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Nigeria lies in West Africa, on the Gulf of Guinea. The south is warm and green, with rainforest, mangrove swamps and the huge delta of the Niger River, while the north is open savanna that grows drier towards the Sahara. The Niger and its largest tributary, the Benue, meet in the middle of the country and form a great Y on the map. The country takes its name from the Niger.
People have lived and made art here for thousands of years: the clay heads of the Nok culture are among the oldest sculptures in Africa south of the Sahara, and the kingdoms of Benin, Oyo, Kano and many more grew rich on trade. Britain took control step by step in the 1800s and joined the north and the south into one colony in 1914. Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960.
As of 2026 Nigeria has more than 240 million people, more than any other country in Africa. They belong to more than 250 ethnic groups; the largest are the Hausa and Fulani in the north, the Yoruba in the southwest and the Igbo in the southeast. English is the official language and brings them together, alongside Nigerian Pidgin. Nigeria is known around the world for its writers, its music and its films, and for Lagos, one of the largest cities in Africa.
The land that is now Nigeria was home to many peoples and states long before it had one name. Nok artists made clay sculptures more than 2,000 years ago, the Kingdom of Benin traded with Portugal from the 1480s, and in the north the Hausa city-states and later the Sokoto Caliphate ruled the savanna. Britain took Lagos in 1861 and the rest over the following decades, joining north and south in 1914. After independence in 1960 came a painful civil war and long years of military rule, and civilian government returned in 1999.
By around 500 BC the Nok people of central Nigeria were smelting iron and making striking terracotta figures with large eyes and carefully shaped hair. The culture is named after the village of Nok, where tin miners found clay figures in 1928 and again in 1943, and its sculptures are among the earliest known in Africa south of the Sahara.
In about 1485 Portuguese explorers led by João Afonso de Aveiro reached Benin City, capital of the powerful Kingdom of Benin. The Oba, the king, traded pepper and ivory with them and sent an ambassador to Lisbon. The name Benin comes from the Portuguese form of a local name for the kingdom.
In 1804 the Fulani scholar Usman dan Fodio led a religious war against the Hausa kings of the north and founded the Sokoto Caliphate. By the 1830s it was the most populous state in West Africa, ruled from the city of Sokoto, which his son founded in 1809. Britain took it over in 1903, but the Sultan of Sokoto is still an important Muslim leader today.
In August 1861, under the threat of force, a British naval force made Lagos a British colony. The island had been a major centre of the Atlantic slave trade, which Britain had abolished. From this small port, British rule spread slowly inland over the next fifty years.
In February 1897 a British military expedition captured Benin City, burned much of it, including the royal palace, and sent the Oba into exile. Thousands of bronze and ivory works of art, now known as the Benin Bronzes, were taken to Britain. Since the 2020s some museums abroad have begun to return pieces to Nigeria.
On 1 January 1914 the British joined the Northern and Southern Nigeria Protectorates into a single Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, under Frederick Lugard. The name Nigeria had been suggested in 1897 by the journalist Flora Shaw, who later married Lugard.
On 1 October 1960 Nigeria became independent from Britain as a federation of three regions, with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as prime minister. The day is celebrated every year as Independence Day.
In 1963 a new constitution made Nigeria a republic within the Commonwealth, and Nnamdi Azikiwe, who had been governor-general, became its first president.
After two military coups and violence against Igbo people in the north in 1966, the Eastern Region declared itself the independent Republic of Biafra in May 1967, and fighting began in July. A blockade of the east caused a terrible famine, and pictures of starving children shocked the world. Estimates of the number of people who died vary widely.
Biafra surrendered in January 1970, after 30 months of war, and the east became part of Nigeria again. The government spoke of reconciliation, but the memory of the war is still painful for many families.
In 1976 the military government decided to move the capital from crowded Lagos to a new city in the centre of the country, in a place seen as neutral between the country's main ethnic and religious groups. Abuja was planned from scratch and built mainly in the 1980s.
The playwright and poet Wole Soyinka, born in Abeokuta, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, the first Black African to receive it.
On 12 December 1991 Abuja officially replaced Lagos as the capital of Nigeria. Lagos remains the country's largest city and its business centre.
At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Nigeria's young football team beat Argentina 3 to 2 in the final, becoming the first African country to win Olympic gold in football.
