Map of Niger | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

Background


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries: 5,697 km total; Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km, Burkina 628 km, Chad 1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821 km, Nigeria 1,497 km

Coastline: none--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

Natural resources: uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates

Land use: 3% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 7% meadows and pastures; 2% forest and woodland; 88% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: landlocked


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Population: 7,969,309 (July 1990), growth rate 3.6% (1990)

Nationality: noun--Nigerien(s) adjective--Nigerien

Ethnic groups: 56% Hausa; 22% Djerma; 8.5% Fula; 8% Tuareg; 4.3% Beri Beri (Kanouri; 1.2% Arab, Toubou, and Gourmantche; about 4,000 French expatriates

Languages: French (official; Hausa, Djerma

Religions: 80% Muslim, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 52 births/1000 population (1990)

Death rate: 17 deaths/1000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1990)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: recurrent drought and desertification severely affecting marginal agricultural activities; overgrazing; soil erosion

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 131 deaths/1000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 53 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 7.4 children born/woman (1990)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 13.9%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Niger

Government type: republic; presidential system in which military officers hold key offices

Capital: Niamey

Administrative divisions: 7 departments (departements, singular--departement; Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey, Tahoua, Zinder

Dependent areas

Independence: 3 August 1960 (from France)

National holiday: Republic Day, 18 December (1958)

Constitution: adopted NA December 1989 after 15 years of military rule

Legal system: based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal adult at age 18

Executive branch: Chief of State--President Brig. Gen. Ali SAIBOU (since 14 November 1987; Head of Government--Prime Minister ALIOU MAHAMIDA (since 2 March 1990)

Legislative branch: Army, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie, paramilitary Republican Guard, paramilitary Presidential Guard, paramilitary National Police

Judicial branch: State Court (Cour d'Etat), Court of Appeal (Cour d'Apel)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, APC, CCC, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, Lake Chad Basin Commission, Niger River Commission, NAM, OAU, OCAM, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Moumouni Adamou DJERMAKOYE; Chancery at 2,204 R Street NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 483-4,224 through 4,227; US--Ambassador Carl C. CUNDIFF; Embassy at Avenue des Ambassadeurs, Niamey (mailing address is B. P. 11,201, Niamey; telephone p227o 72-26-61 through 64 and 72-26-70

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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: About 90% of the population is engaged in farming and stock rearing, activities which generate almost half of the national income. The economy also depends heavily on exploitation of large uranium deposits. Uranium production grew rapidly in the mid-1970s, but tapered off in the early 1980s, when world prices declined. France is a major customer, while FRG, Japan, and Spain also make regular purchases. The depressed demand for uranium has contributed to an overall sluggishness in the economy, a severe trade imbalance, and a mounting external debt.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: 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

Industries: cement, brick, rice mills, small cotton gins, oilseed presses, slaughterhouses, and a few other small light industries; uranium production began in 1971

Industrial production growth rate: 4.7% (1989 est.)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $254 million; expenditures $510 million, including capital expenditures of $239 million (1988 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $371 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.)
Commodities: uranium 76%, livestock, cowpeas, onions, hides, skins
Partners: NA

Imports: $441 million (c.i.f., 1988 est.)
Commodities: petroleum products, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, electronic equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemical products, cereals, foodstuffs

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $1.8 billion (December 1989 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1--287.99 (January 1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)


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Electricity
Capacity: 102,000 kW capacity; 225 million kWh produced, 30 kWh per capita (1989)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: $20.6 million (1988)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 31 total, 29 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 11 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: Niger river is navigable 300 km from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: Libya claims about 19,400 km² in northern Niger; exact locations of the Chad-Niger-Nigeria and Cameroon-Chad-Nigeria tripoints in Lake Chad have not been determined, so the boundary has not been demarcated and border incidents have resulted; Burkina and Mali are proceeding with boundary demarcation, including the tripoint with Niger

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs