NIGER
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| (See reference map VII) |
LAND
1,266,510 km2; about 3% cultivated, perhaps 20% somewhat arable, remainder desert
Land boundaries: 5,745 km
PEOPLE
Population: 5,833,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.9%
Nationality: noun—Nigerien(s) (sing. and pl.); adjective—Niger
Ethnic divisions: main Negroid groups 75% (of which, Hausa 50%, Djerma and Songhai 21%); Caucasian elements include Tuareg, Toubous, and Tamacheks; mixed group includes Fulani
Religion: 80% Muslim, remainder largely animists and a very few Christians
Language: French official; many African languages; Hausa used for trade
Literacy: about 6%
Labor force: 26,000 wage earners; bulk of population engaged in subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry
Organized labor: negligible
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Republic of Niger
Type: republic; military regime in power since April 1974
Capital: Niamey
Political subdivisions: 7 departments, 32 arrondissements
Legal system: based on French civil law system and customary law; constitution adopted 1960, suspended 1974; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Proclamation of the Republic, 18 December
Branches: executive authority exercised by Supreme Military Council (SMC) composed of army officers; Cabinet includes some civilian technocrats
Government leader: Lt. Col. Seyni KOUNTCHE, President of Supreme Military Council, Chief of State, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Interior
Suffrage: suspended
Elections: political activity banned
Political parties and leaders: political parties banned
Communists: no Communist party; some sympathizers in outlawed Sawaba party
Member of: AFDB, APC, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IPU, ISCON, ITU, Lake Chad Basin Commission, Niger River Commission, NAM, OAU, OCAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
ECONOMY
GDP: $2.7 billion (1980), $491 per capita, annual average growth rate 1.3% (1971-81)
Agriculture: commercial—peanuts, cotton, livestock; main food crops—millet, sorghum, niebe beans, vegetables
Major industries: cement plant, brick factory, rice mill, small cotton gins, oil presses, slaughterhouse, and a few other small light industries; uranium production began in 1971
Electric power: 32,800 kW capacity (1980); 78 million kWh produced (1980), 14 kWh per capita
Exports: $557.9 million (f.o.b., 1980); about 65% uranium, rest peanuts and related products, livestock, hides, skins; exports understated because much regional trade not recorded
Imports: $801.0 million (c.i.f., 1980); fuels, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, consumer goods
Major trade partners: France (over 50%), other EC countries, Nigeria, UDEAC countries, US; preferential tariff to EC and franc zone countries
Budget: (1980/81) revenue $458.8 million, current expenditure $255.9 million, development expenditure $344.6 million
Monetary conversion rate: about 225.8 Communaute Financiere Africaine=US$1 (1980)
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
