THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Abuja, Nigeria )
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For Immediate Release August 26,
2000
FACT SHEET
Nigeria
? Nigeria is nearly twice the size of California.
? Nigeria, with a population estimated at 110 million, is the most populous
country in Africa and the 10th largest in the world.
? One in five sub-Saharan Africans is Nigerian.
? There are hundreds of thousands of Nigerians currently in the United
States. Nearly 200,000 are American citizens.
? Nigeria is inhabited by over 250 ethnic groups. Muslims make up about 50
percent of religious adherents, Christians about 40 percent, while 10
percent follow traditional beliefs.
? Nigeria is the world's sixth-largest oil exporter, accounting for 7% of
oil imports to the United States.
? There is 1 telephone for every 220 people in Nigeria.
? Only 9,000 Nigerians have access to the Internet.
? Sixty percent of Nigerians earn less than $1 per day.
? The Nigerian Stock Exchange is one of the few stock exchanges in the
world to be run by a woman. The Chairman is Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke.
? The life expectancy, at birth, is 56 years in Nigeria compared to 76
years in the United States.
? Nigeria's infant mortality rate is 87 deaths per 1,000 live births-the
15th highest rate in the world.
? Nigerian military and uniformed police personnel have participated in 27
peacekeeping missions around the world.
? Nigerian author, Wole Soyinka, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986.
? Nigerian athletes have won 14 medals in the Olympics-winning 6 at the
1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.
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