After most of the years since 1966 under military governments, Nigeria adopted a new constitution and held elections in 1999. On 29 May 1999 power was handed to an elected civilian president.
Nigerian cooking is hearty, colourful and often spicy, built on yams, cassava, rice, beans, peppers and red palm oil. The classic meal is a 'swallow', a soft, stretchy dough such as pounded yam, eba or amala, served with a rich soup of greens, ground melon seeds or okra, with meat or fish. A piece of swallow is pinched off with the right hand, dipped in the soup and eaten. Rice dishes such as jollof are the stars of parties, street food such as suya and puff-puff fills the evenings, and each region has its own favourites: soups of the Efik and Ibibio in the southeast, Yoruba stews in the southwest and grilled and dried meats in the Hausa north.
Rice cooked in one pot in a rich sauce of tomatoes, red peppers, onions and spices, often with thyme, curry powder and bay leaves, until every grain is orange-red. It is served at every party with fried chicken or beef, fried plantain and a little salad.
Nigerians and Ghanaians have a friendly 'Jollof war' about whose version is best. The name jollof comes from the old Wolof state of Jolof, in the region of today's Senegal.
A thick, golden soup made with ground melon seeds, which cook into soft little curds, together with palm oil, peppers, leafy greens and meat or dried fish. It is one of the most popular soups in the country and is eaten with pounded yam or eba.
White yam boiled and then pounded in a large wooden mortar until it becomes a smooth, soft, stretchy dough. It is shaped into a ball and served with egusi, efo riro or okra soup.
As of 2020, Nigeria grew about two thirds of all the yams in the world.
Amala is a smooth brown swallow made from dried yam flour. It is traditionally served with two soups side by side: green ewedu, made from jute leaves, and orange gbegiri, made from beans, often with a spicy stew and meat on top.
A rich stew of leafy greens such as spinach or amaranth, cooked in palm oil with blended red peppers, onions, locust beans and often several kinds of meat and fish. It is eaten with pounded yam, amala or rice.
A thick soup of fluted pumpkin leaves and waterleaf, cooked with palm oil, meat, dried fish and periwinkles. It takes a lot of greens and meat, so it is seen as a special-occasion dish for guests and celebrations.
Thin slices of beef, chicken or ram on skewers, rubbed with yaji, a hot spice mix made with ground peanuts, chilli and ginger, and grilled over an open fire. Street sellers serve it in the evening with sliced onions, tomatoes and extra spice.
Very thin sheets of beef dried in the sun, coated with a paste of peanuts, onion and spices, dried again and quickly roasted over high heat. It is a kind of spicy jerky that keeps for months without spoiling.
A light, very spicy broth made with goat meat, chicken or catfish, chilli and fragrant local spices such as calabash nutmeg and scent leaves. It is served as a starter, in bars with a cold drink, and as a warming dish for people who feel unwell.
A steamed pudding of peeled black-eyed beans blended with red peppers, onions and oil, often with boiled egg or fish inside. It is traditionally steamed in folded leaves and eaten with rice, pap or garri.
Crisp, fluffy fritters made from peeled black-eyed beans ground with onion and pepper, then fried in small spoonfuls. They are a favourite breakfast with pap, a smooth maize porridge, or with bread.
Enslaved Yoruba people brought akara to Brazil, where it became acarajé, a famous street food of Salvador da Bahia.
Soft, round balls of sweet yeast dough, deep-fried until golden. They are sold at street stalls and served at every party, sometimes rolled in sugar.
Small crunchy cubes of sweet dough made with flour, sugar, butter and milk, often flavoured with nutmeg, and deep-fried. They are a favourite snack all over Nigeria.
Soft, sticky rice cooked and mashed into a smooth dough, then shaped into balls. It is the northern swallow, served with soups such as miyan kuka, made from baobab leaves.
A deep red drink made from dried hibiscus flowers boiled with ginger and sometimes pineapple peel or cloves, then sweetened and served cold. It is sold in bottles and bags on the street and at parties.
Balls of spiced millet dough, called fura, crumbled into nono, a fermented cow's milk, to make a thick, sour and filling drink, popular in the afternoon and on special occasions.
