Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Marsh and I'm here today to teach you all about the population of Nigeria.

So grab everything that you need for today's lesson and let's get going.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain Nigeria's population structure and factors influencing population growth and distribution.

There are four key terms for today's lesson, and those are birth rate, death rate, population density and population distribution.

Birth rate refers to the number of live births per 1000 people per year.

Death rate refers to the number of deaths per 1000 people per year.

Population density refers to the number of people living in a defined area, for example, 300 people per kilometre squared.

And finally, population distribution refers to how people are spread out across a geographic area.

There are two learning cycles for today's lesson.

We're gonna start with the first learning cycle, which is all about Nigeria's population structure.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa.

Around 228 million people live there, and that's more than three times the population of the UK.

So you really get a sense of the scale of the number of people that live there from that statistic.

Nigeria's population has grown rapidly as this graph is does a great job in actually showing.

If we look back to 1950, you can see that the population of Nigeria was below 50 million, roughly 40 to 45 million.

Compare that to today and we have escalated up to around 220, 230 million people.

This line graph then is showing how Nigeria's population has changed rapidly over time.

Nigeria's population has increased by more than 500% since 1950.

There are two main reasons for this population growth.

One reason is the high birth rate and the second reason is falling death rates.

Birth rate is a measure of the number of live births in a country in a given time.

Now the line graph on the screen in front of you is showing three very important pieces of data.

The first line at the top of the graph is showing Nigeria's birth rate.

The second line, the one which is blue, is showing the world average birth rate, finally the UK at the bottom there is showing UK's birth rate.

So what we can see is that Nigeria's birth rate is certainly decreasing from 1950 up to current day, but it is still much higher than in many other countries.

For example, the United Kingdom, which we can see is much, much lower than in Nigeria.

What about life expectancy and the death rate in Nigeria? How have they changed since 1960? Well, improved living conditions, education and healthcare mean that life expectancy in Nigeria has increased drastically.

Look at that before 1970, average life expectancy in Nigeria was below 40.

Now compare that to 2020 and we're looking at an average life expectancy of approaching 60.

It is a phenomenal increase.

Death rate is a measure of the number of deaths per 1000 people each year, and you can see how those numbers have been tumbling each and every single decade.

So it is an impressive show of progress in terms of life expectancy as well as death rate.

It speaks volumes about the improvements in Nigeria in terms of their healthcare as well as education.

Nigeria's child mortality rate has also decreased.

This means that more children are surviving into adulthood and are able to have children of their own.

This graph is showing the percentage of newborns who died before reaching the age of five.

And look at that drop in 1962, it was around 32%.

Compare it to today, and it is down at around 12%.

It is a phenomenal decrease and once again speaks volumes about Nigeria's development between those years.

So a quick learning check.

It says, what are the two main reasons for the rapid growth in Nigeria's population? What you need to do then is pause the video here, read through those four options and select what you think are the two correct answers.

And the two correct answers are A, high birth rate and B, falling death rates.

Really well done if you're able to select A and B is the correct answers.

So a population pyramid, which you can see on the screen in front of you is a type of graph that is showing both the age and sex distribution of a population.

This is a population pyramid for Nigeria.

So let's try and break down what a population pyramid and how it works.

So on the Y axis then we can see those different age groups, for example, zero to four, five to nine, 10 to 14 years old.

The x-axis then is showing population in terms of percentage, how much each of those age groups accounts for in terms of percentage of the population.

Population is also divided into gender groups, male on the left in terms of the blue colour and female on the right with that pinky red colour as well.

So a quick learning check.

It says, what is represented on the vertical Y axis of a population pyramid? What I'd like you to do then is pause the video here, read through those three options and then select what you think is the correct answer.

And the correct answer was A, age groups, really well done if you're able to select A is the correct answer.

The population pyramid of Nigeria has a very wide base and this indicates then that the birth rate of a country is very high.

There are many young people in that country and therefore the birth rate must be very high.

In Nigeria, the birth rate is approximately 33 per 1000 people.

Nigeria has a young population, as I said before, more than 60% of the country's people are actually aged under 25 years old.

So it's a significant proportion of Nigeria's population being under the age of 25.

The median age in Nigeria is just 19.

3 years old.

The pyramid is short, which indicates then a low life expectancy.

People are not living into very old age and the life expectancy of Nigeria is just 54 years on average.

And the pyramid has a very narrow top.

A very small percentage of Nigeria's population are living past the age of 55.

