Niger

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National name: République du Niger

Current government officials

Languages: French (official), Hausa, Djerma

Ethnicity/race: 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: Islam 80%, indigenous beliefs and Christian 20%

National Holiday: Republic Day, December 18

Literacy rate: 28.7% (2005 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2009 est.): $10.45 billion; per capita $700. Real growth rate: 2%. Inflation: 0.1%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 11%. Agriculture: cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry. Labor force: 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries (2002 est.); agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4%. Industries: uranium mining, cement, brick, soap, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses. Natural resources: uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum. Exports: $428 million f.o.b. (2006): uranium ore, livestock, cowpeas, onions. Imports: $800 million f.o.b. (2006): foodstuffs, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals. Major trading partners: France, Nigeria, Russia, U.S., French Polynesia, Côte d'Ivoire, China (2006).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 24,000 (2005); mobile cellular: 323,900 (2005). Radio broadcast stations: AM 5, FM 6, shortwave 4 (2001). Radios: 680,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 5 (2007). Televisions: 125,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 200 (2007). Internet users: 40,000 (2006).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 14,565 km; paved: 3,641 km; unpaved: 10,924 km (2004). Waterways: the Niger is navigable 300 km from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March. Ports and harbors: none. Airports: 28 (2007).

International disputes: Libya claims about 25,000 sq km in a currently dormant dispute; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated but states accept 2001 arbitration over disputed Niger River islands; Lake Chad Commission continues to urge signatories Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over the lake region, which remains the site of armed clashes among local populations and militias.

Major sources and definitions