NIGER
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 1,267,000 km2; land area: 1,266,700 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
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
Disputes: Libya claims about 19,400 km2 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%; includes irrigated NEGL%
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
Religion: Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians
Language: French (official); Hausa, Djerma
Literacy: 28% (male 40%, female 17%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 2,500,000 wage earners (1982); agriculture 90%,
industry and commerce 6%, government 4%; 51% of population of working age
(1985)
Organized labor: negligible
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Niger
Type: republic; presidential system in which military officers
hold key offices
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
National holidays: Republic Day, 18 December (1958)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers
(cabinet)
Legislative branch: National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)
Judicial branch: State Court (Cour d'Etat), Court of Appeal
(Cour d'Apel)
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Brig. Gen. Ali SAIBOU (since 14
November 1987);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Aliou MAHAMIDOU (since 2 March
1990)
Political parties and leaders: National Movement for the
Development Society (MNSD), leader NA; other political parties now
forming
Suffrage: universal adult at age 18
Elections:
President--last held December 1989 (next to be held NA 1996);
results--President Ali SAIBOU was reelected without opposition;
National Assembly--last held 10 December 1989 (next to be
held NA); results--MNSD was the only party;
seats--(150 total) MNSD 150 (indirectly elected);
note--Niger is to hold a national conference to decide upon a
transitional government and an agenda for multiparty elections
Communists: no Communist party; some sympathizers in outlawed
Sawaba party
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Moumouni Adamou DJERMAKOYE;
Chancery at 2204 R Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
483-4224 through 4227;
US--Ambassador Carl C. CUNDIFF; Embassy at Avenue des
Ambassades, Niamey (mailing address is B. P. 11201, Niamey); telephone
227 72-26-61 through 64
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: About 90% of the population is engaged in farming and
stock rearing, activities which generate almost half 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 Germany, 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.
GDP: $2.0 billion, per capita $270; real growth rate - 3.3% (1989
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): - 2.8% (1989)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $220 million; expenditures $446 million, including
capital expenditures of $190 million (FY89 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 3.0% (1989 est.); accounts
for 18% of GDP
Electricity: 102,000 kW capacity; 225 million kWh produced,
30 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals,
slaughterhouses, and a few other small light industries; uranium
production 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: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $380
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $3.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $504 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $61 million
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 39,970 km total; 3,170 km bituminous, 10,330 km gravel
and laterite, 3,470 km earthen, 23,000 km tracks
Inland waterways: Niger river is navigable 300 km from Niamey to
Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airports: 31 total, 29 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 12 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: small system of wire, radiocommunications, and
radio relay links concentrated in southwestern area; 11,900 telephones;
stations--15 AM, 5 FM, 16 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, and 4 domestic
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie, paramilitary
Republican Guard, paramilitary Presidential Guard, paramilitary National
Police
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,713,566; 923,634 fit for
military service; 90,801 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $20.6 million, 0.9% of GDP (1988)
