Niger (2001) | Jamaica (2001) | |
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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 | 14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland |
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:
29.7% (male 405,189; female 386,555) 15-64 years: 63.52% (male 845,226; female 847,944) 65 years and over: 6.78% (male 80,667; female 100,055) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk |
Airports | 27 (2000 est.) | 35 (2000 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:
11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (2000 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.) |
total:
24 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 22 (2000 est.) |
Area | total:
1.267 million sq km land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km |
total:
10,990 sq km land: 10,830 sq km water: 160 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | slightly smaller than Connecticut |
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. | Jamaica gained full independence within the British Commonwealth in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence and a dropoff in tourism. Elections in 1980 saw the democratic socialists voted out of office. Subsequent governments have been open market oriented. Political violence marred elections during the 1990s. |
Birth rate | 50.68 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 18.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$377 million, including $146 million from foreign sources expenditures: $377 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1999 est.) |
revenues:
$2.23 billion expenditures: $2.56 billion, including capital expenditures of $232.5 million (FY99/00 est.) |
Capital | Niamey | Kingston |
Climate | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south | tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 1,022 km |
Constitution | the constitution of January 1993 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996 and again by referendum on 18 July 1999 | 6 August 1962 |
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: Jamaica |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | Jamaican dollar (JMD) |
Death rate | 22.71 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.3 billion (1999 est.) | $4.7 billion (2000 est.) |
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:
Ambassador Stanley Louis MCLELLAND embassy: Jamaica Mutual Life Center, 2 Oxford Road, 3rd floor, Kingston 5 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [1] (876) 929-4850 through 4859 FAX: [1] (876) 926-6743 |
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 Richard Leighton BERNAL chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660 FAX: [1] (202) 452-0081 consulate(s) general: Miami and 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 |
$102.7 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. | Key sectors in this island economy are bauxite (alumina and bauxite account for more than half of exports) and tourism. Since assuming office in 1992, Prime Minister PATTERSON has eliminated most price controls, streamlined tax schedules, and privatized government enterprises. Continued tight monetary and fiscal policies have helped slow inflation - although inflationary pressures are mounting - and stabilize the exchange rate, but have resulted in the slowdown of economic growth (moving from 1.5% in 1992 to 0.5% in 1995). In 1996, GDP showed negative growth (-1.4%) and remained negative through 1999. Serious problems include: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; the weak financial condition of business in general resulting in receiverships or closures and downsizings of companies; the shift in investment portfolios to non-productive, short-term high yield instruments; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit; and a growing internal debt for government bailouts to various ailing sectors of the economy, particularly the financial sector. Depressed economic conditions in 1999-2000 led to increased civil unrest, including a mounting crime rate. Jamaica's medium-term prospects will depend upon encouraging investment in the productive sectors, maintaining a competitive exchange rate, stabilizing the labor environment, selling off reacquired firms, and implementing proper fiscal and monetary policies. |
Electricity - consumption | 401 million kWh (1999) | 6.073 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 215 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 200 million kWh (1999) | 6.53 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel:
92.28% hydro: 1.36% nuclear: 0% other: 6.36% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Niger River 200 m highest point: Mont Greboun 1,944 m |
lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 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 | heavy rates of deforestation; coastal waters polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air pollution in Kingston results from vehicle emissions |
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, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands 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 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1% |
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 | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 45.557 (January 2001), 42.701 (2000), 39.044 (1999), 36.550 (1998), 35.404 (1997), 37.120 (1996) |
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 Sir Howard Felix COOKE (since 1 August 1991) head of government: Prime Minister Percival James PATTERSON (since 30 March 1992) and Deputy Prime Minister Seymour MULLINGS (since NA 1993) 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 on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general |
Exports | $385 million (f.o.b., 1999) | $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | uranium ore 65%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions (1998 est.) | alumina, bauxite; sugar, bananas, rum |
Exports - partners | France 45%, Nigeria 27%, UK 11% (1999) | US 35.7%, EU (excluding UK) 15.8%, UK 13%, Canada 10.5% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
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 | diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $10 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $9.7 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
40% industry: 18% services: 42% (1998) |
