Niger is considered the worlds least developed nation, with few natural resources.
2/3 of the 13 million inhabitants live below the poverty line living on less than $1 per day.
50% are under 15 years of age and verage life expectancy is just 44 years. Niger became a French colony in 1922 and after the establishment of the 'Fifth French Republic', in 1958, gained full independence in 1960. French remains the official language of the country.
Niger is a member of the United Nations and the African Union and maintains a strong relationship with France and it's West African neighbours. Niger is landlocked and bordered by 7 countries. The westernmost borders are joined with Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin. To the north is Algeria and Libya. To the east is Chad and to the south is Nigeria.
It's vast arid landscape, of 489,000 square miles, is 4 times the size of the UK & Ireland combined. Contrary to it's size, the largely agrarian and subsistence-based economy is frequently disrupted by extended droughts common to the Sahel region of Africa. It's terrain is predominantly desert plains, sand dunes and flat rolling plains to the south, with hills in the north, making sustainable agriculture difficult, at the best of times.
Overview
- Capital: Niamey
- Population: 12,894,865 (July 2007 est.)
- Age structure:
- 0-14 years: 46.9%
- 15-64 years: 50.6%
- 65 years and over: 2.4%
- Average age: 16.5 years
- Birth rate: 50.16 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
- Death rate: 20.59 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
- Infant mortality rate: 116.83 deaths/1,000 live births
- Life expectancy at birth: 44.03 years
- Total fertility rate: 7.37 children born per woman (2007 est.)
- Ethnic groups:
- Haoussa 55.4%,
- Djerma Sonrai 21%,
- Touareg 9.3%,
- Peuhl 8.5%,
- Kanouri Manga 4.7%,
- other 1.2% (2001 census)
- Religions: Muslim 80%, other (includes indigenous beliefs and Christian) 20%
- Languages:
- French (official)
- Hausa
- Djerma
- Literacy:
- total population: 28.7%
- male: 42.9%
- female: 15.1% (2005 est.)
- taken from the
CIA World Factbook
