NATIONAL LEADER Rev. Joseph Siebere CHURCH STATISTICS 5 churches; 5 missions; Bible Institute: Maranatha Bible Institute. Work was organized in 1989.

NEEDS
www.pfwb.org/worldwitness/projects.htm#Nigeria

PEOPLES
Nigeria has the largest population in Africa. The 250 or so ethnic groups can be divided into four main groups: the Haussa and Fulani in the north; the Yoruba in the southwest; and the Igbo in the southeast.

RELIGIONS
The north is predominantly Muslim, while Christians form the majority in the southeast; Muslims, Christians and followers of traditional African religions can be found in the southwest.

LANGUAGES
English (official). Each region has a main language depending on the predominant ethnic group, Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba.

POLITICAL PARTIES
The United Nigerian Congress Party; the Committee for National Consensus; the National Central Party of Nigeria; the Democratic Party of Nigeria and the Grassroots Democratic Movement.

THE STATE

OFFICIAL NAME
Federal Republic of Nigeria.

ADMINISTRATION
30 States.

CAPITAL
Abuja

OTHER CITIES
Lagos 5,600,000 people (1995); Ibadan 1,295,000; Ogbomosho 660,000; Kano 700,000 (1992).

GOVERNMENT
Olusegun Obasanjo, President from March 1999.

NATIONAL HOLIDAY
October 1, Independence Day (1960).

ENVIRONMENT
The country’s extensive river system includes the Niger and its main tributary, the Benue. In the north, the harmattan, a dry wind from the Sahara, creates a drier region made up of plateaus and grasslands where cotton and peanuts are grown for export. The central plains are also covered by grasslands, and are sparsely populated. The southern lowlands receive more rainfall, they have dense tropical forests and most of the country’s population lives there. Cocoa and oil-palms are grown in this area. The massive delta of the Niger River divides the coast into two separate regions. In the east, oil production is concentrated around Port Harcourt, the homeland of the Igbo, who converted to Christianity and fought to establish an independent Biafra. To the west, the industrial area is concentrated around Lagos and Ibadan. Yoruba are the predominant western ethnic group, and some of them have converted to Islam. Nigeria has lost between 70 and 80 per cent of its original forests.