Nigeria has a land area of 923,768 square kilometres. Niger is Nigeria’s northern neighbour. Benin lies to the west, while Cameroon is located on the east. The neighbouring Chad is located on the other side of Lake Chad.

Beyond the coastal plain, the land extends northward along two river basins, the Niger River to the west and the Benue River to the east. The county’s name comes from the Niger River.

In northern part of the country, the amount of rainfall decreases so that there are fewer areas of heavy vegetation or concentrations of trees. The northern half of the country is marked by wide plateaus and small granite mountains. The extreme northern area of the country touches the edge of the Sahara Desert, a region known as the Sahel, which means fringe in Arabic.

It is generally agreed that Nigeria is home to about 15 per cent of all the people in Africa. It also has the most diverse mix of people of any nation on the continent.