NIGE'RIA, or NIGER TERRITORIES. A British.. colonial possession in Africa, organized in 1900. It occupies the territory between the Military Territories of French Sudan, Lake Chad, the th•rinan possession of Namerun. the Gulf of (;ninea. the British colony of Lagos, and the French possession if Dahomey I Map: Africa, E 4). It is divided into Northern and South ern Nigeria. Northern Nigeria comprises a large portion of the Fulah or Sokoto Empire, with its subordinate States of Nupe, florin. Muri, Gamin. Kano, Katsena, Banehi, a por tion of Adamawa, Donga. Takum, and %aria, besides a part of the Kingdom of Thumt, and of the pagan confederation of Borgu. Southern Nigeria consists of what was formerly known as the Niger Coast Protectorate, supple mented by the Protectorate of Lagos and con siderable acquisitions along the Cross River in the southeast. No trustworthy figures for the area of the region and for the population are available. Current estimates of the area range from 400.000 to 500,000 square miles; of the population, from 25.000,000 to 40,000,000.
The physieal features of the region are as yet slightly known. The country along the gulf is, as far as •10 miles inland, swampy. and in teo'sected by the numerous arms of the Niger and a multitude of other streams interlacing each other and lined with mangrove trees. The climate of that district is characterized by hu midity and unhealthfulness. The portion north of the coast region, as far as the eonfluenee of the Benue with the Niger, is an undulating forest country, while that north of the Niger is mostly hilly aml partly covered with thin forests. The north partakes of the character of the Sahara. The climate of the interior appears to be more healthful.
Agrieulture is pursue.] mostly along the Benue 'iver and in the plains of the interior. Cotton :111.1 tinny cereals are raked to some extent, but the articles of food among the natives are kinanas and yams. The oil tree is found in abundance and the forest region is full of rubber trees and calliable woods. In its pres 1.11t state of devehyment the eonntry produce; chiefly palm oil and kernels export. Some ivory. indigo, and rubber are also brought to the southern ports from the interior. The principal means of eommunication are the Niger, the Benue, and a number of smaller rivers. The principal seaports are Akassa, Old and New Calabar, and New Benin. The imports and ex ports for 1900-01 amounted to $5,S42,490 and 85,679,135 respectively.
At the head of the administration of Nigeria are two high commissioners, assisted by resi dents. There are a supreme court, at Asaba, and a number of resident courts. The revenue is derived principally from customs duties, which arc collected at the ports of Lagos and Southern Nigeria. and distributed among these two gov
ernments and that of Northern Nigeria. In 1900-01 the revenue and expenditure amounted to 81,855,392 and $1,481,176 respectively. The control of the British Government thus far ex tends only to a small proportion of the ter ritory along the coast. The prerogatives of the Sultan of Sokoto are still recognized in a large measure.
The inhabitants of the coast region are pure negroes in a very low state of civilization. The inhabitants of the interior are also of negro descent, intermixed with some of the races of Northern Africa. They show some traces of Moorish influence. The religion is Mohammedan ism with fetishism. The most advanced and intelligent of the population are the Hausas. (See HAUSA STATES.) British settlements and trading stations were established along the Gulf of Guinea in the re gion of the Niger at a very early period, but these were only private enterprises without any political powers or aims. It was only with the establish ment of the United African Company, reorgan ized into the National African Company by Sir George Goldie in 1S82, that the movement look ing toward the future acquisition of Nigeria by Great Britain was started. After having concluded political treaties with the native rulers the company obtained a royal charter in ISSG, and its name was changed to the Royal Niger Company. The boundaries were fixed by treaties with Germany in 1885, 188G, and 1893, and with France in 1889, 1890, and 189S.
In 1S84 and 1887 the territory of Nigeria was declared a British protectorate, and the sea board region was organized into the Oil Rivers Protectorate, and was put under the authority of a royal commissioner in 1891, the company having no jurisdiction in that part of the coun try. The name of the Oil River Protectorate was soon changed to Niger Coast Protectorate, and its territory was augmented by the addition of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, and further extensions along the Cross River in the south east. On January 1, 1900, the company sur rendered its charter and the whole territory passed under the British control.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Lucas, Historical geography Bibliography. Lucas, Historical geography of the British, Colonies, vol. iii. (Oxford, 1,894) ; Keltie, The Partition. of Africa (241 ed., Lon don, 1895) ; Robinson. Ilausraand: Eifteen Hun dred Biles Through. Central Soudan (ib., 15961; Mi?ekler-Ferryman, Imperial Africa, vol.
: Hon rst, The Exploration of the N iger (trans., ib., 1895) ; Blindloss, In the .Viger Coun try (ib., MS) : Johnston, The Coloni::ation of Africa (Cambridge, 1599) : Robinson, N'igeria; Our Latest Protectorate (London, 1900) ; nick ler-Ferryman. British Vigeria (ib., 1902).