Guernsey (2004) | Niger (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (British crown dependency); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 10 parishes including Saint Peter Port, Saint Sampson, Vale, Castel, Saint Saviour, Saint Pierre du Bois, Torteval, Forest, Saint Martin, Saint Andrew | 8 regions (regions, singular - region) includes 1 capital district* (commune urbaine); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 15.6% (male 5,161; female 5,013)
15-64 years: 66.7% (male 21,497; female 21,897) 65 years and over: 17.6% (male 4,812; female 6,651) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 47.3% (male 2,811,539/female 2,704,498)
15-64 years: 50.6% (male 2,890,119/female 3,009,281) 65 years and over: 2.1% (male 130,953/female 119,547) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | tomatoes, greenhouse flowers, sweet peppers, eggplant, fruit; Guernsey cattle | cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry |
Airports | 2 (2003 est.) | 27 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 18
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 78 sq km
land: 78 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and some other smaller islands |
total: 1.267 million sq km
land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km |
Area - comparative | about one-half the size of Washington, DC | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
Background | The island of Guernsey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Dukedom of Normandy, which held sway in both France and England. The islands were the only British soil occupied by German troops in World War II. | 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. |
Birth rate | 9.16 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 48.3 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $381.3 million
expenditures: $368.8 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $320 million - including $134 million from foreign sources
expenditures: $320 million, including capital expenditures of $178 million (2002 est.) |
Capital | Saint Peter Port | Niamey |
Climate | temperate with mild winters and cool summers; about 50% of days are overcast | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south |
Coastline | 50 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice | new constitution adopted 18 July 1999 |
Country name | conventional long form: Bailiwick of Guernsey
conventional short form: Guernsey |
conventional long form: Republic of Niger
conventional short form: Niger local long form: Republique du Niger local short form: Niger |
Currency | British pound (GBP); note - there is also a Guernsey pound | - |
Death rate | 9.87 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 21.33 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | NA | $1.6 billion (1999 est.) |
Dependency status | British crown dependency | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (British crown dependency) | chief of mission: Ambassador Gail Dennise Thomas MATHIEU
embassy: Rue Des Ambassades, Niamey mailing address: B. P. 11201, Niamey telephone: [227] 72 26 61 through 72 26 64 FAX: [227] 73 31 67, 72-31-46 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (British crown dependency) | chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph DIATTA
chancery: 2204 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4224 through 4227 FAX: [1] (202)483-3169 |
Disputes - international | none | Libya claims about 25,000 sq km in a currently dormant dispute; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated, and states expect a ruling in 2005 from the ICJ over the disputed Niger and Mekrou River islands; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes Chad and Niger |
Economic aid - recipient | NA | $341 million (1997) |
Economy - overview | Financial services - banking, fund management, insurance, etc. - account for about 55% of total income in this tiny Channel Island economy. Tourism, manufacturing, and horticulture, mainly tomatoes and cut flowers, have been declining. Light tax and death duties make Guernsey a popular tax haven. The evolving economic integration of the EU nations is changing the environment under which Guernsey operates. | Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, a landlocked Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy centers on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. Drought cycles, desertification, a 3.3% population growth rate, and the drop in world demand for uranium have undercut the economy. Niger shares a common currency, the CFA franc, and a common central bank, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), with seven other members of the West African Monetary Union. In December 2000, Niger qualified for enhanced debt relief under the International Monetary Fund program for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and concluded an agreement with the Fund on a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). Debt relief provided under the enhanced HIPC initiative significantly reduces Niger's annual debt service obligations, freeing funds for expenditures on basic health care, primary education, HIV/AIDS prevention, rural infrastructure, and other programs geared at poverty reduction. Nearly half of the government's budget is derived from foreign donor resources. Future growth may be sustained by exploitation of oil, gold, coal, and other mineral resources. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 327.6 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 80 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | 266.2 million kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Sark 114 m |
lowest point: Niger River 200 m
highest point: Mont Bagzane 2,022 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | 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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | UK and Norman-French descent with small percentages from other European countries | Hausa 56%, Djerma 22%, Fula 8.5%, Tuareg 8%, Beri Beri (Kanouri) 4.3%, Arab, Toubou, and Gourmantche 1.2%, about 1,200 French expatriates |
Exchange rates | Guernsey pounds per US dollar - 0.6661 (2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998); note - the Guernsey pound is at par with the British pound | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief Lt. Gen. Sir John FOLEY (since NA 2000)
head of government: Chief Minister Laurie MORGAN (since 1 May 2004) cabinet: Policy Council elected by the States of Deliberation elections: the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor appointed by the monarch; chief minister is elected by States of Delibertion election results: Laurie MORGAN elected chief minister, percent of vote of the States of Deliberation NA |
chief of state: President TANDJA Mamadou (since 22 December 1999); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President TANDJA Mamadou (since 22 December 1999); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; Prime Minister Hama AMADOU (since 31 December 1999) was appointed by the president and shares some executive responsibilities with the president cabinet: 27-member Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; second round last held 4 December 2004 (next to be held December 2009); prime minister appointed by the president election results: TANDJA Mamadou reelected president; percent of vote - TANDJA Mamadou 65.5%, Mahamadou ISSOUFOU 34.5% |
Exports | NA | NA |
Exports - commodities | tomatoes, flowers and ferns, sweet peppers, eggplant, other vegetables | uranium ore, livestock, cowpeas, onions |
