its culture. However, I’m totally sure I’m not the only one, so that’s why I decided to share with you this and here you have 10 interesting facts you may not know about this country:

#1: Some Quick Facts

 The official name of the country is the Federal Republic of Nigeria and it comes from the river which flows through the country

#2: The Niger

 It takes the pride of giving its name to this country and to be the largest and longest river in West Africa.It is also the third largest river in Africa.

#3: Climate

 Nigeria is located in a place with wide variety of climatic conditions such as the equatorial weather of the south, the tropical center or the arid north. If  you are interested in touring Nigeria, I’d recommend you to do it during December through February. The rain also varies according to the region.

#4: Bio (butterfly) diversity at its peak

 The largest number of butterflies can be found in Nigeria, to be more precisely, in the regions of Calabar, Cross river state.

#5: The People

 Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. Another astonishing fact about the Nigerian people is that it is the country with 

#6: Member of…

 Nigeria is not only a member of the Commonwealth but also of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Moreover, it takes place in the ‘Next Eleven Economies’ list of countries.

#7: Language Richness

 The official language spoken in Nigeria is English. But also, there are another 30 languages spoken in Nigeria. These 31 languages constitute the 7% of the languages in the world. 

#8: The Oil Story

 In 1956, oil was discovered in the state of Bayesla

 The center of the oil industry is located on the Port court on the Niger delta.

#9: Petroleum and its contribution

 The export of Petroleum obtains 95% of the export income

 It’s well proven that Nigeria is one of the largest reserves of petroleum all over the world as it’s only ten positions after the first largest reserve of petroleum.

#10: Invasion

 It was the colonization of Nigeria in 1472 by the Europeans that started the story of its invasion and struggle for independence.

 Although the country has already lived 47 years of independence, it is still ruled by its military regiem.

#11: Last but not least, transportation.

 Spanning to 8600km, Nigeria has the 15th largest waterways in the whole world.

 Nigeria owns 53 airports, out of which 13 have unpaved runways and the other 40 have paved ones.

In conclusion, Nigeria is such a charming and interesting place most of us do not know yet, and, from my point of view, we should all get involved to make Nigeria a better place to live in.