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.

Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N 8 00 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 1.267 million km²
Land: 1,266,700 km²
Water: 300 km²
Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries
Total: 5,697 km
Border countries: (7) 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
Extremes 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 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: recurring droughts

Geography
Note: landlocked

Population: 10,355,156 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 2.72% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 63% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Nigerien
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 1200 French expatriates

Languages: French (official) Hausa Djerma

Religions: Muslim 80% remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians

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/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 22.71 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.73 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Environment
Current issues: overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant hippopotamus giraffe and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male/female
65 years and over: 1.1 male/female
Total population: 1 male/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 123.57 deaths/1000 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.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 1.35% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 64,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 6,500 (1999 est.)

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

Capital: Niamey

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
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]

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
In the us chancery: 2,204 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 483-4,224 through 4,227
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Charles O. CECIL
From the us embassy: Rue Des Ambassades, Niamey
From the us mailing address: B. P. 11,201, Niamey
From the us telephone: [227] 72 26 61 through 72 26 64
From the us 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.

Real gdp growth rate: 3.5% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1000 (2000 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 40%
Industry: 18%
Services: 42% (1998)

Agriculture products: cowpeas cotton peanuts millet sorghum cassava (tapioca) rice; cattle sheep goats camels donkeys horses poultry

Industries: uranium mining cement brick textiles food processing chemicals slaughterhouses

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries
By occupation agriculture: 90%
By occupation industry and commerce: 6%
By occupation government: 4%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Population below poverty line: 63% (1993 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 0.8%
Highest 10: 35.4% (1995)

Budget
Revenues: $377 million, including $146 million from foreign sources
Expenditures: $377 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1999 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.8% (2000 est.)

Exports: $385 million (f.o.b. 1999)
Commodities: uranium ore 65% livestock products cowpeas onions (1998 est.)
Partners: France 45% Nigeria 27% UK 11% (1999)

Imports: $317 million (f.o.b. 1999)
Commodities: consumer goods primary materials machinery vehicles and parts petroleum cereals
Partners: France 22% Cote d'Ivoire 15% Nigeria 8% US 3% (1999)

Debt external: $1.3 billion (1999 est.)

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

Electricity
Production: 200 million kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 100%
Production by source hydro: 0%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (1999)
Consumption: 401 million kWh (1999)
Exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Imports: 215 million kWh (1999)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 16,000 (1997)
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)

Internet
Country code: .ne
Service providers isps: 1 (2000)
Users: 3,000 (2000)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $20 million (FY96)
Percent of gdp: 1.1% (FY96)

Airports: 27 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 9
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 6
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 18
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 15
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.)

Railways: 0 km

Waterways
Note: the Niger River is navigable from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March