Korea, South (2004) | Niger (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | 9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 7 metropolitan cities (gwangyoksi, singular and plural)
provinces: Cheju-do, Cholla-bukto (North Cholla), Cholla-namdo (South Cholla), Ch'ungch'ong-bukto (North Ch'ungch'ong), Ch'ungch'ong-namdo (South Ch'ungch'ong), Kangwon-do, Kyonggi-do, Kyongsang-bukto (North Kyongsang), Kyongsang-namdo (South Kyongsang) metropolitan cities: Inch'on-gwangyoksi (Inchon), Kwangju-gwangyoksi (Kwangju), Pusan-gwangyoksi (Pusan), Soul-t'ukpyolsi (Seoul), Taegu-gwangyoksi (Taegu), Taejon-gwangyoksi (Taejon), Ulsan-gwangyoksi (Ulsan) |
7 departments (departements, singular - departement) and 1 capital district* (capitale district); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 20.4% (male 5,223,344; female 4,681,594)
15-64 years: 71.4% (male 17,625,302; female 17,072,029) 65 years and over: 8.2% (male 1,597,085; female 2,398,821) (2004 est.) |
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 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish | cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry |
Airports | 102 (2003 est.) | 26 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 88
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 21 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 38 (2004 est.) |
total: 9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 91
914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 88 (2004 est.) |
total: 18
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
Area | total: 98,480 sq km
land: 98,190 sq km water: 290 sq km |
total: 1.267 million sq km
land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Indiana | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
Background | Korea was an independent kingdom under Chinese suzerainty for most of the past millennium. Following its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan occupied Korea; five years later it formally annexed the entire peninsula. After World War II, a republic was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a Communist-style government was installed in the north. During the Korean War (1950-1953), US and other UN forces intervened to defend South Korea from North Korean attacks supported by the Chinese. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel. Thereafter, South Korea achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 18 times the level of North Korea. In 1987, South Korean voters elected ROH Tae-woo to the presidency, ending 26 years of military dictatorships. South Korea today is a fully functioning modern democracy. In June 2000, a historic first North-South summit took place between the South's President KIM Tae-chung and the North's leader KIM Jong Il. | Not until 1993, 35 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. |
Birth rate | 12.33 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 49.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $135.5 billion
expenditures: $128.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $23.5 billion (2003) |
revenues: $320 million, including $134 million from foreign sources
expenditures: $320 million, including capital expenditures of $178 million (2002 est.) |
Capital | Seoul | Niamey |
Climate | temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south |
Coastline | 2,413 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 17 July 1948 | the constitution of January 1993 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996 and again by referendum on 18 July 1999 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Korea
conventional short form: South Korea local long form: Taehan-min'guk local short form: none note: the South Koreans generally use the term "Han'guk" to refer to their country abbreviation: ROK |
conventional long form: Republic of Niger
conventional short form: Niger local long form: Republique du Niger local short form: Niger |
Currency | South Korean won (KRW) | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States |
Death rate | 6.13 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 22.25 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $130.3 billion (2003 est.) | $1.6 billion (1999 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher R. HILL
embassy: 82 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-710 mailing address: American Embassy, Unit 15550, APO AP 96205-5550 telephone: [82] (2) 397-4114 FAX: [82] (2) 738-8845 |
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 | chief of mission: Ambassador HONG Seok-hyun
chancery: 2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-5600 FAX: [1] (202) 387-0205 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle consulate(s): New York, Tamuning (Guam) |
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 | Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic maritime disputes with North Korea over the Northern Limit Line; unresolved dispute with Japan over Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima) and occasional protests over fishing rights in grounds also claimed by Japan | Niger and Benin have refered to the ICJ the dispute over l'Ete and 14 smaller islands in the Niger River, which has never been delimited; the Benin-Niger-Nigeria tripoint remains undemarcated; Lake Chad Basin Commission urges signatories Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over lake region, the site of continuing armed clashes; Libya claims about 19,400 sq km in northern Niger in a currently dormant dispute |
Economic aid - donor | ODA $200 million | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $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 (1997) |
Economy - overview | Since the early 1960s, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Four decades ago GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. Today its GDP per capita is 18 times North Korea's and equal to the lesser economies of the European Union. This success through the late 1980s was achieved by a system of close government/business ties, including directed credit, import restrictions, sponsorship of specific industries, and a strong labor effort. The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods and encouraged savings and investment over consumption. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-99 exposed longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial sector. Growth plunged to a negative 6.6% in 1998, then strongly recovered to 10.8% in 1999 and 9.2% in 2000. Growth fell back to 3.3% in 2001 because of the slowing global economy, falling exports, and the perception that much-needed corporate and financial reforms had stalled. Led by consumer spending and exports, growth in 2002 was an impressive 6.2%, despite anemic global growth, followed by moderate 2.8% growth in 2003. In 2003 the National Assembly approved legislation reducing the six-day work week to five days. | Niger is a poor, landlocked Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy centers on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, reexport trade, and increasingly less on uranium, because of declining world demand. The 50% 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 $105 million to help support fiscal reforms. However, reforms could prove difficult given the government's bleak financial situation. 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. |
