Niger (2001) | Grenada (2004) | |
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Administrative divisions | 7 departments (departements, singular - departement), and 1 capital district* (capitale district); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder | 6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Petit Martinique*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
47.97% (male 2,528,484; female 2,439,051) 15-64 years: 49.75% (male 2,518,400; female 2,633,677) 65 years and over: 2.28% (male 123,589; female 111,955) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 34.5% (male 15,580; female 15,212)
15-64 years: 62% (male 29,321; female 26,104) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 1,467; female 1,673) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, citrus, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, vegetables |
Airports | 27 (2000 est.) | 3 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
18 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
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Area | total:
1.267 million sq km land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km |
total: 344 sq km
land: 344 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | twice the size of Washington, DC |
Background | 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 in December 1999. | One of the smallest independent countries in the western hemisphere, Grenada was seized by a Marxist military council on 19 October 1983. Six days later the island was invaded by US forces and those of six other Caribbean nations, which quickly captured the ringleaders and their hundreds of Cuban advisers. Free elections were reinstituted the following year. |
Birth rate | 50.68 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 22.61 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$377 million, including $146 million from foreign sources expenditures: $377 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1999 est.) |
revenues: $85.8 million
expenditures: $102.1 million, including capital expenditures of $28 million (1997) |
Capital | Niamey | Saint George's |
Climate | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south | tropical; tempered by northeast trade winds |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 121 km |
Constitution | the constitution of January 1993 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996 and again by referendum on 18 July 1999 | 19 December 1973 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Niger conventional short form: Niger local long form: Republique du Niger local short form: Niger |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Grenada |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) |
Death rate | 22.71 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 7.31 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.3 billion (1999 est.) | $196 million (2000) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Charles O. CECIL 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 |
chief of mission: the US Ambassador to Barbados, Ambassador Mary E. KRAMER, is accredited to Grenada
embassy: Lance-aux-Epines Stretch, Saint George's mailing address: P. O. Box 54, Saint George's, Grenada, West Indies telephone: [1] (473) 444-1173 through 1176 FAX: [1] (473) 444-4820 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Joseph DIATTA chancery: 2204 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4224 through 4227 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Denis G. ANTOINE
chancery: 1701 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 265-2561 FAX: [1] (202) 265-2468 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | Libya claims about 19,400 sq km in northern Niger; delimitation of international boundaries in the vicinity of Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, has been completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria | none |
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 |
$8.3 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | 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, the World Bank approved a structural adjustment loan of $35 million to help support fiscal reforms. However, reforms could prove difficult given the government's bleak financial situation. | Grenada relies on tourism as its main source of foreign exchange, especially since the construction of an international airport in 1985. Strong performances in construction and manufacturing, together with the development of an offshore financial industry, have also contributed to growth in national output. |
Electricity - consumption | 401 million kWh (1999) | 128.3 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 215 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 200 million kWh (1999) | 138 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Niger River 200 m highest point: Mont Greboun 1,944 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Saint Catherine 840 m |
Environment - current issues | overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction | NA |
Environment - international 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 |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | 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 | black 82%, mixed black and European 13%, European and East Indian 5% , and trace of Arawak/Carib Amerindian |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000), 2.7 (1999) |
Executive branch | 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 note: President Ibrahim BARE was assassinated on 9 April 1999; subsequent elections were held under the nine-month provisional government of Major Daouda Mallam WANKE cabinet: 23-member cabinet appointed by President TANDJA elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; last held 24 November 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Mamadou TANDJA elected president; percent of vote - Mamadou TANDJA 59.9%, Mahamadou ISSOUFOU 40.1% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Daniel WILLIAMS (since 9 August 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Keith MITCHELL (since 22 June 1995) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general |
Exports | $385 million (f.o.b., 1999) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | uranium ore 65%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions (1998 est.) | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, fruit and vegetables, clothing, mace |
