Niger (2001) | Virgin Islands (2008) | |
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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 | none (territory of the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are three islands at the second order; Saint Croix, Saint John, Saint Thomas |
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: 21.8% (male 11,897/female 11,696)
15-64 years: 66.5% (male 34,204/female 37,911) 65 years and over: 11.7% (male 5,642/female 7,098) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry | fruit, vegetables, sorghum; Senepol cattle |
Airports | 27 (2000 est.) | 2 (2007) |
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: 2
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
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: 1,910 sq km
land: 346 sq km water: 1,564 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. | During the 17th century, the archipelago was divided into two territorial units, one English and the other Danish. Sugarcane, produced by slave labor, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1917, the US purchased the Danish portion, which had been in economic decline since the abolition of slavery in 1848. |
Birth rate | 50.68 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 13.68 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$377 million, including $146 million from foreign sources expenditures: $377 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1999 est.) |
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
Capital | Niamey | name: Charlotte Amalie
geographic coordinates: 18 21 N, 64 56 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south | subtropical, tempered by easterly trade winds, relatively low humidity, little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season September to November |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 188 km |
Constitution | the constitution of January 1993 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996 and again by referendum on 18 July 1999 | Revised Organic Act of 22 July 1954 |
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: United States Virgin Islands
conventional short form: Virgin Islands former: Danish West Indies abbreviation: USVI |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | - |
Death rate | 22.71 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.59 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.3 billion (1999 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | organized, unincorporated territory of the US with policy relations between the Virgin Islands and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior |
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 |
none (territory of the US) |
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 |
none (territory of the US) |
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 |
$NA |
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. | Tourism is the primary economic activity, accounting for 80% of GDP and employment. The islands hosted 2.6 million visitors in 2005. The manufacturing sector consists of petroleum refining, textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and watch assembly. One of the world's largest petroleum refineries is at Saint Croix. The agricultural sector is small, with most food being imported. International business and financial services are small but growing components of the economy. The islands are vulnerable to substantial damage from storms. The government is working to improve fiscal discipline, to support construction projects in the private sector, to expand tourist facilities, to reduce crime, and to protect the environment. |
Electricity - consumption | 401 million kWh (1999) | 926.4 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 215 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 200 million kWh (1999) | 996.1 million kWh (2005) |
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: Crown Mountain 475 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 | lack of natural freshwater resources |
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 |
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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 76.2%, white 13.1%, Asian 1.1%, other 6.1%, mixed 3.5% (2000 census) |
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 | the US dollar is used |
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: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001)
head of government: Governor John DeJONGH (since 1 January 2007) cabinet: NA elections: under the US Constitution, residents of unincorporated territories, such as the Virgin Islands, do not vote in elections for US president and vice president; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 7 and 21 November 2006 (next to be held November 2010) election results: John DeJONGH elected governor; percent of vote - John DeJONGH 57.3%, Kenneth MAPP 42.7% |
Exports | $385 million (f.o.b., 1999) | 397,400 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | uranium ore 65%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions (1998 est.) | refined petroleum products |
Exports - partners | France 45%, Nigeria 27%, UK 11% (1999) | US, Puerto Rico (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 October - 30 September |
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 | white, with a modified US coat of arms in the center between the large blue initials V and I; the coat of arms shows a yellow eagle holding an olive branch in one talon and three arrows in the other with a superimposed shield of vertical red and white stripes below a blue panel |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $10 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
40% industry: 18% services: 42% (1998) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 19% services: 80% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2000 est.) | 2% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 16 00 N, 8 00 E | 18 20 N, 64 50 W |
Geography - note | landlocked | important location along the Anegada Passage - a key shipping lane for the Panama Canal; Saint Thomas has one of the best natural deepwater harbors in the Caribbean |
Highways | total:
10,100 km paved: 798 km unpaved: 9,302 km (1996) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
0.8% highest 10%: 35.4% (1995) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $317 million (f.o.b., 1999) | 493,000 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals | crude oil, foodstuffs, consumer goods, building materials |
Imports - partners | France 22%, Cote d'Ivoire 15%, Nigeria 8%, US 3% (1999) | US, Puerto Rico (2006) |
Independence | 3 August 1958 (from France) | none (territory of the US) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses | tourism, petroleum refining, watch assembly, rum distilling, construction, pharmaceuticals, textiles, electronics |
Infant mortality rate | 123.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 7.69 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.75 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.8% (2000 est.) | 2.2% (2003) |
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 | IOC, UPU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 660 sq km (1993 est.) | NA |
Judicial branch | State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel | US District Court of the Virgin Islands (under Third Circuit jurisdiction); Superior Court of the Virgin Islands (judges appointed by the governor for 10-year terms) |
Labor force | 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries | 43,980 (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4% | agriculture: 1%
industry: 19% services: 80% (2003 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: 5.71%
permanent crops: 2.86% other: 91.43% (2005) |
Languages | French (official), Hausa, Djerma | English 74.7%, Spanish or Spanish Creole 16.8%, French or French Creole 6.6%, other 1.9% (2000 census) |
Legal system | based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on US laws |
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 |
unicameral Senate (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections: last held 7 November 2006 (next to be held November 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 8, ICM 4, independent 3 note: the Virgin Islands elects one non-voting representative to the US House of Representatives; election last held 7 November 2006 (next to be held November 2008) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
41.59 years male: 41.74 years female: 41.44 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 79.2 years
male: 75.4 years female: 83.22 years (2007 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: 90-95% est. male: NA% female: NA% (2005 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico |
Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the US |
Military branches | Army, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Police | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $20 million (FY96) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.1% (FY96) | - |
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) | Transfer Day (from Denmark to the US), 27 March (1917) |
Nationality | noun:
Nigerien(s) adjective: Nigerien |
noun: Virgin Islander(s) (US citizens)
adjective: Virgin Islander |
Natural hazards | recurring droughts | several hurricanes in recent years; frequent and severe droughts and floods; occasional earthquakes |
Natural resources | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum | sun, sand, sea, surf |
Net migration rate | -0.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -8.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 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] | Democratic Party [Arturo WATLINGTON]; Independent Citizens' Movement or ICM [Usie RICHARDS]; Republican Party [Gary SPRAUVE] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 10,355,156 (July 2001 est.) | 108,448 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 63% (1993 est.) | 28.9% (2002) |
Population growth rate | 2.72% (2001 est.) | -0.171% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM 5, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 6, FM 16, shortwave 0 (2005) |
Radios | 680,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | - |
Religions | Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians | Baptist 42%, Roman Catholic 34%, Episcopalian 17%, other 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: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.017 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.902 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.795 male(s)/female total population: 0.912 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal; island residents are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections |
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: modern system with total digital switching, uses fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay
domestic: full range of services available international: country code - 1-340; submarine cable connections to US, the Caribbean, Central and South America; satellite earth stations - NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 16,000 (1997) | 71,700 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 13,000 (1995) | 80,300 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 10 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997) | 5 (2006) |
Terrain | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north | mostly hilly to rugged and mountainous with little level land |
Total fertility rate | 7.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.16 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 6.2% (2004) |
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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