Electricity - consumption | 270.3 billion kWh (2001) | 404.6 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 200 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 290.7 billion kWh (2001) | 220 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Halla-san 1,950 m |
lowest point: Niger River 200 m
highest point: Mont Bagzane 2,022 m |
Environment - current issues | air pollution in large cities; acid rain; water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; drift net fishing | 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: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | homogeneous (except for about 20,000 Chinese) | 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 | South Korean won per US dollar - 1,191.61 (2003), 1,251.09 (2002), 1,290.99 (2001), 1,130.96 (2000), 1,188.82 (1999) | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro |
Executive branch | chief of state: President ROH Moo-hyun (since 25 February 2003)
head of government: Prime Minister LEE Hae-chan (since 25 May 2004); Deputy Prime Ministers KIM Jin-pyo (since 28 January 2005), LEE Hun-jai (since 10 February 2004), and OH Myung (since 18 October 2004) cabinet: State Council appointed by the president on the prime minister's recommendation elections: president elected by popular vote for single five-year term; election last held 19 December 2002 (next to be held in December 2007); prime minister appointed by president with consent of National Assembly; deputy prime ministers appointed by president on prime minister's recommendation election results: results of the 19 December 2002 election - ROH Moo-hyun elected president; percent of vote - ROH Moo-hyun (MDP) 48.9%; LEE Hoi-chang (GNP) 46.6%; other 4.5% |
chief of state: President Mamadou TANDJA (since 22 December 1999); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Mamadou TANDJA (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: 23-member Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; last held 24 November 1999 (next to be held NA 2004); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Mamadou TANDJA elected president; percent of vote - Mamadou TANDJA 59.9%, Mahamadou ISSOUFOU 40.1% |
Exports | 804,700 bbl/day (2001) | $246 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | Semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, petrochemicals | uranium ore 65%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions (1998 est.) |
Exports - partners | China 18.2%, US 17.8%, Japan 9%, Hong Kong 7.6% (2003) | France 43.4%, Nigeria 35.0%, Spain 4.5%, US 3.9% (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | white with a red (top) and blue yin-yang symbol in the center; there is a different black trigram from the ancient I Ching (Book of Changes) in each corner of the white field | 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 - $857.8 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $8.4 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3.6%
industry: 36.4% services: 60% (2003 est.) |
agriculture: 41%
industry: 17% services: 42% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $17,800 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $820 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.1% (2003 est.) | 3.1% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 37 00 N, 127 30 E | 16 00 N, 8 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location on Korea Strait | 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 |
Heliports | 206 (2003 est.) | - |
Highways | total: 86,990 km
paved: 64,808 km (including 1,996 km of expressways) unpaved: 22,182 km (1999 est.) |
total: 10,100 km
paved: 798 km unpaved: 9,302 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 22.5% (1999 est.) |
lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 35% (1995) (1995) |
Imports | 2.965 million bbl/day (2001) | $331 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, organic chemicals, plastics | consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals |
Imports - partners | Japan 20.3%, US 13.9%, China 12.3%, Saudi Arabia 5.2% (2003) | France 16.8%, Cote d'Ivoire 13.4%, US 9.6%, Nigeria 7.6% (2000) |
Independence | 15 August 1945 (from Japan) | 3 August 1960 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5.1% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Industries | electronics, telecommunications, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel | uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses |
Infant mortality rate | total: 7.18 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.64 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
122.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.6% (2003 est.) | 4.2% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | AfDB, APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CP, EBRD, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA, MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2002) |
Irrigated land | 11,590 sq km (1998 est.) | 660 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (justices appointed by president with consent of National Assembly); Constitutional Court (justices appointed by president based partly on nominations by National Assembly and Chief Justice of the court) | State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 22.92 million (2003) | 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 8.8%, industry 19.1%, services 72.1% (2001) | agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4% |
Land boundaries | total: 238 km
border countries: North Korea 238 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: 17.18%
permanent crops: 1.95% other: 80.87% (2001) |
arable land: 3.94%
