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 With a population of about 150 million people, Nigeria is the most populous nation in the African continent. The West African economic powerhouse is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups with varying languages and customs, crafting a nation with rich ethnic and cultural diversity. The most popular among the diverse ethnic groups in Nigeria are Ibo or Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa-Faluni accounting for over 68% of the total population, while the Edo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibo, Ebira Nupe, Tiv and other minority groups account for the remaining percentage. Yoruba people mostly occupy the southern parts on Nigeria. The Ibo or Igbo group stays in the south eastern states of Nigeria. The Hausa-Faluni stays in the northern Nigeria. The largest religion practiced by the Nigerian population is Islam, which constitutes about 50%, and Christian, which constitutes slightly over 48% of the total population, while indigenous religions make up the rest.
The majority of Nigerian Muslims are Sunni (95%), while Christian Nigerians are about evenly split between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Most Nigerians speak more than one language. The country's official language, English, is widely spoken, especially among the urban elite.
However, with the majority of Nigeria's populace in the rural areas, the major languages of communication in the country remain indigenous languages.Apart English – adopted as a first language due to British colonization which ended in 1960 - 521 languages are catalogued as being spoken in Nigeria out of which some are being threatened with extinction. The three major languages are Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa, while Nigerian Pidgin English (Broken English) is also a popular lingua franca, which has at times being adopted on movies from the country’s vibrant film industry popularly known as Nollywood.Nigeria also has a rich literary history, and Nigerians like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka – the first African Nobel Laureate in Literature, John Pepper Clark and Ken Saro Wiwa (executed in 1995 by the military regime), among others are internationally recognized writers and poets from the country. Nigerian cuisine, like West African cuisine in general, is known for its richness and variety. Nigerian feasts are colourful and lavish, while aromatic market and roadside snacks cooked on barbecues or fried in oil are plentiful and varied. The nation’s film and music industries are one of the most vibrant and successful in the African continent. The most common sport admired and followed by a large majority of Nigerian population is football. In 2003, Nigerians were reported to be the happiest people in a scientific survey carried out in 65 nations in 1999–2001..View Gallery 
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