| Background: |
Not until 1993,
33 years after independence from France, did Niger hold its
first free and open elections. A 1995 peace accord ended a
five-year Tuareg insurgency in the north. Coups in 1996 and
1999 were followed by the creation of a National
Reconciliation Council that effected a transition to
civilian rule in December 1999. |
| Location: |
Western Africa,
southeast of Algeria |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
16 00 N, 8 00 E |
| Area: |
total:
1.267 million sq km
land: 1,266,700 sq km
water: 300 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly less
than twice the size of Texas |
| Land
boundaries: |
total:
5,697 km
border countries: Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km,
Burkina Faso 628 km, Chad 1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821
km, Nigeria 1,497 km |
| Coastline: |
0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime
claims: |
none (landlocked) |
| Climate: |
desert; mostly
hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south |
| Terrain: |
predominately
desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in
south; hills in north |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point:
Niger River 200 m
highest point: Mont Greboun 1,944 m |
| Natural
resources: |
uranium, coal,
iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 7%
forests and woodland: 2%
other: 88% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
660 sq km (1993
est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
recurring
droughts |
| Environment
- current issues: |
overgrazing; soil
erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife
populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, and
lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Law of the Sea |
| Geography
- note: |
landlocked |
| Population: |
10,355,156 (July
2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
47.97% (male 2,528,484; female 2,439,051)
15-64 years: 49.75% (male 2,518,400; female
2,633,677)
65 years and over: 2.28% (male 123,589; female
111,955) (2001 est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
2.72% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
50.68
births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
22.71
deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
-0.73 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.1 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
123.57
deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 41.59 years
male: 41.74 years
female: 41.44 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
7.08 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
1.35% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
64,000 (1999
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
6,500 (1999 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun:
Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Hausa 56%, Djerma
22%, Fula 8.5%, Tuareg 8%, Beri Beri (Kanouri) 4.3%, Arab,
Toubou, and Gourmantche 1.2%, about 1,200 French expatriates |
| Religions: |
Muslim 80%,
remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians |
| Languages: |
French
(official), Hausa, Djerma |
| Literacy: |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 13.6%
male: 20.9%
female: 6.6% (1995 est.) |
| Country
name: |
conventional
long form: Republic of Niger
conventional short form: Niger
local long form: Republique du Niger
local short form: Niger |
| Government
type: |
republic |
| Administrative
divisions: |
7 departments (departements,
singular - departement), and 1 capital district* (capitale
district); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua,
Tillaberi, Zinder |
| Independence: |
3 August 1958
(from France) |
| National
holiday: |
Republic Day, 18
December (1958) |
| Constitution: |
the constitution
of January 1993 was revised by national referendum on 12 May
1996 and again by referendum on 18 July 1999 |
| Legal
system: |
based on French
civil law system and customary law; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Suffrage: |
18 years of age;
universal |
| Executive
branch: |
chief of
state: President Mamadou TANDJA (since 22 December
1999); note - the president is both chief of state and head
of government
head of government: President Mamadou TANDJA
(since 22 December 1999); note - the president is both chief
of state and head of government; Prime Minister Hama AMADOU
(since 31 December 1999) was appointed by the president and
shares some executive responsibilities with the president
note: President Ibrahim BARE was assassinated
on 9 April 1999; subsequent elections were held under the
nine-month provisional government of Major Daouda Mallam
WANKE
cabinet: 23-member cabinet appointed by
President TANDJA
elections: president elected by popular vote
for a five-year term; last held 24 November 1999 (next to be
held NA 2004)
election results: Mamadou TANDJA elected
president; percent of vote - Mamadou TANDJA 59.9%, Mahamadou
ISSOUFOU 40.1% |
| Legislative
branch: |
unicameral
National Assembly (83 seats, members elected by popular vote
for five-year terms)
elections: last held 24 November 1999 (next to
be held NA 2004)
election results: percent of vote by party -
NA%; seats by party - MNSD-Nassara 38, CDS-Rahama 17,
PNDS-Tarayya 16, RDP-Jama'a 8, ANDPS-Zaman Lahiya 4 |
| Judicial
branch: |
State Court or
Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
Democratic Rally
of the People-Jama'a or RDP-Jama'a [Hamid ALGABID];
Democratic and Social Convention-Rahama or CDS-Rahama [Mahamane
OUSMANE]; National Movement for a Developing Society-Nassara
or MNSD-Nassara [Mamadou TANDJA, chairman]; Nigerien
Alliance for Democracy and Social Progress-Zaman Lahiya or
ANDPS-Zaman Lahiya [Moumouni Adamou DJERMAKOYE]; Nigerien
Party for Democracy and Socialism-Tarayya or PNDS-Tarayya [Mahamadou
ISSOUFOU]; Union of Democratic Patriots and Progressives-Chamoua
or UPDP-Chamoua [Professor Andre' SALIFOU, chairman] |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
| International
organization participation: |
ACCT, ACP, AfDB,
CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Joseph DIATTA
chancery: 2204 R Street NW, Washington, DC
