What are the most surreal facts about Nigeria?
- It has the "Twin Capital of the World": 158 twins for every 1000 births.
- Oldest African canoe was found there.
- Walls of Benin is 16,000 km long, almost as long as the Great Wall of China.
Nigeria is a country on the western African coastline. Nigeria has diverse landscapes and climates, from dry to humid equatorial. The Federal Capital Territory, made by a decree in 1976, is where Abuja is located. It is the country's capital. Lagos, which used to be the capital, is still the country's most important commercial and industrial city. There are a lot of natural resources in the country, especially a lot of oil and gas.[1]
However, Nigeria has much more to offer than just its natural resources and commercial abilities.
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Nigeria is a country with an extensive range of cultural practices and languages[edit]
Seven percent (7%) of all the languages spoken on Earth are spoken in Nigeria. There are more languages in Taraba state than in 30 other African countries.
Ngugi Wa Thiongo, a prominent Kenyan author, famously remarked that language is the "soul of a culture," and it stands true in the context of Nigeria. Nigerian languages are the source of proverbs, riddles, stories, and other parts of culture.
Cultural diversity is linked to linguistic diversity. Nigeria has the potential to be one of the preferred destinations in the world for cultural tourism.[2]
The cultural practices include peculiar courtship rituals, three weddings, Omugwo (postnatal care), Nwaboy (vocational training), Sunday rice, etc., that brings the communities together in a uniquely Nigerian way.[3]
The Walls of Benin stretch for a total of 16000 kilometers, making them rival China's Great Wall.[edit]
The Walls of Benin, which were built between 800 and 1400 AD and are now in Edo State, Nigeria, are the world's longest ancient earthworks and probably the world's largest artificial structure. They surrounded 6,500 square kilometers of community land that linked about 500 communities.
It was thought to be twice as long as the Great Wall of China because it was over 16,000 kilometers long. However, in 2012, Chinese surveyors found that the Great Wall is about 21,000 kilometers long.[4]
Igbo-Ora has the highest rate of twin births per woman among all of Nigeria's regions[edit]
Igbo-Ora is a small town in the state of Oyo where the Yoruba tribe resides. Most twins are born into the Yoruba tribe.
It is known as the "Twin Capital of the World" because it has an unusually high rate of twin births—as many as 158 twins for every 1000 births.[5]
Sarki Muhammad Kanta built a massive stone wall that is impossible to break through in Kebbi, Nigeria[edit]
Sarki Muhammad Kanta, the great king of Kebbi, was the only ruler who fought against Songhai, the enormous empire in West Africa at the time. Around 1600 AD, he started the Hausa city-state of Kebbi and ruled it.
He made Surame its capital, a well-planned city that was hard to get into during the war. UNESCO calls Surame "one of the wonders of human history, creativity, and ingenuity" and says it is likely the largest stone-walled building in West Africa.[6]
Nigeria's Yobe state is where the world's third-oldest canoe was found[edit]
The Dufuna canoe is the oldest boat ever found in Africa. It was found in May 1987 by a Fulani Herdsman in Dufuna village, Yobe state, while digging a well. Radiocarbon tests done in the labs of well-known universities in Europe and the United States show that the canoe is older than 8,000 years. This makes it the oldest in Africa and third in the world.
The canoe has completely changed what people thought they knew about Africa's history and their marine navigation abilities.[7]
Nigeria has a biologically diverse flora and fauna[edit]
The small reddish-brown Jos Plateau Indigobird is only found in Plateau state, Nigeria. It is uniquely native to Nigeria.
The Anambra waxbill is a small, colorful bird found only in the southern part of Nigeria.
The Niger Delta is the second-largest delta on Earth. It is also home to sixty percent of Nigeria's mangrove forests and has the world's highest number of single-species fish families. You should also know that Nigeria has the most extensive mangrove forests in Africa and the third largest mangrove forests in the world.
Nigeria has approximately 4,715 types of plants and more than 550 types of birds and mammals that breed there. This makes it one of the most ecologically diverse places on the planet.[8]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Nigeria has great economic potential and abundant resources". Oxford Business Group. 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
- ↑ "Linguistic Diversity In Nigeria - 1354 Words | Internet Public Library". www.ipl.org. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
- ↑ "5 Traditions Only Nigerians Will Understand". Eko Pearl Towers. 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
- ↑ "African Marvels: The Walls of Benin | This is Africa". thisisafrica.me. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
- ↑ Press, The Associated (2022-10-14). "This Nigerian city has a high birth rate of twins — and no one is sure why". NPR. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
- ↑ "Surame Cultural Landscape | For UNESCO World Heritage Travellers". www.worldheritagesite.org. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
- ↑ "History | asia-canoe". www.asiacanoeconfederation.com. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
- ↑ "Nigeria". AZ Animals. Retrieved 2022-11-04.