Niger (2002) | Reunion (2003) | |
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Administrative divisions | 7 departments (departements, singular - departement) and 1 capital district* (capitale district); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder | none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons |
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.) |
0-14 years: 31.3% (male 121,119; female 115,501)
15-64 years: 62.8% (male 233,607; female 240,502) 65 years and over: 5.9% (male 18,036; female 26,406) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry | sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn |
Airports | 26 (2001) | 2 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 18
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
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Area | total: 1.267 million sq km
land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km |
total: 2,517 sq km
land: 2,507 sq km water: 10 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | slightly smaller than Rhode Island |
Background | Not until 1993, 35 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 by December 1999. | The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration, supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians, gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route. |
Birth rate | 49.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 20.17 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $320 million, including $134 million from foreign sources
expenditures: $320 million, including capital expenditures of $178 million (2002 est.) |
revenues: $1.26 billion
expenditures: $2.62 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998) |
Capital | Niamey | Saint-Denis |
Climate | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south | tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 207 km |
Constitution | the constitution of January 1993 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996 and again by referendum on 18 July 1999 | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Niger
conventional short form: Niger local long form: Republique du Niger local short form: Niger |
conventional long form: Department of Reunion
conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | euro (EUR) |
Death rate | 22.25 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 5.49 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.6 billion (1999 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Gail Dennise Thomas MATHIEU
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, 72-31-46 |
none (overseas department of France) |
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 FAX: [1] (202)483-3169 |
none (overseas department of France) |
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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $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 (1997) |
$NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France |
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. | The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France. |
Electricity - consumption | 404.6 million kWh (2000) | 1.005 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 200 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 220 million kWh (2000) | 1.08 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel: 55.5%
hydro: 44.5% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Niger River 200 m
highest point: Mont Bagzane 2,022 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m |
Environment - current issues | overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea |
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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 | French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian |
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 | euros per US dollar - 1.06 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998) |
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% |
chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Gonthier FRIEDERICI (since NA)
head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
Exports | $246 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | uranium ore 65%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions (1998 est.) | sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993) |
Exports - partners | France 43.4%, Nigeria 35.0%, Spain 4.5%, US 3.9% (2000) | France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
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 | the flag of France is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $8.4 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4.174 billion (1999 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 41%
industry: 17% services: 42% (2000) |
agriculture: 8%
industry: 19% services: 73% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $820 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5,600 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.1% (2001 est.) | 2.5% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 16 00 N, 8 00 E | 21 06 S, 55 36 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world: northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture | this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean |
Highways | total: 10,100 km
paved: 798 km unpaved: 9,302 km (1996) |
total: 2,724 km
paved: 1,300 km (including 73 km of four-lane road) unpaved: 1,424 km (1994) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 35% (1995) (1995) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $331 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals | manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products |
Imports - partners | France 16.8%, Cote d'Ivoire 13.4%, US 9.6%, Nigeria 7.6% (2000) | France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000) |
Independence | 3 August 1960 (from France) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses | sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction |
Infant mortality rate | 122.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 8.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.89 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.2% (2001 est.) | NA% |
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, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | FZ, InOC, WFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2002) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 660 sq km (1998 est.) | 120 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries | 309,900 (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4% | agriculture 13%, industry 12%, services 75% (2000) |
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 |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 3.94%
permanent crops: 0% other: 96.06% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 13.2%
permanent crops: 2% other: 84.8% (1998 est.) |
Languages | French (official), Hausa, Djerma | French (official), Creole widely used |
Legal system | based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | French law |
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 |
unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PCR 19, UDF 9, RPR 8, various right-wing candidates 4, various left-wing candidates 5 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, UMP 1, PCR 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 41.91 years
male: 42.04 years female: 41.77 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 73.43 years
male: 70.03 years female: 77 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 15.3% male: 21.2% female: 9.4% (2002) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 88.9% male: 87% female: 90.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar |
Map references | Africa | World |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | Army, Air Force, Gendarmerie, National Intervention and Security Force | no regular indigenous military forces; French forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $20.9 million (FY01) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.3% (FY01) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,270,793 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 198,341 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,227,994 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 101,116 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | 18 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 108,993 (2002 est.) | males: 6,795 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | Republic Day, 18 December (1958) | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun: Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien |
noun: Reunionese (singular and plural)
adjective: Reunionese |
Natural hazards | recurring droughts | periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano |
Natural resources | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum | fish, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
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] | Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 10,639,744 (July 2002 est.) | 755,171 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 63% (1993 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.7% (2002 est.) | 1.47% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Le Port, Pointe des Galets |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM 6, shortwave 4 (2001) | AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001) |
Radios | 680,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km (2002) | 0 km |
Religions | Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christian | Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995) |
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.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
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) |
general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis
domestic: modern open-wire and microwave radio relay network international: radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 20,000 (2001) | 268,500 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 6,700 (2002) | 197,000 (September 2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (2002) | 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north | mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast |
Total fertility rate | 7 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.53 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 36% (1999 est.) |
Waterways | 300 km
note: the Niger River is navigable from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March |
none |