什麼是奈及利亞

正式名稱爲奈及利亞聯邦共和國（Federal Republic of Nigeria）

非洲西部國家。面積923,768平方公里。人口約126,636,000（2001）。首都︰阿布賈。奈及利亞的民族估計超過250個，包括豪薩人、富拉尼人、約魯巴人和伊格博人。語言︰英語（官方語）、豪薩語。宗教︰伊斯蘭教、基督教和傳統宗教。貨幣︰奈拉（Nigerian naira，）。奈及利亞領土包含了高原和低地，其間有河谷散佈，尼日河是主要河流。發展中的混合經濟大部分是以石油生產和農業爲主。製造業仍未發展。服務業、貿易和運輸業僱用了全國逾2/5的勞動力。政府形式是聯邦共和國，兩院制。國家元首暨政府首腦是總統。

數千年來該地區都有人居住，從西元前500～西元200年，該地區是諾克文化的中心，也是幾個前殖民時期帝國的中心，這些帝國包括卡內姆-博爾努以及桑海帝國、豪薩和富拉尼等王國。歐洲人於15世紀到過這裏，此地成爲奴隸貿易的中心。1861年該地區開始受英國控制，到1906年就完全被英國控制了。1960年奈及利亞獲得獨立，1963年成爲共和國，由阿齊克韋任總統。民族衝突很快導致軍事政變，1966～1979年以及1983年至今，由軍人集團統治着這個國家。1967～1970年間中央政府與前東部地區比夫拉之間的內戰，在上百萬比夫拉人死於飢餓後，終於以比夫拉人的投降而告結束。1991年首都從拉哥斯遷到阿布賈。1995年政府處死薩羅-維瓦（Ken saro-Wiwa），導致國際制裁，最終於1999年重新建立文職統治。到目前爲止，奈及利亞是非洲人口最多的國家，它面臨着人口快速增加、政治不穩定、高額外債、經濟發展緩慢、高犯罪率以及嚴重的政府腐敗等問題。

Nigeria

Nation, western Africa. Area: 356,669 sq mi (923,773 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 103,460,000. Capital: Abuja. There are more than 250 ethnic groups, including Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo (Ibo). Languages: English (official), Hausa. Religions: Islam, Christianity, animism. Currency: naira. Nigeria consists of plateaus and the lowlands between them, which are major river basins fed especially by the Niger River. It has a developing, mixed economy based largely on petroleum production and agriculture. Manufacturing remains undeveloped. Services, trade, and transportation employ more than two-fifths of the workforce. Nigeria is governed by a military regime. Inhabited for thousands of years, the region was the center of the Nok culture from 500 BC to AD 200 and several precolonial empires, including the state of Kanem-Bornu and the Songhai, Hausa, and Fulani kingdoms. Visited in the 15th century by Europeans, it became a center for the slave trade. The area began to come under British control in 1861, and was entirely British-controlled by 1906. Nigeria gained independence in 1960 and became a republic in 1963, with Nnamdi Azikiwe as president. Ethnic strife soon led to military coups, and military groups ruled the country 1966-79 and from 1983 to the present. Civil war between the central government and the former eastern region, Biafra, in 1967-70 ended in Biafra's surrender after the death by starvation of a million Biafrans. In 1991 the capital was moved from Lagos to Abuja. The government's execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995 led to international sanctions, and civilian rule was finally reestablished in 1999. By far the most populous nation in Africa, Nigeria suffers from rapid population increase, political instability, foreign debt, slow economic growth, a high rate of violent crime, and rampant government corruption.