Exports - partners | UK (regarded as internal trade) | France 41%, Nigeria 22.4%, Japan 15.3%, Switzerland 6%, Spain 4.1%, Ghana 4% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | white with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) extending to the edges of the flag and a yellow equal-armed cross of William the Conqueror superimposed on the Saint George cross | three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and green with a small orange disk (representing the sun) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of India, which has a blue spoked wheel centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.3 billion (1999 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3%
industry: 10% services: 87% (2000) |
agriculture: 39%
industry: 17% services: 44% (2001) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $20,000 (1999 est.) | purchasing power parity - $900 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.7% (1999 est.) | 3.5% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 49 28 N, 2 35 W | 16 00 N, 8 00 E |
Geography - note | large, deepwater harbor at Saint Peter Port | 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 |
Highways | total: NA km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
total: 10,100 km
paved: 798 km unpaved: 9,302 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 0.8%
highest 10%: 35.4% (1995) |
Imports | NA | NA |
Imports - commodities | coal, gasoline, oil, machinery and equipment | foodstuffs, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals |
Imports - partners | UK (regarded as internal trade) | France 14.4%, US 10.3%, French Polynesia 9.4%, Nigeria 7.8%, Cote d'Ivoire 7.5%, Japan 5.2%, China 5.1%, Thailand 4.1% (2004) |
Independence | none (British crown dependency) | 3 August 1960 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | NA (2001 est.) |
Industries | tourism, banking | uranium mining, cement, brick, soap, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses |
Infant mortality rate | total: 4.78 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.35 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
total: 121.69 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 125.93 deaths/1,000 live births female: 117.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4% (2000 est.) | 3% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MONUC, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 660 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Royal Court | State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 31,320 (2000) | 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries (2002 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4% |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 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 |
Land use | arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA other: NA (2001) |
arable land: 3.54%
permanent crops: 0.01% other: 96.45% (2001) |
Languages | English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts | French (official), Hausa, Djerma |
Legal system | English law and local statute; justice is administered by the Royal Court | based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral States of Deliberation (45 seats; members are elected by popular vote for 4 years); note - Alderney and Sark have their own parliaments
elections: last held 21 April 2004 (next to be held NA 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - all independents |
unicameral National Assembly (113 seats; note - expanded from 83 seats; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms)
elections: last held 4 December 2004 (next to be held December 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MNSD 47, CDS 22, PNDS 17, RSD 7, RDP 6, ANDP 5, Party for Socialism and Democracy in Niger 1, other 8 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 80.17 years
male: 77.17 years female: 83.27 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 43.5 years
male: 43.54 years female: 43.45 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA male: NA female: NA |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 17.6% male: 25.8% female: 9.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western Europe, islands in the English Channel, northwest of France | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria |
Map references | Europe | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | none | - |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military branches | - | Niger Armed Forces (Forces Armees Nigeriennes, FAN): Army, National Air Force (2005) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $33.3 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.1% (2004) |
National holiday | Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) | Republic Day, 18 December (1958) |
Nationality | noun: Channel Islander(s)
adjective: Channel Islander |
noun: Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien |
Natural hazards | NA | recurring droughts |
Natural resources | cropland | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, molybdenum, gypsum, salt, petroleum |
Net migration rate | 3.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -0.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | none; all independents | Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ANDP [leader NA]; Democratic Rally of the People-Jama'a or RDP-Jama'a [Hamid ALGABID]; Democratic and Social Convention-Rahama or CDS-Rahama [Mahamane OUSMANE]; National Movement for a Developing Society-Nassara or MNSD-Nassara [TANDJA Mamadou, chairman]; Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Social Progress-Zaman Lahiya or ANDPS-Zaman Lahiya [Moumouni Adamou DJERMAKOYE]; Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism-Tarayya or PNDS-Tarayya [Mahamadou ISSOUFOU]; Party for Socialism and Democracy in Niger [leader NA]; Rally for Social Democracy or RSD [Cheiffou AMADOU]; Union of Democratic Patriots and Progressives-Chamoua or UPDP-Chamoua [Professor Andre' SALIFOU, chairman] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 65,031 (July 2004 est.) | 11,665,937 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 63% (1993 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.31% (2004 est.) | 2.63% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Saint Peter Port, Saint Sampson | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 5, FM 6, shortwave 4 (2001) |
Religions | Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist | Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christian |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
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 (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: 1 submarine cable |
general assessment: small system of wire, radio telephone communications, and microwave radio relay links concentrated in the southwestern area of Niger
domestic: wire, radiotelephone communications, and microwave radio relay; domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations and 1 planned international: country code - 227; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 55,000 (2001) | 22,400 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 31,500 (2001) | 24,000 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (2002) |
Terrain | mostly level with low hills in southwest | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north |
Total fertility rate | 1.38 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 6.75 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0.5% (1999 est.) | NA (2002 est.) |
Waterways | - | 300 km
note: Niger River is navigable to Gaya between September and March (2004) |