Nigeria - Languages - Britannica

Geographic regions

Marked differences exist between north and south, not only in physical landscape, climate, and vegetation but also in the social organization, religion, literacy, and agricultural practices of the people. These differences form the basis of the division of Nigeria into three geographic regions: the south, or Guinea coastlands; the central region; and the north, or Nigerian Sudan.

South

The south is the most economically developed part of Nigeria. Its forest resources are intensively exploited, and its tree crops are harvested on peasant farms and commercial plantations. All of the country’s major industrial centres and oil fields, as well as its seaports, are concentrated in the region. Important cultural centres are also found in the south, such as those of the Yoruba in the western part of the region, the Edo in the region’s midwestern section, and the Igbo-Ibibio in the east. Parts of the country’s Igbo and Ibibio-inhabited areas are the most densely settled areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The Yoruba-inhabited areas where cacao is grown are also densely settled and attract many migrants from the congested Igbo and Ibibio-inhabited areas. The eastern Cross River area is virtually uninhabited owing to the poor soil and climate.

Central region

The central region is the most sparsely settled and least developed part of Nigeria, comprising about two-fifths of the country’s land area but supporting less than one-fifth of the total population. Small pockets of dense population occur in the tin fields of the Jos Plateau and in the southern Tiv-inhabited area. The remaining, and by far the greater, part of this region is virtually uninhabited owing to the poor soil and climate.

Before 1970, large-scale development in this region, often referred to as the middle belt, was restricted to a few government-supported projects, such as the Kainji Dam and the Bacita sugar project (both in the northwestern part of the region) and a few industries in the towns of Jos and Kaduna (now the capitals of Plateau and Kaduna states, respectively). After the national administrative reorganization of 1975, this central region gained importance because 7 of the then 19 (now 36) state capitals, as well as the approximately 2,800-square-mile (7,250-square-km) Federal Capital Territory were located there. In addition, during the early 1980s a giant iron and steel complex was built at Ajaokuta, near Lokoja.

North

The north, or Nigerian Sudan, underwent significant change in the beginning of the 20th century, when a new economic pattern was created by the construction of a railroad that connected the region to the country’s coastal ports. Before then, the Nigerian Sudan was more outward oriented through regular trans-Saharan contacts with North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Except in the Lake Chad basin, where the Kanuri people established the state of Borno, the Nigerian Sudan has been dominated by a blend of the cultures of the Fulani and Hausa. The former are traditionally nomadic cattle herders, the latter settled cultivators; both groups are predominantly Muslim.

Two regions of dense population are found in the extreme north: the Sokoto area and the Kano-Katsina area. The Kano concentration is based on intensive agriculture in an area of relatively fertile soils, but the densely settled areas around nearby Katsina have impoverished soils and do not produce enough food for the local population.