Nigeria
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 Nigeria facts

• Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean
• It comprises 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja is located
• Its largest cities include: Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Benin City and Port Harcourt
• Nigeria is officially a democratic secular country
• Modern-day Nigeria has been the site of numerous kingdoms and tribal states over the millennia
• The modern state originated from British colonial rule beginning in the 19th century, and the merging of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1914
• The British set up administrative and legal structures whilst practising indirect rule through traditional chiefdoms
• Nigeria became a formally independent federation in 1960, and plunged into a civil war from 1967 to 1970
• It has since alternated between democratically-elected civilian governments and military dictatorships, until it achieved a stable democracy in 1999, with the 2011 presidential elections considered the first to be reasonably free and fair
• Nigeria is often referred to as the "Giant of Africa", owing to its large population and economy