As the population pyramid in front of you is actually showing.

So time now for a learning check.

So it's true or false, so large percentage of Nigeria's population are young.

What I need you to do then is pause the video here whilst you attempt this learning check.

And the correct answer was true.

Now, once again, I'd like you to pause the video here whilst to consider as to why this statement then is true.

And the reason it's true is because well the population pyramid for Nigeria has a wide base and a narrow top, this indicates that it has a high birth rate and a high proportion of young people.

Really well done if you're able to identify those two correct answers.

On now to our three practise tasks for our first learning cycle.

The first one says, what is the name of this chart? The second one says to complete the missing labels, and the third one says to write description of the population structure of Nigeria using the pyramid.

So what I'd like you to do then is pause the video here whilst you attempt these three practise tasks.

Best of luck.

In terms of feedback then, what is the name of this type of chart? Well, it is called a population pyramid.

On the Y axis then we needed to say that it was age groups.

Then we have gender for male and female.

And then finally along the x axis along the bottom we can see the percentage of people or percentage of population I should say, as the label for the x axis.

For the third question here is an example answer which you may have included yourself.

It says that this population pyramid shows Nigeria's population structure.

It has a wide base, which tells us that a large percentage of Nigeria's population are young and indicates a high birth rate.

More than 60% of people are under 25 years old and the median age, about 19 years old.

The short height and the narrow top tells us that life expectancy in Nigeria is low and there is a low percentage of elderly people.

So really well done if you're able to include anything like that in your own answer.

We're on now to our second and final learning cycle.

And this is all about Nigeria's population distribution.

Population density is the number of people living per unit of area of a country or location.

The unit of area that we generally use is kilometres squared.

Now, as Izzy says, some parts of the world have a higher population density than others, and the map in front of you does a great job in actually illustrating that point.

Now, the darker the colour, the more people that live there, the higher the population density.

So we can begin to map and understand where people are living and where people are not living.

For example, in the Indian subcontinent or in the eastern part of Asia, we can see that dense red colour indicating a dense population.

Many people live in there, whereas parts of North Africa and indeed parts of the Sahara Desert, we can see that light colour which is indicating sparse population.

So as a result then we can see where people are living and where people are not living.

Let's have a look a little bit more at Nigeria in particular.

Nigeria is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa.

The average population density in Nigeria is up at 245 people per kilometre squared.

And that then is indicated by that darker shade of red colour, again, indicating a dense population.

The average population density in Namibia by contrast, is less than four people per kilometre squared.

So we're really again, beginning to get a sense of just how densely populated Nigeria is as a whole.

Now with that population density data, we can then map that to understand the distribution of where people are living and where people are not living.

And population distribution refers to how people are spread across an area.

Let's now look at that map on the right hand side where you can see with the darker the colour, the green, the more people that live there, whilst that yellowy green colour is where fewer people are living.

So as a result, then we can see that in the south of the country near the ocean, we see a large number of people there.

It's densely populated.

We see other urban centres as well, or population centres where people are living further towards the north of the map, around these areas then, we see those yellowy green areas where people are not living, but generally across the country we can see that it is rather densely populated.

Nigeria's population though is not evenly distributed across the country.

As I said before, there are some places which have more people and some places which have less people.

So I've got a quick question for you.

It says, why do you think some parts of Nigeria are more densely populated than others? You may like to pause the video here whilst you consider your own answer to that question or perhaps even better, discuss it with someone near you.

So a quick learning check, it says, what is population density? What I'd like you to do then is pause the video here whilst you read through those three options and then consider and then select your answer.

And the correct answer was C.

It's where we take the total number of people, so the total population, and divide it by the total land area, that thereby gives us our number of people per kilometre squared.

And this refers to population density.

Really well done if you're able to select C as the correct answer.

So a variety of physical and human factors certainly affect the population distribution of a country or place.

Let's start by looking at the physical factors, those natural factors.

So these can include things such as climate, the terrain, the natural resources and finally the soil fertility.

In terms of human factors then, we need to think more in terms of infrastructure, job opportunities, industry as well as services.

Let's start by looking at those physical factors such as the climate, natural resources and soil fertility and how they affect population distribution.

'cause for example, in the northeastern part of Nigeria, it has a real hot desert climate and as a result, it makes it very difficult for people to live there, grow crops and keep animals.

And this is due to the dry and infertile soil as well as the fewer natural resources that are found there.

For example, access to water as well as wood.

