Niger

Niger became independent from France in 1960 and experienced single-party and military rule until 1991, when Gen. Ali Saibou was forced by public pressure to allow multiparty elections, which resulted in a democratic government in 1993. Political infighting brought the government to a standstill and in 1996 led to a coup by Col. Ibrahim Bare. In 1999, Bare was killed in a counter coup by military officers who restored democratic rule and held elections that brought Mamadou Tandja to power in December of that year. Tandja was reelected in 2004 and in 2009 spearheaded a constitutional amendment that would allow him to extend his term as president. In February 2010, a military coup deposed Tandja, immediately suspended the constitution and dissolved the Cabinet. Issoufou Mahamadou emerged victorious from a crowded field in the election following the coup and was inaugurated in April 2011. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world with minimal government services and insufficient funds to develop its resource base. The largely agrarian and subsistence-based economy is frequently disrupted by extended droughts common to the Sahel region of Africa. The Nigerien Movement for Justice, a predominately Tuareg ethnic group, emerged in February 2007, and attacked several military targets in Niger's northern region throughout 2007 and 2008. Successful government offensives in 2009 limited the rebels' operational capabilities.

Country Name:

• conventional long form: Republic of Niger
• conventional short form: Niger
• local long form: Republique du Niger
• local short form: Niger

Capital:

• name: Niamey
• population: 1,004,000
• geographic coordinates: 13 31 N, 2 07 E
• time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Independence:

• 3 August 1960 (from France)

Government Type:

• Republic

Executive Branch:

• chief of state: President Issoufou Mahamadou (since 7 April 2011)
• head of government: Prime Minister Brigi Rafini (since 7 April 2011)
• cabinet: 26-member Cabinet appointed by the president

Legislative Branch:

• structure: unicameral National Assembly

Judicial Branch:

• structure: State Court; Court of Appeals

Population:

• 17,078,839 (global rank: 62)
• growth rate: 3.63% (global rank: 3)

Nationality:

• noun: Nigerien(s)
• adjective: Nigerien

Major Cities:

• Niamey (capital): 1.004 million

Ethnic Groups:

• Haoussa 55.4%, Djerma Sonrai 21%, Tuareg 9.3%, Peuhl 8.5%, Kanouri Manga 4.7%, other 1.2%

Religions:

• Muslim 80%, other (includes indigenous beliefs and Christian) 20%

Languages:

• French (official), Hausa, Djerma

Life Expectancy at Birth:

• total population: 53.8 years (global rank: 203)
• male: 52.51 years
• female: 55.13 years

Infant Mortality:

• total population: 109.98 deaths/1,000 live births (global rank: 2)
• male: 114.91 deaths/1,000 live births
• female: 104.91 deaths/1,000 live births

HIV/AIDS:

• adult prevalence rate: 0.8% (2009 est.) (global rank: 56)
• people living with AIDS: 61,000 (2009 est.) (global rank: 54)

Literacy:

• definition: age 15 and over can read and write
• total population: 28.7%
• male: 42.9%
• female: 15.1%

Niger is a landlocked, Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy centers on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. Agriculture contributes about 40% of GDP and provides livelihood for about 80% of the population. Niger also has sizable reserves of oil, and oil production, refining, and exports are expected to grow significantly between 2011 and 2016. Drought, desertification, and strong population growth have undercut the economy. Niger shares a common currency, the CFA franc, and a common central bank, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), with seven other members of the West African Monetary Union. In December 2000, Niger qualified for enhanced debt relief under the International Monetary Fund program for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and concluded an agreement with the Fund on a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). Debt relief provided under the enhanced HIPC initiative significantly reduces Niger's annual debt service obligations, freeing funds for expenditures on basic health care, primary education, HIV/AIDS prevention, rural infrastructure, and other programs geared at poverty reduction. In December 2005, Niger received 100% multilateral debt relief from the IMF, which translated into the forgiveness of approximately US $86 million in debts to the IMF, excluding the remaining assistance under HIPC. The economy was hurt when the international community cut off non-humanitarian aid in response to Tandja's moves to extend his term as president. Nearly half of the government's budget is derived from foreign donor resources. Future growth may be sustained by exploitation of oil, gold, coal, and other mineral resources. The governmant has announced an expansionary budget for 2012 with anticipated revenue increases from uranium, oil production, and donor aid, and it has made efforts to secure a new three-year extended credit facility with the IMF following the one that completed in 2011. Food security remains a problem in the north of the country, exacerbated by the return of Libyan migrants.

Gross Domestic Product:

• GDP (PPP): $11.93 billion (global rank: 148)
• GDP per capita (PPP): $800 (global rank: 216)
• real growth rate: 5.5% (global rank: 59)
• composition by sector: agriculture: 40.7%, industry: 16.1%, services: 46.5%

Currency:

• currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine Franc (XOF)
• exchange rate (per US Dollar): 473.7

Poverty:

• population below poverty line: 63%
• unemployment rate: NA

Agricultural Products:

• cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry

Industries:

• uranium mining, cement, brick, soap, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses

Exports Commodities:

• uranium ore, livestock, cowpeas, onions

Imports Commodities:

• foodstuffs, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals

Location:

• Western Africa, southeast of Algeria

Area:

• total: 1.267 million sq km (global rank: 22)
• land: 1,266,700 sq km
• water: 300 sq km
• comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Climate:

• desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south

Land Use:

• arable land: 11.43%
• permanent crops: 0.01%
• other: 88.56%

Natural Resources:

• uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, molybdenum, gypsum, salt, petroleum

Current Environmental Issues:

• overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction

• international disputes: Libya claims about 25,000 sq km in a currently dormant dispute in the Tommo region; location of Benin-Niger-Nigeria tripoint is unresolved; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty that also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries; the dispute with Burkina Faso was referred to the ICJ in 2010
• human trafficking: Niger is a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; caste-based slavery practices, rooted in ancestral master-slave relationships, continue in isolated areas of the country - an estimated 8,800 to 43,000 Nigeriens live under conditions of traditional slavery; children are trafficked within Niger for forced begging, forced labor in gold mines, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, and possibly for forced labor in agriculture and stone quarries; women and children from neighboring states are trafficked to and through Niger for domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, forced labor in mines and on farms, and as mechanics and welders; to a lesser extent, Nigerien women and children are recruited from Niger and transported to Nigeria, North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe for domestic servitude and sex trafficking