question: Why does Nigeria have such a big population?
comment: Nigeria is about twice the size of California, most of the land in the South is fertile and has plenty of water. With recent finds of oil there is relatively a lot of money in Nigeria and the population has dramatically expanded over the last 50 years with large families being born and a high survival rate for the children.
passages: Section::::Society.
  
  Section::::Society.:Demographics.
  
  Nigeria's population increased by 57 million from 1990 to 2008, a 60% growth rate in less than two decades. As of 2017, the population stood at 191 million. Around 42.5% of the population were 14 years or younger, 19.6% were aged 15–24, 30.7% were aged 25–54, 4.0% aged 55–64, and 3.1% aged 65 years or older. The median age in 2017 was 18.4 years. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and accounts for about 17% of the continent's total population as of 2017; however, exactly how populous is a subject of speculation.
   br3.3 million (2009 est.)
  
  Section::::Other demographic statistics.:Literacy.
  
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  
  Section::::Emigration.
  
  Today millions of ethnic Nigerians live abroad, the largest communities can be found in the United Kingdom (500,000–3,000,000) and the United States (600,000–1,000,000 Nigerians), other countries that followed closely are South Africa, Gambia, and Canada respectively. There are also large groups in Ireland, Portugal and many other countries.
   According to the United Nations, Nigeria has been undergoing explosive population growth and has one of the highest growth and fertility rates in the world. By their projections, Nigeria is one of eight countries expected to account collectively for half of the world's total population increase in 2005–2050. By 2100 the UN estimates that the Nigerian population will be between 505 million and 1.03 billion people (middle estimate: 730 million). In 1950, Nigeria had only 33 million people.
   Section::::Fertility and births.
  
  Total Fertility Rate (TFR)(Wanted TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):
  
  Fertility data as of 2013 (DHS Program):
  
  Source: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)
  
  Section::::Fertility and births.:Fertility rate by state.
  
  ∗ MICS surveys
  
  Section::::Fertility and births.:Contraceptive prevalence.
  
  Contraceptive prevalence, any methods (% of women ages 15–49)
  
  ∗ UNICEFs State of the Worlds Children and Childinfo, United Nations Population Divisions World Contraceptive Use, household surveys including Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys.
  
  Section::::Population projections.
   Another reason for the high rates of unwanted pregnancy in Nigeria is low contraceptive use and lack of family planning. Much of this is a result of lack of education on the use of contraceptives, as well as a lack of access to health care and contraceptive products in Nigeria. Due to the lack of contraceptive use, there is a trend of uneducated, young, childless women, and women with many children who end up with unwanted pregnancies. Both of these groups of women live in rural areas, where healthcare is spread out, hard to find, and government campaigns to help educate the public on family planning and contraceptives don't get as much advertisement.
   The middle belt of Nigeria is known for its diversity of ethnic groups, including the Pyem, Goemai, and Kofyar. The official population count of each of Nigeria's ethnicities has always remained controversial and disputed as members of different ethnic groups believe the census is rigged to give a particular group (usually believed to be northern groups) numerical superiority.
   While in Japan there are 126 million people and in Niger 21 million, both countries had around 1 million babies born in 2016.
  
  Section::::National birth rates.:Sub-Saharan Africa.
   The United Nations estimates that the population in was at , distributed as 51.7% rural and 48.3% urban, and with a population density of 167.5 people per square kilometre. National census results in the past few decades have been disputed. The results of the most recent census were released in December 2006 and gave a population of 140,003,542. The only breakdown available was by gender: males numbered 71,709,859, females numbered 68,293,008. In June 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan said that Nigerians should limit their number of children.
   According to a 2001 report from "The World Factbook" by CIA, about 47% of Nigeria's population is Muslim, 43% are Christians and 10% adhere to local religions. But in some recent report, the Christian population is now sightly larger than the Muslim population. An 18 December 2012 report on religion and public life by the Pew Research Center stated that in 2010, 49.3 percent of Nigeria's population was Christian, 48.8 percent was Muslim, and 1.9 percent were followers of indigenous and other religions, or unaffiliated. 
   Section::::Society.:Religion.
  
