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People of Nigeria
Nigeria is made up of three large ethnic groups - the
Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo- who represent 70 percent of the population. Another 10 percent comprises of several other groups numbering more than 1 million members each, including the Kanuri, Tiv, and Ibibio. More than 300 smaller ethnic groups account for the remaining 20 percent of the population. However, these groups are similar in nature, thus melting all the boundaries to become a huge group. Most Nigerians speak more than one language. The country's official language, English, is widely spoken, especially among educated people. Apart from English, 400 native Nigerian languages are also spoken, out of which some are being threatened with extinction.
Flag of Nigeria
The flag of Nigeria has three equal vertical bands of green towards the hoist side, white in the middle
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and green at the bottom.
Please click here to view the Flag of Nigeria
Economy of Nigeria
The oil-rich Nigerian economy, long caught in political instability, corruption, and poor macroeconomic management, is undergoing substantial reform under the new civilian administration. Nigeria has seen seven coups in 32 years, during which the military rulers had failed to diversify the economy away from over dependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter of food, now must import food. Nonetheless, increases in foreign oil investment and oil production had kept the economic growth at 3% in 2002.
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