last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@Niger

Introduction Niger

Background:
Not until 1993, 33 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. 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.

Geography Niger

Location:
Western Africa, southeast of Algeria

Geographic coordinates:
16 00 N, 8 00 E

Map references:
Africa

Area:
total: 1.267 million sq km
water: 300 sq km
land: 1,266,700 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly less than twice the size of Texas

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

Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Niger River 200 m
highest point: Mont Bagzane 2,022 m

Natural resources:
uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum

Land use:
arable land: 3.54%
permanent crops: 0.01%
other: 96.45% (2001)

Irrigated land:
660 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
recurring droughts

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

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer
Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the
Sea

Geography - note:
landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world: northern
four-fifth