permanent crops: 0% other: 96.06% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school | French (official), Hausa, Djerma |
Legal system | combines elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought | based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Kukhoe (299 seats -- members elected for four-year terms; 243 in single-seat constituencies, 56 by proportional representation
elections: last held 15 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2008; by-elections scheduled for April 2005)) election results: percent of vote by party - Uri 51%, GNP 41%, DLP 3%, MDP 3%, others 2%; seats by party - Uri 152, GNP 121, DLP 10, MDP 9, others 7 (2004) |
unicameral National Assembly (83 seats, members elected by popular vote for five-year terms)
elections: last held 24 November 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MNSD-Nassara 38, CDS-Rahama 17, PNDS-Tarayya 16, RDP-Jama'a 8, ANDPS-Zaman Lahiya 4 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.58 years
male: 71.96 years female: 79.54 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 41.91 years
male: 42.04 years female: 41.77 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.9% male: 99.2% female: 96.6% (2002) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 15.3% male: 21.2% female: 9.4% (2002) |
Location | Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria |
Map references | Asia | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the Korea Strait
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: not specified |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 535 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 5,978,949 GRT/9,761,699 DWT
by type: bulk 97, cargo 174, chemical tanker 61, combination bulk 10, container 60, liquefied gas 19, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 73, refrigerated cargo 20, roll on/roll off 7, short-sea/passenger 2, specialized tanker 6, vehicle carrier 3 foreign-owned: Bahrain 1, China 1, Gibraltar 1, Honduras 1, Indonesia 1, Japan 3, Malaysia 1, Panama 1, Philippines 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, United Kingdom 1, United States 1 registered in other countries: 442 (2004 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Maritime Police (Coast Guard) | Army, Air Force, Gendarmerie, National Intervention and Security Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $14.522 billion (FY03) | $20.9 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.7% (FY03) | 1.3% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 14,233,895 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49: 2,270,793 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 8,966,241 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49: 1,227,994 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 341,697 (2004 est.) | males: 108,993 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Liberation Day, 15 August (1945) | Republic Day, 18 December (1958) |
Nationality | noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean |
noun: Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien |
Natural hazards | occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; low-level seismic activity common in southwest | recurring droughts |
Natural resources | coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead, hydropower potential | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 1,433 km; refined products 827 km (2004) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Labor Party or DLP [KIM Hye-kyung, chairwoman]; Grand National Party or GNP [PARK Geun-hye, chairwoman]; Millennium Democratic Party or MDP [HAHN Hwa-kap, chairman]; United Liberal Democrats or ULD [KIM Hak-won, chairman]; Uri Party [LIM Chae-jung, interim chairman] | 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 [Mamadou TANDJA, 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]; Union of Democratic Patriots and Progressives-Chamoua or UPDP-Chamoua [Professor Andre' SALIFOU, chairman] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Federation of Korean Industries; Federation of Korean Trade Unions; Korean Confederation of Trade Unions; Korean National Council of Churches; Korean Traders Association; Korean Veterans' Association; National Council of Labor Unions; National Democratic Alliance of Korea; National Federation of Farmers' Associations; National Federation of Student Associations | NA |
Population | 48,598,175 (July 2004 est.) | 10,639,744 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 4% (2001 est.) | 63% (1993 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.62% (2004 est.) | 2.7% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Chinhae, Inch'on, Kunsan, Masan, Mokp'o, P'ohang, Pusan, Tonghae-hang, Ulsan, Yosu | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 58, FM 150, shortwave 2 (2004) | AM 5, FM 6, shortwave 4 (2001) |
Radios | - | 680,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 3,125 km
standard gauge: 3,125 km 1.435-m gauge (661 km electrified) (2003) |
0 km (2002) |
Religions | no affiliation 46%, Christian 26%, Buddhist 26%, Confucianist 1%, other 1% | Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christian |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.09 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.12 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 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 (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 20 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: excellent domestic and international services
domestic: NA international: country code - 82; fiber-optic submarine cable to China; the Russia-Korea-Japan submarine cable; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region) |
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: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 22.877 million (2003) | 20,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 33,591,800 (2003) | 6,700 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 64 (additionally 119 Cable Operators; 239 Relay Cable Operators) (2004) | 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (2002) |
Terrain | mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north |
Total fertility rate | 1.56 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 7 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 3.4% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 1,608 km
note: most navigable only by small craft (2004) |
300 km
note: the Niger River is navigable from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March |