Nigeria Environment - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

serious overpopulation and rapid urbanization have led to numerous environmental problems; urban air and water pollution; rapid deforestation; soil degradation; loss of arable land; oil pollution - water, air, and soil have suffered serious damage from oil spills

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Tropical Timber 2006

Climate

varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north

Land use

agricultural land: 78% (2018 est.)

arable land: 37.3% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 7.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 33.3% (2018 est.)

forest: 9.5% (2018 est.)

other: 12.5% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 54.3% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.92% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Food insecurity

widespread lack of access: due to persistent civil conflict in the northern areas, floods, high food prices, and an economic slowdown - about 25.3 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity during the June to August 2023 lean season; this would be a significant deterioration compared to last year, when 19.45 million people were estimated to be acutely food insecure; acute food insecurity is mostly driven by the deterioration of security conditions and conflicts in northern states, which have led to the displacement of about 3.17 million people as of March 2022 (the latest data available) and are constraining farmers’ access to their lands; widespread flooding in 2022, affecting about 4.5 million people across the country, has further compounded conditions, particularly in areas already facing high levels of insecurity; high food prices and the expected slowdown in economic growth in 2023 are additional drivers of acute food insecurity (2023)

Revenue from forest resources

1.02% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 48.73 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 120.37 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 143.99 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 27,614,830 tons (2009 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lake Chad (endorheic lake shared with Niger, Chad, and Cameroon) - 10,360-25,900 sq km
note - area varies by season and year to year

Major rivers (by length in km)

Niger river mouth (shared with Guinea [s], Mali, Benin, and Niger) - 4,200 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Niger (2,261,741 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Lake Chad (2,497,738 sq km)

Major aquifers

Lake Chad Basin, Lullemeden-Irhazer Aquifer System

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 5 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 1.97 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 5.51 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

286.2 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Nigeria on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Nigeria 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Nigeria 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.