  Nigeria is a religiously diverse society, with Islam and Christianity being the most widely professed religions. Nigerians are nearly equally divided into Muslims and Christians, with a tiny minority of adherents of Traditional African religions and other religions. As common in other parts of Africa where Christianity and Islam are dominant, religious syncretism with the Traditional African religions is common throughout Nigeria.
   The total fertility rate of the World is estimated at 2.52 children per woman, which is above the global average for the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.33 (as of 2003). However, world population growth is unevenly distributed, with the total fertility rate going from .91 in Macau, to 7.68 in Niger. The United Nations estimated an annual population increase of 1.14% for the year of 2000.
   According to a 2009 Pew survey, 45% of Nigeria's population were Muslims. A later Pew study in 2011 calculated that Christians now formed 56.8% of the population in Nigeria, while Muslims comprised 41.1%. Adherents of other religions make up 1.4% of the population.
   Section::::Vital statistics.
  
  Registration of vital events is in Nigeria not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.
  
  Section::::Vital statistics.:Life expectancy at birth.
  
  Life expectancy from 1950 to 2015 ("UN World Population Prospects"):
  
  Section::::Total and percent distribution of population by single year of age (Census 2006).
  
  Structure of the population (DHS 2013) (males 87 034, females 89 529 = 176 574):
  
  Section::::Other demographic statistics.
  
  The following demographic statistics of Nigeria in 2019 are from the World Population Review.
  
  BULLET::::- One birth every 4 seconds
  
  BULLET::::- One death every 14 seconds
   BULLET::::- Ilorin
  
  BULLET::::- Jalingo
  
  BULLET::::- Jimeta
  
  BULLET::::- Jos
  
  BULLET::::- Kabba
  
  BULLET::::- Kaduna
  
  BULLET::::- Kano
  
  BULLET::::- Katsina
  
  BULLET::::- Karu
  
  BULLET::::- Kumariya
  
  BULLET::::- Lafia
  
  BULLET::::- Lagos
  
  BULLET::::- Lekki
  
  BULLET::::- Lokoja
  
  BULLET::::- Maiduguri
  
  BULLET::::- Makurdi
  
  BULLET::::- Minna
  
  BULLET::::- Nnewi
  
  BULLET::::- Nsukka
  
  BULLET::::- Offa
  
  BULLET::::- Ogbomoso
  
  BULLET::::- Onitsha
  
  BULLET::::- Okene
  
  BULLET::::- Ogaminana
  
  BULLET::::- Omu-Aran
  
  BULLET::::- Ondo City
  
  BULLET::::- Oron
  
  BULLET::::- Oshogbo
  
  BULLET::::- Owerri
  
  BULLET::::- Owo
  
  BULLET::::- Orlu
  
  BULLET::::- Oyo
  
  BULLET::::- Port Harcourt
  
  BULLET::::- Potiskum
  
  BULLET::::- Sokoto
  
  BULLET::::- Suleja
  
  BULLET::::- Umuahia
  
  BULLET::::- Uyo
  
  BULLET::::- Warri
  
  BULLET::::- Wukari
  
  BULLET::::- Yenagoa
  
  BULLET::::- Yola
  
  BULLET::::- Zaria
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- List of Nigerian cities by population
  
  Section::::Further reading.
   Africa's largest source countries. The United States was the destination for 59 percent of Nigeria's highly skilled immigrants along with 47 percent of those from Ghana and 29 percent from Kenya.
   Contraceptive use is a common issue for teens in Nigeria and there are no services to support this. Contraceptives are an important resource in a community where abortion and high fertility is an issue.
   A Council of Europe report gives a figure of 100,000 Nigerians in the UK but suggests that this is likely to be an underestimate since it does not include irregular migrants or children born outside of Nigeria. Similarly, Nigerians with citizenship of another EU member state who then relocated to the UK are not necessarily included in this estimate. The report suggests to multiply the figure by between 3 and 8 to reflect the size of the Nigerian community in the UK.
  
