Location: Western Africa, southeast of Algeria

Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N, 8 00 E

Map references: Africa

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

Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 7%
forests and woodland: 2%
other: 88% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 660 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: recurring droughts

Environment - current issues: overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note: landlocked

Population: 10,639,744 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 47.9% (male 2,594,932; female 2,503,867)
15-64 years: 49.8% (male 2,594,307; female 2,706,164)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 125,898; female 114,576) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.7% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 49.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 22.25 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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 (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 122.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 41.91 years
male: 42.04 years
female: 41.77 years (2002 est.)

Total fertility rate: 7 children born/woman (2002 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: 15.3%
male: 21.2%
female: 9.4% (2002)

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Niger
conventional short form: Niger
local long form : Republique du Niger
local short form: Niger

Data code: NG

Government type: republic

National 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 1960 (from France)

National holiday: Republic Day, 18 December (1958)

Constitution: the constitution of January 1993 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996

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
cabinet: 23-member Cabinet appointed by the president
elections :president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; last held 24 November 1999 (next to be held NA 2004); prime minister appointed by the president
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'Apel

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, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO , UPU, WADB, 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 Barbro OWENS-KIRKPATRICK
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 2000-01, the World Bank approved a structural adjustment loan of $105 million to help support fiscal reforms. However, reforms could prove difficult given the government's bleak financial situation. 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

GDP: purchasing power parity - $8.4 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 3.1% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $820 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 41%
industry: 17%
services:42% (2000)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 4.2% (2001 est.)

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

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $320 million, including $134 million from foreign sources
expenditures : $320 million, including capital expenditures of $178 million (2002 est.)

Industries: cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses, and a few other small light industries; uranium mining

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - capacity: 105,000 kW (1991)

Electricity - production: 23220 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 404.6 million kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats

Exports:
total value: $246 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
commodities: uranium ore 67%, livestock products 20%, cowpeas, onions
partners:France 43.4%, Nigeria 35.0%, Spain 4.5%, US 3.9% (2000)

Imports:
total value : $331 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
commodities: consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals
partners: France 16.8%, Cote d'Ivoire 13.4%, US 9.6%, Nigeria 7.6% (2000)

Debt - external: $1.6 billion (1999 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: O$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: 1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); 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: 20,000 (2001)

Telephone system: small system of wire, radiotelephone communications, and microwave radio relay links concentrated in southwestern area
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 6, shortwave 4 (2001)

Radios: 680,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (2002)

Televisions: 125,000 (1997)

Railways: 0 km (2002)

Highways:
total: 10,100 km
paved: 798 km
unpaved: 9,302 km (1996)

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

Ports and harbors: none

Airports: 26 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways:
total : 9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
under 914 m: 1 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 17
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 14
under 914 m:2 (2001)

Military branches: Army, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Police

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 2,270,793 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males: 1,227,994 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males :108,993 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $20.9 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.3% (FY01)

Disputes - international: Niger and Benin have refered to the ICJ the dispute over l'Ete and 14 smaller islands in the Niger River, which has never been delimited; the Benin-Niger-Nigeria tripoint remains undemarcated; Lake Chad Basin Commission urges signatories Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over lake region, the site of continuing armed clashes; Libya claims about 19,400 sq km in northern Niger in a currently dormant dispute