Nigeria Maps Available from Ball State University Libraries

Maps in the News:  #BringBackOurGirls:  Nigeria and the Education of Girls

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) and Atlas Collection include extensive cartographic resources that can be used to depict events happening around the world.  Maps can serve as an excellent visual aid for understanding complex issues.

At least 276 girls in the northern town of Chibok, Nigeria were abducted from their school by the Boko Haram group.  Some authorities believe that many of the girls were sent to neighboring Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. 

Nigeria is a main source in the sex trafficking industry.  The map above (click to enlarge) is from the Penguin State of the World Atlas available in the GRMC and Atlas Collection.  The map details some of the routes used in the sex trafficking industry using data from 2012.

Another map from the same atlas shows the percentage of children of the correct age enrolled in primary school.  Nigeria falls into the 50-69% bracket for this statistic. 

The map above from the Penguin Atlas of Women in the World shows that Nigeria has fewer than 49% of its girls enrolled in secondary schools.  And another map shows lower percentages for tertiary education—only 20-39% of girls in Nigeria attend the university.  And only 17% of the professors are women.

Women in Nigeria also face discrimination in property ownership.  According to the map from the Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, there is widespread discrimination against women inheriting, owning, or controlling property, land, and wealth—sometimes supported by civil, religious, or customary laws.

The map of Nigeria published by the Central Intelligence Agency shows the location of the Boko Haram’s stronghold state, Borno, in northeastern Nigeria.  The schoolgirls were abducted from Chibok, which is just southwest of Maiduguri.  This map and the most up-to-date maps of countries around the world are available in the Maps of the World collection of the Libraries’ Digital Media Repository.

For more information about these maps and atlases, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.  The GRMC is open from 7:30 to 4:30 during the summer.