agriculture:
7.4% industry: 35.2% services: 57.4% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2000 est.) | 0.2% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 16 00 N, 8 00 E | 18 15 N, 77 30 W |
Geography - note | landlocked | strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for Panama Canal |
Highways | total:
10,100 km paved: 798 km unpaved: 9,302 km (1996) |
total:
19,000 km paved: 13,433 km unpaved: 5,567 km (1997) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
0.8% highest 10%: 35.4% (1995) |
lowest 10%:
2.9% highest 10%: 28.9% (1996) |
Illicit drugs | - | major transshipment point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program; corruption is a major concern |
Imports | $317 million (f.o.b., 1999) | $3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals | machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals, fertilizers |
Imports - partners | France 22%, Cote d'Ivoire 15%, Nigeria 8%, US 3% (1999) | US 47.8%, Caricom countries 12.4%, Latin America 7.2%, EU (excluding UK) 4.7% (1999) |
Independence | 3 August 1958 (from France) | 6 August 1962 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | -2% (2000 est.) |
Industries | uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses | tourism, bauxite, textiles, food processing, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products |
Infant mortality rate | 123.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 14.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.8% (2000 est.) | 8.8% (2000 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, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 21 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 660 sq km (1993 est.) | 350 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal |
Labor force | 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries | 1.13 million (1998) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4% | services 60%, agriculture 21%, industry 19% (1998) |
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:
14% permanent crops: 6% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 17% other: 39% (1993 est.) |
Languages | French (official), Hausa, Djerma | English, Creole |
Legal system | based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 21-member body appointed by the governor general on the recommendations of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; ruling party is allocated 13 seats, and the opposition is allocated eight seats) and the House of Representatives (60 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 18 December 1997 (next to be held by March 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PNP 50, JLP 10 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
41.59 years male: 41.74 years female: 41.44 years (2001 est.) |
total population:
75.42 years male: 73.45 years female: 77.49 years (2001 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 has ever attended school total population: 85% male: 80.8% female: 89.1% (1995 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba |
Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,930 GRT/3,065 DWT ships by type: petroleum tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Police | Jamaica Defense Force (includes Ground Forces, Coast Guard, and Air Wing), Jamaica Constabulary Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $20 million (FY96) | $30 million (FY95/96 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.1% (FY96) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,202,608 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49:
736,627 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,190,787 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49:
517,077 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
108,993 (2001 est.) |
males:
27,729 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Republic Day, 18 December (1958) | Independence Day, first Monday in August (1962) |
Nationality | noun:
Nigerien(s) adjective: Nigerien |
noun:
Jamaican(s) adjective: Jamaican |
Natural hazards | recurring droughts | hurricanes (especially July to November) |
Natural resources | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum | bauxite, gypsum, limestone |
Net migration rate | -0.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -7.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | petroleum products 10 km |
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] | Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Edward SEAGA]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Percival James PATTERSON] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) |
Population | 10,355,156 (July 2001 est.) | 2,665,636 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 63% (1993 est.) | 34.2% (1992 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.72% (2001 est.) | 0.51% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM 5, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 680,000 (1997) | 1.215 million (1997) |
Railways | 0 km | total:
370 km standard gauge: 370 km 1.435-m gauge; note - 207 km belong to the Jamaica Railway Corporation in common carrier service, but are no longer operational; the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite |
Religions | Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians | Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%, Anglican 5.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Methodist 2.7%, United Church 2.7%, Brethren 1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.6%, Moravian 1.1%), Roman Catholic 4%, other, including some spiritual cults 34.7% |
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:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 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:
fully automatic domestic telephone network domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables |
Telephones - main lines in use | 16,000 (1997) | 353,000 (1996) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 13,000 (1995) | 54,640 (1996) |
Television broadcast stations | 10 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997) | 7 (1997) |
Terrain | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain |
Total fertility rate | 7.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 16% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | 300 km
note: the Niger River is navigable from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March |
none |