Nigeria has many big cities. Lagos, on the coast in the southwest, is the largest and the centre of business, while Abuja, in the middle of the country, is the planned capital. The ancient trading city of Kano leads the north, Ibadan and Abeokuta are old Yoruba cities, Enugu is the heart of the Igbo southeast, and Port Harcourt and Calabar lie near the coast in the south.
A planned capital built mainly in the 1980s at the foot of Aso Rock, a huge granite outcrop. It replaced Lagos as the capital on 12 December 1991, and its wide avenues are lined with government buildings, the National Mosque and the National Christian Centre.
Nigeria's largest city and one of the largest in Africa, spread over islands and mainland around the Lagos Lagoon. It was the capital until 1991 and is still the country's business, music and film centre. In Yoruba it is called Èkó.
One of the oldest cities in West Africa and a centre of trade across the Sahara for centuries. It was one of the Hausa city-states, and its old city still has parts of its ancient mud walls, the huge Kurmi Market and dye pits that are still in use.
A great Yoruba city about 120 km northeast of Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria by area. At independence in 1960 it was the country's most populous city, and it is home to the University of Ibadan, founded in 1948 as Nigeria's first university college.
A port city on the Bonny River, founded by the British in 1912 to ship coal from Enugu. Since Nigeria's first crude oil was exported from here in 1958, it has been the centre of the oil industry.
The ancient capital of the Kingdom of Benin, once surrounded by huge earthen walls and moats. It is still the seat of the Oba of Benin, one of the oldest continuing monarchies in the world, and Igun Street is famous for its bronze casters.
A city at the foot of the Udi escarpment in the Igbo southeast, whose name means 'hill top'. It grew up after coal was found here in 1909, which gave it the nickname Coal City.
An old port near the Cross River, home of the Efik people, known as one of Nigeria's cleanest and greenest cities. Its carnival, an old tradition given new life in 2004, fills the streets with costumed dancers every December.
A city on the high Jos Plateau, about 1,200 m above sea level, with a cooler climate than most of Nigeria. It grew in colonial times as a centre of tin mining, and the famous Nok terracottas were first found in this region.
A Yoruba city on the Ogun River whose name means 'under the rock'. It grew around Olumo Rock, where the Egba people found shelter in the wars of the 1800s. Cotton, rice and indigo dye have long been important to its trade.
A Yoruba city on the Osun River, the capital of Osun State since 1991. It is known for its sacred grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and as the home of the Mbari Mbayo Club of writers, artists and musicians.
A city on the northern edge of the Jos Plateau, founded in 1809 by Yakubu, one of the commanders of Usman dan Fodio. It is the nearest large city to Yankari Game Reserve, about 110 km away by road.
A huge granite outcrop that rises about 400 m above the surrounding land at the edge of Abuja. The Presidential Complex, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court stand at its foot, so 'Aso Rock' is also used as a name for the seat of government.
Nigeria's national mosque, with a golden dome and tall minarets, built in 1984 on Independence Avenue, across from the National Christian Centre. Visitors who are not Muslim may enter outside the times of congregational prayer.
A giant dome of rock that rises to about 725 m above sea level beside the road from Abuja to Kaduna, at Madalla in Niger State, northwest of Abuja. It appears on the 100 naira note.
A 78-hectare nature reserve on the Lekki Peninsula in Lagos, opened in 1990 to protect a piece of the coastal wetland and forest. Raised wooden walkways lead through swamp and savanna where monkeys, monitor lizards and many birds live, and one of the longest canopy walkways in Africa runs through the treetops.
A large gallery in Lekki, Lagos, owned by the artist Nike Davies-Okundaye, with a collection of about 25,000 works of Nigerian and African art. Visitors can see paintings, sculptures, beadwork and textiles on four floors, and meet artists at work.
A dense forest along the Osun River just outside Osogbo, sacred to Osun, the Yoruba goddess of the river. Shrines and large sculptures stand among the trees, many made with the Austrian-born artist Susanne Wenger, who helped protect the grove. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, and every August it hosts the Osun-Osogbo Festival.
UNESCO World Heritage
A granite outcrop in the middle of Abeokuta that gave shelter to the Egba people during the wars of the 1800s. Visitors climb steps or ride a lift past caves and shrines to the top, which gives a wide view over the city's rooftops.
