Country Facts - Niger

The People

Ethnic Composition

Hausa	56%
Djerma	22%
Fula	8.5%
Tuareg	8%
Beri Beri (Kanouri)	4.3%
Arab, Toubou, and Gourmantche	1.2%

*1,200 French expatriates
Religious Composition

Muslim	80%
Christian, indigenous beliefs	20%

Nationality

Nigerien(s)

Languages Spoken

French is the official language of Niger, but Hausa and Djerma are also widely spoken.

Education and Literacy

Niger's overall adult literacy is around 15.3 percent. Among males it is 21.2 percent and females 9.4 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 70,000

By occupation:

Agriculture	90%
Industry	6%
Services	4%

Geography

Land Mass Total

489,191 sq mi (1.267 million sq km)

Land

489,075 sq mi (1,266,700 sq km)

Water

115 sq mi (300 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 3,539 mi (5,697 km)
Border countries: Algeria 594 mi (956 km), Benin 165 mi (266 km), Burkina Faso 390 mi (628 km), Chad 730 mi (1,175 km), Libya 219 mi (354 km), Mali 510 mi (821 km), Nigeria 930 mi (1,497 km)

Climate/Weather

Desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south.

Terrain

Predominantly desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Niger River 656 ft (200 m)
Highest: Mont Bagzane 6,633 mi (2,022 m)

Natural Resources

Uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum.

Land use

Arable land	4%
Permanent crops	0%
Other	96%

(1998)

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.

Geography Note

Landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world: northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture.

Demographics

Population

10,639,744 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	47.9%	male 2,594,932	female 2,503,867
15-64 years:	49.8%	male 2,594,307	female 2,706,164
65 years and over:	2.3%	male 125,898	female 114,576

(2002)

Growth Rate

2.7% (2002)

Life Expectancy

41.91 years (2002)
female: 41.77 years
male: 42.04 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$820 (2001)

Infant Mortality

122.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	1.1 male(s)/female
Total population:	1 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Niger, a poor, landlocked Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy centers on subsistence agriculture, mining, animal husbandry, and reexport trade. Increasingly, Niger depends less on uranium, because of declining world demand. The 50 percent devaluation of the West African franc in January 1994 boosted exports of livestock, cowpeas, onions, and the products of Niger's small cotton industry. The government relies on bilateral and multilateral aid - which was suspended following the April 1999 coup d'etat - for operating expenses and public investment. In 2000-01, the World Bank approved a structural adjustment loan of US$105 million to help support fiscal reforms. However, reforms could prove difficult given the government's bleak financial situation. The IMF approved a US$73 million poverty reduction and growth facility for Niger in 2000 and announced US$115 million in debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Niger showed a spectacular comeback from its negative growth in 2000 (-1.4 percent) by posting a 7.1 percent expansion in 2001. It dropped back to 3 percent in 2002, and prospects look good for 4-percent GDP growth in 2003-04, and inflation seems well under control at the 2-3 percent range.

Unemployment

N/A

Inflation Rate

4.2% (2001)

Industries

Uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses.

Exports

US$246 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$331 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$8.4 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

France 43.4%, Nigeria 35.0%, Spain 4.5%, US 3.9% (2000)

Top Import Partners

France 16.8%, Cote d'Ivoire 13.4%, U.S. 9.6%, Nigeria 7.6% (2000)

Top Exports

Uranium ore 65%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions (1998).

Top Imports

Consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals.

Debt - external

US$1.6 billion (1999)

Economic aid

Recipient: US$341 million (1997)
Note: the IMF approved a $73 million poverty reduction and growth facility for Niger in 2000 and announced $115 million in debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	7:30a.m. to 12:30p.m., and 3p.m. to 6p.m. Hours may vary based on the season.	Closed
Retail	8a.m. to noon, and 4p.m. to 7p.m.	Closed
Banks	8a.m. to 11a.m., and 4p.m. to 5p.m.	Closed
Government	8a.m. to 11a.m., and 4p.m. to 5p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Festival of Sacrifice (Eid Al Adha)¹	February 12	February 2	January 21
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
National Day	April 24	April 24	April 24
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Birthday of Prophet Mohammad (Mawlid an Nabi)³	May 14	May 2	April 21
Independence Day	August 3	August 3	August 3
Military Regime Day	August 15	August 15	August 15
Ascent of the Prophet (Lailat al Miraj, Islamic Observance)*¹	September 24	September 12	September 1
Start of Ramadan*²	October 27	October 15	October 4
End of Ramadan (Eid Al Fitr)*³	November 26	November 14	November 3
Republic Day	December 18	December 18	December 18
Christmas Day**¹	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Culmination of the Haj or Holy Pilgrimage.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	The Birthday of the Prophet Mohammad is celebrated on the twelfth day in the month of Rabi'l of the Islamic calendar.
*¹	The Ascent of the Prophet Mohammad is celebrated on the twenty-seventh day in the month of Rajab of the Islamic calendar.
*²	Ramadan (the month of fasting) begins with the first appearance of the new moon in the ninth month of the lunar Islamic Hijra calendar, and lasts 30 days. Dates for the start of Ramadan will vary from country to country, depending on the first appearance of the moon.
*³	Feasting that officially marks the end of Ramadan, and commonly lasts for 3 days.
**¹	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press