Nigeria

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Nigeria fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇧🇯 Kingdom of Dahomey1726 to 1823

   Oyo's cavalry invades Dahomey, west of the Yoruba lands, in the 1720s and forces it to pay yearly tribute from 1730. Dahomey's king Ghezo stops paying in 1823, as Oyo itself begins to fall apart.

2. Bornu Empire1808 to 1846

   Fulani jihadists sack Ngazargamu, the Bornu capital, in 1808. The scholar Muhammad al-Kanemi rallies Bornu, drives them back and disputes the jihad by letter with Sokoto. His family later replaces the old Sayfawa kings, in 1846.

3. Sokoto Caliphate, Emirate of Ilorin1817 to 1840

   Ilorin, an Oyo town turned Fulani emirate, wrecks the Oyo Empire and pushes into the Yoruba south. Ibadan's victory at Osogbo, around 1840, halts the caliphate's advance toward the coast.

4. 🇬🇧 British Empire1851 to 1903

   Britain bombards Lagos in 1851 and annexes it in 1861. Its Royal Niger Company and army conquer state after state: the Ijebu in 1892, Benin City in 1897, the Aro in 1902, then Kano and Sokoto in 1903. Its rule lasts until 1960.

5. Rabih az-Zubayr1893 to 1900

   A Sudanese warlord, Rabih conquers Bornu in 1893 and rules it from Dikwa. French forces kill him at Kousseri in 1900, and Bornu is then divided between Britain, France and Germany.

6. Republic of Biafra1967 to 1970

   The south east, led by Odumegwu Ojukwu, declares independence as Biafra in May 1967. Federal troops blockade and invade it; famine kills hundreds of thousands of civilians. Biafra surrenders in January 1970.

7. 🇹🇩 Chad1983

   In 1983 Nigerian and Chadian troops fight brief battles over islands in Lake Chad, where the waters are shrinking and the borders of four countries meet.

8. 🇨🇲 Cameroon1994 to 2008

   Both countries claim the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula, and troops clash there in the 1990s. Cameroon takes the case to the International Court of Justice in 1994, which rules for Cameroon in 2002. Nigeria hands Bakassi over in 2008.

9. Boko Haram and ISWAPSince 2009Still open

   A jihadist insurgency rises in Borno state in 2009. Boko Haram kidnaps 276 schoolgirls at Chibok in 2014; a breakaway, Islamic State West Africa Province, forms in 2016. Fighting around Lake Chad has killed tens of thousands and continues.

Today

Nigeria now

In ancient and pre-colonial times, the area of present-day Nigeria was occupied by a variety of ethnic groups with different languages and traditions. These included large Islamic kingdoms such as Borno, Kano, and the Sokoto Caliphate dominating the north, the Benin and Oyo Empires that controlled much of modern western Nigeria, and more decentralized political entities and city states in the south and southeast.

Capital

Abuja

Government

federal presidential republic

Head of government

Bola Tinubu

Languages

English

Area

923,768 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population228 million2023 · 37.3 million in 1950
• Life expectancy54.5 years2023 · 35.5 years in 1950
• GDP per person$5,0702022 · $1,200 in 1950
• Living in cities64%2025 · 10% in 1950
• Literacy70%2024 · 13% in 1950
• Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending0.9% of GDP2025
• War deaths1.7 per 100,0002025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.