20008
telephone: [1] (202) 483-4224 through 4227 |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Charles O. CECIL
embassy: Rue Des Ambassades, Niamey
mailing address: B. P. 11201, Niamey
telephone: [227] 72 26 61 through 72 26 64
FAX: [227] 73 31 67 |
| Flag
description: |
three equal
horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and green with a
small orange disk (representing the sun) centered in the
white band; similar to the flag of India, which has a blue
spoked wheel centered in the white band |
| Economy
- overview: |
Niger is a poor,
landlocked Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy centers on
subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, reexport trade,
and increasingly less on uranium, because of declining world
demand. The 50% devaluation of the West African franc in
January 1994 boosted exports of livestock, cowpeas, onions,
and the products of Niger's small cotton industry. The
government relies on bilateral and multilateral aid - which
was suspended following the April 1999 coup d'etat - for
operating expenses and public investment. In 2000, the World
Bank approved a structural adjustment loan of $35 million to
help support fiscal reforms. However, reforms could prove
difficult given the government's bleak financial situation. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $10 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
3.5% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $1,000 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
40%
industry: 18%
services: 42% (1998) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
63% (1993 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
0.8%
highest 10%: 35.4% (1995) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
2.8% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
70,000 receive
regular wages or salaries |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
agriculture 90%,
industry and commerce 6%, government 4% |
| Budget: |
revenues:
$377 million, including $146 million from foreign sources
expenditures: $377 million, including capital
expenditures of $105 million (1999 est.) |
| Industries: |
uranium mining,
cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals,
slaughterhouses |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
NA% |
| Electricity
- production: |
200 million kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel:
100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
401 million kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
0 kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
215 million kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
cowpeas, cotton,
peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle,
sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry |
| Exports: |
$385 million
(f.o.b., 1999) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
uranium ore 65%,
livestock products, cowpeas, onions (1998 est.) |
| Exports
- partners: |
France 45%,
Nigeria 27%, UK 11% (1999) |
| Imports: |
$317 million
(f.o.b., 1999) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
consumer goods,
primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum,
cereals |
| Imports
- partners: |
France 22%, Cote
d'Ivoire 15%, Nigeria 8%, US 3% (1999) |
| Debt
- external: |
$1.3 billion
(1999 est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$341 million
(1997)
note: the IMF approved a $73 million poverty
reduction and growth facility for Niger in 2000 and
announced $115 million in debt relief under the Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative |
| Currency: |
Communaute
Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible
authority is the Central Bank of the West African States |
| Exchange
rates: |
Communaute
Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 699.21
(January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998),
583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999,
the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per
euro |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
16,000 (1997) |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
13,000 (1995) |
| Telephone
system: |
general
assessment: small system of wire, radio telephone
communications, and microwave radio relay links concentrated
in the southwestern area of Niger
domestic: wire, radiotelephone communications,
and microwave radio relay; domestic satellite system with 3
earth stations and 1 planned
international: satellite earth stations - 2
Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 5, FM 5,
shortwave 4 (1998) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
10 (plus seven
low-power repeaters) (1997) |
| Televisions: |
125,000 (1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.ne |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
1 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
3,000 (2000) |
| Highways: |
total:
10,100 km
paved: 798 km
unpaved: 9,302 km (1996) |
| Waterways: |
300 km
note: the Niger River is navigable from Niamey
to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through
March |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total:
9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
18
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 15
under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
| Military
branches: |
Army, Air Force,
National Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Police |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
18 years of age |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age
15-49: 2,202,608 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age
15-49: 1,190,787 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males:
108,993 (2001 est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$20 million
(FY96) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.1% (FY96) |
| Disputes
- international: |
Libya claims
about 19,400 sq km in northern Niger; delimitation of
international boundaries in the vicinity of Lake Chad, the
lack of which led to border incidents in the past, has been
completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger,
and Nigeria |
|
