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%                 
                                                                                
Environment: recurrent drought and desertification severely                     
affecting marginal agricultural activities; overgrazing; soil erosion           
                                                                                
Note: landlocked                                                                
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 8,154,145 (July 1991), growth rate 3.4% (1991)                      
                                                                                
Birth rate: 50 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 16 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 129 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                      
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 49 years male, 53 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 7.0 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Nigerien(s) adjective--Nigerien                              
                                                                                
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                                                                
                                                                                
Capital: Niamey                                                                 
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 7 departments (departements,                          
singular--departement); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey, Tahoua,           
Zinder                                                                          
                                                                                
Independence: 3 August 1960 (from France)                                       
                                                                                
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                                                                    
                                                                                
Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEAO, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO,               
FZ, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,                
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN,                         
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO                      
                                                                                
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.)                                
                                                                                
Exports: $308 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--uranium 75%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions;                  
                                                                                
partners--France 65%, Nigeria 11%, Ivory Coast, Italy                           
                                                                                
Imports: $386 million (c.i.f., 1989 est.);                                      
commodities--petroleum products, primary materials, machinery,                  
vehicles and parts, electronic equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemical             
products, cereals, foodstuffs;                                                  
                                                                                
partners--France 32%, Ivory Coast 11%, Germany 5%, Italy 4%,                    
Nigeria 4%                                                                      
                                                                                
External debt: $1.8 billion (December 1990 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                             
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF)                   
per US$1--256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85           
(1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)                             
                                                                                
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September                                             
                                                                                
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)                         
                                                                                
