Nigeria-"Giant of Africa"

Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. With a population of over 211 million, it is also known as the "Giant of Africa". Nigeria is a federal republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja, is located. The largest city in Nigeria is Lagos, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the second-largest in Africa. Nigeria is a multinational state inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups speaking 500 distinct languages, all identifying with a wide variety of cultures. The three largest ethnic groups are the Hausa–Fulani in the north, Yoruba in the west, and Igbo in the east, together comprising over 60% of the total population. The official language is English, chosen to facilitate linguistic unity at the national level.

During the trans-Atlantic slave trade, enslaved Africans were captured from two predominant regions of southwestern and southeastern Nigeria-the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. The Bight of Benin, consists of what is now the nations of Togo, Benin, and southwestern Nigeria. African captives from the Bight of Benin represent approximately 5% of all African captives transported to North America including: 30% of the captives sold in Louisiana. The Bight of Biafra is comprised of contemporary southeastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Twenty-four percent of all enslaved Africans sold in North America came from this region and approximately 40% were transported to Virginia, 9% to Louisiana and 2% to South Carolina/Georgia. Many African-Americans have used DNA tests to trace their lineage back to the Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Edo, Efik, Kanuri and Ibibio.