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Geography And Climate Of Nigeria

Geography
Nigeria being the most populous country in Africa is situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa.It lies between longitudes 3 degrees and 14 degrees and latitudes 4 degrees and 140 degrees. It has a land area of 923,766 sq. km.. It is bordered to the north by the Republics of Niger and Chad. It shares borders to the west with the Republic of Benin, while the Republic of Cameroon shares the eastern borders right down to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. The lower course of the Niger River flows south through the western part of the country into the Gulf of Guinea. Swamps and mangrove forests border the southern coast; inland are hardwood forests. The country enjoys about 800km of coastline.

Climate
Temperatures across the country is relatively high with a very narrow variation in seasonal and diurnal ranges (22-36t). There are two basic seasons; wet season which lasts from April to October; and the dry season which lasts from November till March. The dry season commences with Harmattan, a dry chilly spell that lasts till February and is associated with lower temperatures, a dusty and hazy atmosphere brought about by the North-Easterly winds blowing from the Arabian peninsular across the Sahara; the second half of the dry season, February - March, is the hottest period of the year when temperatures range from 33 to 38 degrees centigrade. The extremes of the wet season are felt on the southeastern coast where annual rainfall might reach a high of 330cm; while the extremes of the dry season, in aridity and high temperatures, are felt in the north third of the country.

Vegetation
In line with the rainfall distribution, a wetter south and a drier northern half, there are two broad vegetation types: Forests and Savanna. There are three variants of each, running as near parallel bands east to west across the country. Forests Savanna Saline water swamp Guinea Savanna Fresh water swamp Sudan Savanna Tropical (high) evergreen Sahel Savanna

Rainforest

There is also the mountain vegetation of the isolated high plateau regions on the far eastern extremes of the country (Jos, Mambila, Obudu).

The savanna, especially Guinea and Sudan, are the major grains, grasses, tubers, vegetable and cotton growing regions.

The Tropical evergreen rain forest belt bears timber production and forest development, production of cassava; and plantation growing of fruit trees - citrus, oil palm, cocoa, rubber, among others.

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