NIGER
Geography People Government Economy Transportation Communications Defense Forces
NIGER
@Niger:Geography
Location: Western Africa, southeast of Algeria
Map references: Africa
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NIGER - MAJOR CITIES
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Latitude, Internat'l Time
Population Longitude Phone Code Zone
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NIAMEY 398,000 13.32N, 2.05E 227- GMT+1
Zinder 83,000 13.46N, 8.58E 227- GMT+1
Maradi 65,000 13.29N, 7.10E 227- GMT+1
Tahoua 42,000 14.57N, 5.19E 227- GMT+1
Agadez 27,000 17.00N, 7.56E 227- GMT+1
Birni N'Konni 16,000 13.49N, 5.19E 227- GMT+1
Filingue 11,000 14.21N, 3.22E 227- GMT+1
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Area:
total area: 1.267 million sq km
land area: 1,266,700 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land boundaries: total 5,697 km, Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km, Burkina
628 km, Chad 1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821 km, Nigeria 1,497 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none; landlocked
International disputes: Libya claims about 19,400 sq km in northern
Niger; demarcation of international boundaries in Lake Chad, the lack
of which has led to border incidents in the past, is completed and
awaiting ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria; Burkina
and Mali are proceeding with boundary demarcation, including the
tripoint with Niger
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
Natural resources: uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 7%
forest and woodland: 2%
other: 88%
Irrigated land: 320 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation;
desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus,
and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction
natural hazards: recurring droughts
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands;
signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Law of the Sea
Note: landlocked
@Niger:People
Population: 9,280,208 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 49% (female 2,275,338; male 2,275,999)
15-64 years: 49% (female 2,314,857; male 2,188,938)
65 years and over: 2% (female 107,432; male 117,644) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.4% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 54.8 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 20.8 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 109.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 45.07 years
male: 43.42 years
female: 46.77 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 7.35 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien
Ethnic divisions: Hausa 56%, Djerma 22%, Fula 8.5%, Tuareg 8%, Beri
Beri (Kanouri) 4.3%, Arab, Toubou, and Gourmantche 1.2%, about 4,000
French expatriates
Religions: Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians
Languages: French (official), Hausa, Djerma
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1988)
total population: 11%
male: 17%
female: 5%
Labor force: 2.5 million wage earners (1982)
by occupation: agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government
4%
@Niger:Government
Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Niger
conventional short form: Niger
local long form: Republique du Niger
local short form: Niger
Digraph: NG
Type: republic
Capital: Niamey
Administrative divisions: 7 departments (departements, singular -
departement); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey, Tahoua, Zinder
Independence: 3 August 1960 (from France)
National holiday: Republic Day, 18 December (1958)
Constitution: approved by national referendum 16 December 1992;
promulgated January 1993
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 Mahamane OUSMANE (since 16 April 1993);
election last held 17 March 1993 (next to be held NA February 1998)
head of government: Prime Minister Hama AMADOU (since 21 February
1995)
cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president on recommendation of the
prime minister
Legislative branch: unicameral
National Assembly: elected by proportional representation for 5 year
terms; elections last held 12 January 1995 (next to be held NA);
results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (83 total) MNSD-NASSARA
29, CDS 24, PNDS 12, ANDP-Z 9, UDFP 3, UDPS 2, PADN 2, PPN-RDA 1, UPDP
1
Judicial branch: State Court (Cour d'Etat), Court of Appeal (Cour
d'Apel)
Political parties and leaders: National Movement of the Development
Society (MNSD-NASSARA), Mamadou TANDJA, chairman; Democratic and
Social Convention (CDS), Jacoub SANOUSSI; Nigerien Party for Democracy
and Socialism (PNDS), Mahamadou ISSOUFOU; Nigerien Alliance for
Democracy and Progress-Zamanlahia (ANDP-Z), Moumouni Adamou
DJERMAKOYE; Union of Popular Forces for Democracy and Progress-Sawaba
(UDFP), Djibo BAKARY, chairman; Union for Democracy and Social
Progress (UDPS), Akoli DAOUEL; Niger Social Democrat Party (PADN),
Malam Adji WAZIRI; Niger Progressive Party-African Democratic Rally
(PPN-RDA), Dori ABDOULAI, chairman; Union of Patriots, Democrats, and
Progressives (UPDP), Professor Andre SALIFOU, chairman
Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEAO, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ,
G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO,
IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Adamou SEYDOU
chancery: 2204 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 483-4224 through 4227
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador John S. DAVISON
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: 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 one of the world's poorest countries, with GDP
growth lagging behind the rapid growth of population. The economy is
centered on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, and reexport
trade, and increasingly less on uranium, its major export throughout
the 1970s and 1980s. Uranium revenues dropped by almost 50% between
1983 and 1990 with the end of the uranium boom. Terms of trade with
Nigeria, Niger's largest regional trade partner, have improved
dramatically since the 50% devaluation of the African franc in January
1994; this devaluation boosted exports of livestock, peas, onions, and
the products of Niger's small cotton industry. The government relies
on bilateral and multilateral aid for operating expenses and public
investment and is strongly induced to adhere to structural adjustment
programs designed by the IMF and the World Bank.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $4.6 billion (1993
est.)
National product real growth rate: 1.4% (1993 est.)
National product per capita: $550 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget:
revenues: $188 million
expenditures: $400 million, including capital expenditures of $125
million (1993 est.)
Exports: $246 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: uranium ore 67%, livestock products 20%, cowpeas, onions
partners: France 77%, Nigeria 8%, Cote d'Ivoire, Italy
Imports: $286 million (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities: consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles
and parts, petroleum, cereals
partners: France 23%, Cote d'Ivoire, Germany, Italy, Japan
External debt: $1.2 billion (December 1991 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate -2.7% (1992 est.); accounts for 15%
of GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 60,000 kW
production: 200 million kWh
consumption per capita: 42 kWh (1992)
Industries: cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals,
slaughterhouses, and a few other small light industries; uranium
mining began in 1971
Agriculture: accounts for roughly 40% of GDP and 90% of labor force;
cash crops - cowpeas, cotton, peanuts; food crops - millet, sorghum,
cassava, rice; livestock - cattle, sheep, goats; self-sufficient in
food except in drought years
Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $380 million;
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-89), $3.165 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $504 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $61 million
Currency: 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1
- 529.43 (January 1995), 555.20 (1994), 283.16 (1993), 264.69 (1992),
282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990)
note: the official rate is pegged to the French franc, and beginning
12 January 1994, the CFA franc was devalued to CFAF 100 per French
franc from CFAF 50 at which it had been fixed since 1948
Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September
@Niger:Transportation
Railroads: 0 km
Highways:
total: 39,970 km
paved: bituminous 3,170 km
unpaved: gravel, laterite 10,330 km; earth 3,470 km; tracks 23,000 km
Inland waterways: Niger River is navigable 300 km from Niamey to Gaya
on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March
Ports: none
Airports:
total: 29
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1
with paved runways under 914 m: 3
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 1
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 16
@Niger:Communications
Telephone system: 14,260 telephones; small system of wire,
radiocommunications, and radio relay links concentrated in
southwestern area
local: NA
intercity: wire, radiocommunications, and radio relay; 3 domestic
satellite links, with 1 planned
international: 2 INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) earth
stations
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 15, FM 5, shortwave 0
radios: NA
Television:
broadcast stations: 18
televisions: NA
@Niger:Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Republican Guard,
National Police
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 1,908,767; males fit for
military service 1,029,384; males reach military age (18) annually
94,506 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $32 million, 1.3% of
GDP (FY92/93)
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