A look at Nigeria

A look at Nigeria

A look at Nigeria, which has been hit by a bloody wave of Islamic militant attacks on police.

GEOGRAPHY: Twice the size of California, with an area of nearly 360,000 square miles. It is set on the Gulf of Guinea on the West African coast and borders Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin. Terrain ranges from coastal swamps and tropical forests to grasslands and semi-deserts.

PEOPLE: Population 140 million, the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 250 ethnic groups. About 40 percent are Christian, 50 percent Muslim and the rest adherents of indigenous beliefs. Twelve northern states practice Islamic law.

HISTORY: Gained independence from Britain in 1960. In 1967, the oil-rich eastern region tried to gain independence in a 30-month civil war that left more than 1 million dead. Peace and an oil boom in the 1970s brought in billions of dollars, but corruption undermined prosperity. After decades of coups and military rule, the country held democratic elections in 1999.

OIL VIOLENCE: Militant groups, including the main Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, have launched repeated attacks and kidnappings in recent years against foreign oil companies and oil infrastructure in the southern Niger Delta region. The militants claim they are fighting for a greater share of oil wealth in a region that has remained desperately poor, despite lucrative oil resources that have made Nigeria one of Africa’s largest crude exporters.

SECTARIAN VIOLENCE: More than 10,000 Nigerians have died in sectarian violence since the return to civilian rule in 1999, and the implementation of Shariah law in 12 northern states. Mass violence, often pitting Christians versus Muslims, has erupted sporadically, killing hundreds at a time in spasms that typically last a few days.

MUSLIM MILITANTS: The radical sect behind the latest violence is known by several different names, including Al-Sunna wal Jamma, or “Followers of Mohammed’s Teachings” in Arabic, and “Boko Haram,” which means “Western education is sin” in the local Hausa dialect. Others call the militants Taliban, though the group has no known links to the insurgent movement in Afghanistan. The militants have said they want to see traditional government replaced by a religious state based on a strict interpretation of Shariah law and the Quran. They first gained notoriety with a similar wave of assaults on New Year’s Eve 2003. More attacks followed in late 2004.