Niger | Facts & Information

Updated September 25, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

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Facts & Figures

  • President: Mohamed Bazoum (2021)

    Prime Minister: Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou (2021)

    Land area: 489,072 sq mi (1,266,699 sq km); total area: 489,189 sq mi (1.267 million sq km)

    Population (2022 est.): 24,484,587 (growth rate: 3.66%); birth rate: 47.08/1000; infant mortality rate: 66.81/1000; life expectancy: 60.09

    Capital: Niamey, 1.384 million (2022)

    Currency: West African CFA franc

    Nationality/Demonym: Nigerien

    Languages: French (official), Hausa, Djerma

    Ethnicity/race: Hausa 53.1%, Zarma/Songhai 21.2%, Tuareg 11%, Fulani (Peuhl) 6.5%, Kanuri 5.9%, Gurma 0.8%, Arab 0.4%, Tubu 0.4%, other/unavailable 0.9% (2006 est.)

    Religions: Muslim 99.3%, Christian 0.3%, animist 0.2%, none 0.1% (2012 est.)

    Literacy rate: 35.1% (2018 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2020 est.): $28.97 billion; per capita $1,200. Real growth rate: 4.9%. Inflation: -2.5%. Unemployment: 0.3%. Arable land: 12.3%. Agriculture: cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry. Labor force: 6.5 million (2017 est.); agriculture 79.2%, industry and commerce 3.3%, services 17.5%. Industries: uranium mining, cement, brick, soap, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses. Natural resources: uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum. Exports: $1.39 billion (2019): uranium ore, livestock, cowpeas, onions. Major trading partners (exports): United Arab Emirates 54%, China 25%, France 7%, Pakistan 5% (2019). Imports: $3.4 billion (2019): foodstuffs, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals. Major trading partners (imports): China 19%, France 9%, United Arab Emirates 7%, Cote d'Ivoire 6%, India 6%, Nigeria 5%, Togo 5%, Turkey 5% (2019).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 58,000 (2020); mobile cellular: 14.239 million (2020). Broadcast media: state-run TV station; 3 private TV stations provide a mix of local and foreign programming; state-run radio has only radio station with a national reach; about 30 private radio stations operate locally; as many as 100 community radio stations broadcast; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2022). Internet hosts: 454 (2012). Internet users: 2,331,072 (2019).

    Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Roadways: total: 18,949 km; paved: 3,912 km; unpaved: 15,037 km (2010). 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: 30 (2021).

    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.

    Major sources and definitions

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