LOCATION:
Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon

POPULATION:
138,283,240 (July 2008 est.)

GEOGRAPHY:
The Niger enters the country in the northwest and flows southward through tropical rain forests and swamps to its delta in the Gulf of Guinea

INDEPENDENCE:
1 October 1960 (from UK)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.4% (2007 est.)

GDP - composition
by sector:
agriculture: 17.6%
industry: 52.7%
services: 29.7% (2007 est.)

EXPORTS:
$62.42 billion f.o.b.
(2007 est.)