  Section::::Population.:Distribution.
   The rate of pregnancy, as well as the ages at which it occurs, differ by country and region. It is influenced by a number of factors, such as cultural, social and religious norms; access to contraception; and rates of education. The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2013 was estimated to be highest in Niger (7.03 children/woman) and lowest in Singapore (0.79 children/woman).
   BULLET::::- One net migrant every 9 minutes
  
  BULLET::::- Net gain of one person every 6 seconds
  
  The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
  
  Section::::Other demographic statistics.:Population distribution.
  
  Nigeria is the Africa's most populous country. Significant population clusters are scattered throughout the country, with the highest density areas being in the south and southwest.
  
  Section::::Other demographic statistics.:Net migration rate.
  
  -0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 106th
  
  -0.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2013 est.)
  
  Section::::Other demographic statistics.:HIV/AIDS.
  
  adult prevalence rate
  
  2.8% (2017 est.)
  
  people living with HIV/AIDS
  
  br2.6 million (2007 est.)
   Nigerians in Ireland
  
  According to the 2011 census, there were 17,642 resident Nigerians in Ireland, representing a 9.67% change over the 2006 figures of 16,300 Nigerian born people resident in Ireland. They constitute the largest African group in the country.
  
  Section::::Migration.
  
  Section::::Migration.:History.
   Section::::Fertility and family life.
  
  The total fertility rate (TFR) – the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — differs significantly between different regions of the world. In 2016, the highest estimated TFR was in Niger (6.62 children born per woman) and the lowest in Singapore (0.82 children/woman). While most Sub-Saharan African countries have a high TFR, which creates problems due to lack of resources and contributes to overpopulation, most Western countries currently experience a sub replacement fertility rate which may lead to population ageing and population decline.
   The 2008 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey NDHS put Ondo State as having the worst maternal and child health indices in the southwest of Nigeria, with its Maternal Mortality Ratio MMR far above the national average of 545 per 100,000 live births. With the 10th highest Maternal Mortality Ratio MMR in the world and without an efficient and effective national health system, attaining the Millennium Development Goals was a tremendous challenge for Nigeria
   In terms of Nigeria's major ethnic groups, the Hausa ethnic group (predominant in the north) was found to be 95% Muslim and 5% Christian, the Yoruba tribe (predominant in the west) was 55% Muslim, 35% Christian and 10% adherents of other religions, while the Igbos (predominant in the east) and the Ijaw (south) were 98% Christian, with 2% practising traditional religions. The middle belt of Nigeria contains the largest number of minority ethnic groups in Nigeria, who were found to be mostly Christians and members of traditional religions, with a small proportion of Muslims.
   The region of Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest birth rate in the world. As of 2016, Niger, Mali, Uganda, Zambia, and Burundi have the highest birth rates in the world. This is part of the fertility-income paradox, as these countries are very poor, and it may seem counter-intuitive for families there to have so many children. The inverse relationship between income and fertility has been termed a "demographic-economic "paradox"" by the notion that greater means would enable the production of more offspring as suggested by the influential Thomas Malthus.
  
  Section::::National birth rates.:Afghanistan.
   BULLET::::- Nigerian diaspora, people from the country of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa. Over 5 million Nigerians live outside the country, as immigrants are known to live in the US (Large Nigerian communities in New York City and Houston, Texas), the UK, throughout the EU and South Africa, among other nations. The Nigeria Diaspora is also one of the most organized Diasporas with an umbrella organization, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO America, NIDO Asia, NIDO Africa and NIDO Europe) represented with chapters in most countries and continents of the world. The organisation also have a Worldwide governing body NIDO Worldwide comprising stakeholders from the continental executives.
  