Exports - partners | France 45%, Nigeria 27%, UK 11% (1999) | US 14.9%, Germany 12.8%, Netherlands 8.5%, Saint Lucia 8.5%, Antigua and Barbuda 6.4%, UK 6.4%, Belgium 4.3%, Dominica 4.3%, France 4.3%, Saint Kitts and Nevis 4.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 4.3% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 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 | a rectangle divided diagonally into yellow triangles (top and bottom) and green triangles (hoist side and outer side), with a red border around the flag; there are seven yellow, five-pointed stars with three centered in the top red border, three centered in the bottom red border, and one on a red disk superimposed at the center of the flag; there is also a symbolic nutmeg pod on the hoist-side triangle (Grenada is the world's second-largest producer of nutmeg, after Indonesia); the seven stars represent the seven administrative divisions |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $10 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $440 million (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
40% industry: 18% services: 42% (1998) |
agriculture: 7.7%
industry: 23.9% services: 68.4% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2000 est.) | 2.5% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 16 00 N, 8 00 E | 12 07 N, 61 40 W |
Geography - note | landlocked | the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada |
Highways | total:
10,100 km paved: 798 km unpaved: 9,302 km (1996) |
total: 1,040 km
paved: 638 km unpaved: 402 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
0.8% highest 10%: 35.4% (1995) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | - | small-scale cannabis cultivation; lesser transshipment point for marijuana and cocaine to US |
Imports | $317 million (f.o.b., 1999) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals | food, manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel |
Imports - partners | France 22%, Cote d'Ivoire 15%, Nigeria 8%, US 3% (1999) | US 30%, Trinidad and Tobago 26.8%, UK 5.2%, Japan 4.4% (2003) |
Independence | 3 August 1958 (from France) | 7 February 1974 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 0.7% (1997 est.) |
Industries | uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses | food and beverages, textiles, light assembly operations, tourism, construction |
Infant mortality rate | 123.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 14.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.18 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.8% (2000 est.) | 2.8% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 660 sq km (1993 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel | West Indies Associate States Supreme Court (an associate judge resides in Grenada) |
Labor force | 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries | 42,300 (1996) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4% | agriculture 24%, industry 14%, services 62% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | 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 |
0 km |
Land use | arable land:
3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 7% forests and woodland: 2% other: 88% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 5.88%
permanent crops: 29.41% other: 64.71% (2001) |
Languages | French (official), Hausa, Djerma | English (official), French patois |
Legal system | based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on English common law |
Legislative branch | 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 |
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 13-member body, 10 appointed by the government and three by the leader of the opposition) and the House of Representatives (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 27 November 2003 (next to be held by NA November 2008) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NNP 8, NDC 7 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
41.59 years male: 41.74 years female: 41.44 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 64.52 years
male: 62.74 years female: 66.31 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 13.6% male: 20.9% female: 6.6% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1970 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago |
Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | none |
Military branches | Army, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Police | no regular military forces; Royal Grenada Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $20 million (FY96) | NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.1% (FY96) | NA |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,202,608 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,190,787 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
108,993 (2001 est.) |
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National holiday | Republic Day, 18 December (1958) | Independence Day, 7 February (1974) |
Nationality | noun:
Nigerien(s) adjective: Nigerien |
noun: Grenadian(s)
adjective: Grenadian |
Natural hazards | recurring droughts | lies on edge of hurricane belt; hurricane season lasts from June to November |
Natural resources | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum | timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors |
Net migration rate | -0.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -13.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | 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] | Grenada United Labor Party or GULP [Herbert PREUDHOMME]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [leader vacant]; New National Party or NNP [George McGUIRE]; People Labor Movement or PLM [leader NA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 10,355,156 (July 2001 est.) | 89,357 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 63% (1993 est.) | 32% (2000) |
Population growth rate | 2.72% (2001 est.) | 0.14% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Grenville, Saint George's |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM 5, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 2, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 680,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | - |
Religions | Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians | Roman Catholic 53%, Anglican 13.8%, other Protestant 33.2% |
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 (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.12 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | 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) |
general assessment: automatic, islandwide telephone system
domestic: interisland VHF and UHF radiotelephone links international: country code - 1-473; new SHF radiotelephone links to Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent; VHF and UHF radio links to Trinidad |
Telephones - main lines in use | 16,000 (1997) | 33,500 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 13,000 (1995) | 7,600 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 10 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997) | 2 (1997) |
Terrain | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north | volcanic in origin with central mountains |
Total fertility rate | 7.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.41 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 12.5% (2000) |
Waterways | 300 km
note: the Niger River is navigable from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March |
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