A large savanna reserve of about 2,244 km² in Bauchi State, about 110 km by road from the city of Bauchi, home to elephants, baboons, hippos and antelopes. Its best-known sight is the Wikki Warm Spring, a clear pool of warm water where visitors can swim.
Thick walls of earth that once ran around the old city of Kano, begun in the 1000s and finished in the 1300s, with gates that led to the trade routes. Parts of the walls and several gates still stand. They are on UNESCO's tentative list, but not on the World Heritage List.
The home of the Oba of Benin, in the centre of Benin City. The old palace was destroyed in the British attack of 1897, when the Benin Bronzes were taken from it, and the present palace was built after 1914. It remains the home of the Oba and the heart of Benin's royal traditions.
As of 2026 Nigeria has more people than any other country in Africa, more than 240 million, and it is one of the ten most populous countries in the world.
The name Nigeria comes from the Niger River. It was suggested in 1897 by the British journalist Flora Shaw, and the neighbouring country of Niger is named after the same river.
More than 500 languages are spoken in Nigeria, which makes it one of the most language-rich countries on Earth.
By the number of films made each year, Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, is often ranked the second largest in the world: only India's film industry makes more, and Hollywood makes fewer.
Things Fall Apart, the 1958 novel by Chinua Achebe, has been translated into more than 50 languages and is one of the most widely read African novels.
In 1986 Wole Soyinka became the first Black African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Afrobeat, a mix of West African music with jazz, funk and soul, was created in Nigeria in the late 1960s by the bandleader Fela Kuti.
In 1996 Nigeria became the first African country to win Olympic gold in football, beating Argentina 3 to 2 in the final in Atlanta.
Nigeria grows more yams than any other country, about two thirds of the world's harvest in 2020. The Igbo celebrate the first yams of the season with the New Yam Festival in August.
The terracotta heads of the Nok culture, made more than 2,000 years ago, are among the earliest known sculptures in Africa south of the Sahara.
Zuma Rock, a giant dome of rock near Abuja, appears on the 100 naira note.
Chappal Waddi, at 2,419 m, is the highest point in Nigeria and in all of West Africa.
In the Durbar festivals of the northern emirates, hundreds of horsemen in bright robes ride in a parade and charge at full speed towards the emir, then stop and salute him.
As of 2026 Nigeria has two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Sukur Cultural Landscape, added in 1999, and the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, added in 2005.
Yoruba is a tonal language: the accents show high and low tones, and a dot under a letter changes its sound (ẹ as in 'bed', ọ as in 'hot', ṣ as 'sh'). Pronunciation is written the way it sounds; the capital letters show where the stress goes. Audio is coming soon.
In Hausa (Harshen Hausa). The most widely spoken language of northern Nigeria and a common language of trade across much of West Africa. Hausa has tones and long and short vowels; the spelling is a good guide.
Safety differs a great deal from region to region. As of September 2026 the UK government advises against all travel to several northern and northeastern states and against all but essential travel to many others, including Kano, Bauchi and Plateau states. Read your own government's latest travel advice before planning any trip, and check again before you go.
As of 2026 most visitors from Europe and North America need a visa, applied for online before travel; visas on arrival are no longer given. You must also show a certificate of yellow fever vaccination, and take advice on malaria tablets several weeks before you go.
Roads can be poor and busy, and travelling after dark outside city centres is not advised. Most visitors hire a car with a driver through their hotel or hosts rather than using street taxis or long-distance buses.
Nigerians value greetings and respect for age. Say good morning and ask how someone is before any request. Traditionally Yoruba women kneel slightly and men bow or prostrate to greet elders; visitors are not expected to do this, but a small bow and a warm greeting are appreciated.
Give, take and eat with your right hand. In the mainly Muslim north, and when visiting mosques, churches and shrines, cover your shoulders and knees, and during Ramadan do not eat or drink in public in the daytime.
Ask people before you photograph them. Taking pictures of government or military buildings and airports can lead to arrest.
Cards work in big hotels and many city shops, but markets and small places want naira in cash. Take out money in daylight at ATMs inside banks or hotels, keep valuables out of sight and never buy unlicensed local gin, which can contain dangerous methanol.
The emergency number in Nigeria is 112, for police, fire and ambulance. There is no national ambulance service, so good travel insurance that covers medical evacuation is important.
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