Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa but exactly how populous is the subject of speculation. The United Nations estimates that the population in 2004 was at 131,530,000, with the population distributed as 48.3% Urban and 51.7% rural and population density at 139 people per square km. National census results in the past few decades have been disputed.

According to the United Nations, Nigeria has been undergoing explosive population growth and one of the highest growth and fertility rates in the world. By their projections, Nigeria will be one of the countries in the world that will account for most of the world's total population increase by 2050. According to current data, one out of every four Africans are Nigerian. Presently, Nigeria is the ninth most populous country in the world, and even conservative estimates conclude that more than 20% of the world's black population lives in Nigeria.

( Population density in Nigeria )

Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups, with varying languages and customs, creating a country of rich ethnic diversity. The largest ethnic groups are the Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, and Tiv.

There are small minorities of Afrikaners, English, Americans, East Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese and refugees and immigrants from other West African nations. These minorities mostly reside in major cities such as Lagos and Abuja, or in the Niger Delta as employees for the major oil companies. A number of Cubans settled Nigeria as political refugees following the Cuban Revolution. A number of them include Afro-Cubans and mixed-raced Cubans.

( Ethno-linguistic map of Nigeria )

There are a total of 250 languages spoken in Nigeria which correspond with the estimated number of ethnic groups in Nigeria. To facilitate cultural and linguistic unity, English was chosen as the official language. The major languages spoken in Nigeria are Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo.

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Nigerians adhere to a variety of religions which tend vary regionally, this situation accentuates regional and ethnic distinctions but has often times been seen as a major source of sectarian conflict amongst the population. All religions represented in Nigeria were practiced in every major city in the 1990s. Islam dominates in the north with some northern states having incorporated Shari'a law amid much controversy. Nigeria also has one of the largest Shi'a populations in Africa.

Protestantism and local syncretic Christianity predominate in Yoruba areas, while Catholicism has a strong historical presence amongst the Igbo and closely-related ethnic groups. Indigenous Beliefs such as Orisha and Voodou are still widely held amongst the Yoruba and other ethnic groups in the southwest of the country. Recently however, such worship has undergone significant decline, as many adherents are being converted to Christianity. Christianity is undergoing a major resurgence in the country, particularly following visits by Pope John Paul II in the 1990s.

Judaism is also present in Nigeria, practiced largely by people of the Igbo ethnic group who have an oral tradition of having originated from certain of the Lost tribes of Israel.