Urban areas are more densely populated whilst rural areas are more sparsely populated.

So in other words, urban areas have more people living there.

Whilst rural areas, as we can see on the image in front of you, are much more sparsely populated, less people are living there.

The share of Nigeria's population living in urban areas is slowly, slowly increasing.

So a quick learning check, it says which of the following physical factors might lead to an area becoming more sparsely populated? I need you to select two answers.

So what I'd like you to do then is pause the video here, read through the four options, and then select the two answers that you think are correct.

The two correct answers you were looking for were B, a harsh climate, and C infertile soil.

Really, really well done if you're able to select B and C as the correct answers.

This graph that in front of you is showing how the share of people living in urban and rural areas has changed over time in Nigeria.

That red line is the proportion of people living in rural areas, whilst the blue line shows us the proportion of people living in urban areas, and you can see that in around 2020, they crossed and for the first time in Nigeria's history, there were more people living in urban areas, so towns and cities, than they were living in rural areas because between 1960 and 2023, the percentage of people living in urban areas has increased drastically.

Meanwhile, between 1960 and 2023, the percentage of people living in rural areas has decreased.

So there has been this swing, this switch between people living in rural areas in Nigeria towards people now living in those urban areas.

With this growth in Nigeria's urban population, there are several large and fast growing cities with high population densities occurring.

And these include Kano, Abuja, Ibadan, Lagos, which is the capital city, Benin city, as well as Port Harcourt.

Port Harcourt is a densely populated city in southern Nigeria.

We can see that on the map in front of you.

It is located on the Niger Delta, an area of Nigeria that is actually really rich in oil deposits.

It's found on the banks of the Bonny River, which is again close to Nigeria's coastline in the Gulf of Guinea.

What factors do you think might actually encourage people to go live in Port Harcourt? You may like to pause the video here whilst you consider your own answer to that question, or perhaps even better, discuss it with someone near you.

So what did you come up with? Well, Port Harcourt is a major industrial centre in Nigeria.

It's an important hub for Nigeria's oil and gas industry, and many products are actually manufactured here, including steel and aluminium products, paints, plastics and cement.

The city has excellent transport links and there's a large port from which products such as palm oil, coal, tin and petroleum are exported all around the world.

All those different industries that can be found in Port Harcourt create many, many different types of job opportunities for people.

And as a result, many people have moved to the city to try and find that employment.

Development and infrastructure and services such as housing, education and healthcare have also encouraged people to move to the city in search of better living conditions and a better quality of life.

Time now for a quick learning check and it says which of the following human factors would encourage a dense population, select two answers.

So what I need you to do then is pause the video here whilst you read through the four options and then select the two answers that you think are correct.

And the two correct answers were B, good transport links and C, high level of industry.

Really, really well done if you're able to select those two as the correct answer.

We're on now to our two final practise tasks for our final learning cycle, and the first one says, use the table to categorise these factors into sparsely populated and densely populated.

So those factors are hot desert climate, lack of jobs, good transport links, plentiful supplies of natural resources, poor quality education and healthcare, and finally, fertile soil.

The second question says, explain some of the factors that contribute to the high population density in Port Harcourt.

So please then pause the video here whilst you attempt those two practise tasks.

Best of luck.

in terms of feedback then.

So your answer may have included something like this, in terms of sparsely populated and the factors which go into that category then are the hot desert climate, the lack of jobs, as well as the poor quality education and healthcare.

What though leads to a densely populated area? Well, good transport links, plentiful supplies of natural resources, as well as fertile soil.

And the second question then, your answer may have included something like this, Port Harcourt is one of Nigeria's large and fast growing cities.

Different factors contribute to its high population density.

Porter is located in the Niger Delta, an area of Nigeria that is rich in oil deposits.

It is an important hub for Nigeria's oil and gas industry and many products are manufactured here.

These industries create lots of job opportunities.

Port Harcourt also has good transport links.

It is situated near the coast and has a major port from which products are exported around the world.

Development and infrastructure and services such as education and healthcare have encouraged people to move to the city in search of better living conditions.

So really, really well done if you're able to include anything like that in your own answer.

We're on now to our learning summary and what do you need to know from today's lesson? Well, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa.

Population is though unevenly distributed across the country.

High birth rates and falling death rates contribute to rapid population growth and different human and physical factors affect population density.

So really well done during today's lesson.

It was a pleasure teaching you and I will see you again on the next lesson.

Goodbye.