Niger (2004) | Tuvalu (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | 7 departments (departements, singular - departement) and 1 capital district* (capitale district); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder | none |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 47.5% (male 2,749,039; female 2,643,479)
15-64 years: 50.4% (male 2,799,125; female 2,925,133) 65 years and over: 2.1% (male 128,101; female 115,661) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 32.6% (male 1,851; female 1,785)
15-64 years: 62.3% (male 3,335; female 3,607) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 233; female 335) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry | coconuts; fish |
Airports | 27 (2003 est.) | 1 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | 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.) |
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
Area | total: 1.267 million sq km
land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km |
total: 26 sq km
land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | 0.1 times 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 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. | In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over the next dozen years. |
Birth rate | 48.91 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 21.44 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $320 million - including $134 million from foreign sources
expenditures: $320 million, including capital expenditures of $178 million (2002 est.) |
revenues: $22.5 million
expenditures: $11.2 million, including capital expenditures of $4.2 million (2000 est.) |
Capital | Niamey | Fongafale |
Climate | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south | tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 24 km |
Constitution | a new constitution was adopted 18 July 1999 | 1 October 1978 |
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: Tuvalu former: Ellice Islands note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | Australian dollar (AUD); note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar |
Death rate | 21.51 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 7.45 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.6 billion (1999 est.) | $NA |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu |
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 FAX: [1] (202)483-3169 |
Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, New York 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534 |
Disputes - international | Libya claims about 25,000 sq km in a currently dormant dispute; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated, and ICJ ad hoc judges have been selected to rule on disputed Niger and Mekrou River islands; Lake Chad Commission continues to urge signatories Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over the lake region, which remains the site of armed clashes among local populations and militias | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $341 million (1997) | $13 million (1999 est.); note - major donors are Japan, Australia, and the US (1999 est.) |
Economy - overview | Niger is a poor, landlocked Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy centers on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, and 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. Further disbursements of aid occurred in 2002. Future growth may be sustained by exploitation of oil, gold, coal, and other mineral resources. | Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. About 1,000 Tuvaluans work in Nauru in the phosphate mining industry. Nauru has begun repatriating Tuvaluans, however, as phosphate resources decline. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this Fund has grown from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu, with 1999 payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries at about $9 million, a total which is expected to rise annually. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new technology sources could raise GDP substantially over the next decade. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and investment income from overseas assets. |
Electricity - consumption | 325.1 million kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 100 million kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production | 242 million kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Niger River 200 m
highest point: Mont Bagzane 2,022 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 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 | since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is very concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea |
party to: Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Law of the Sea |
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 | Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4% |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 581.2 (2003), 696.988 (2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699 (1999) | Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.9354 (January 2002), 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997) |
Executive branch | 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: 23-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% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Tomasi PUAPUA, M.D. (since 26 June 1998)
head of government: Prime Minister Saufatu SOPOANGA (since 2 August 2002) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 2 August 2002 (next to be held NA) election results: Saufatu SOPOANGA elected prime minister; Parliamentary vote - Saufatu SOPOANGA 8, Amasone KILEI 7 |
Exports | NA (2001) | $276,000 f.o.b. (1997) |
Exports - commodities | uranium ore, livestock, cowpeas, onions | copra, fish |
Exports - partners | France 42.2%, Nigeria 28.9%, Japan 17.2%, Spain 4.4% (2003) | Sweden, Fiji, Iceland, Germany, Greece (2000) |
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 | light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $9.062 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $12.2 million (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 39%
industry: 17% services: 44% (2001) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $800 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.8% (2003 est.) | 3% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 16 00 N, 8 00 E | 8 00 S, 178 00 E |
Geography - note | 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 | one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon |
Highways | total: 10,100 km
paved: 798 km unpaved: 9,302 km (1999 est.) |
total: 19.5 km
paved: 0 km unpaved: 19.5 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.8%
highest 10%: 35.4% (1995) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA (2001) | $7.2 million c.i.f. (1998) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals | food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods |
Imports - partners | France 16.4%, Cote d'Ivoire 13.8%, China 10.5%, Nigeria 7.7%, US 5.5%, Japan 4.9% (2003) | Fiji, Australia, Portugal, NZ (2000) |
Independence | 3 August 1960 (from France) | 1 October 1978 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA (2001 est.) | NA% |
Industries | uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses | fishing, tourism, copra |
Infant mortality rate | total: 122.66 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 126.96 deaths/1,000 live births female: 118.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
22 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3% (2002 est.) | 5% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | 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 | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, IFRCS (associate), ITU, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WTrO (applicant) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 660 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel | High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction) |
Labor force | 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries (2002 est.) | 7,000 (2001 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4% | people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors) |
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: 3.54%
permanent crops: 0.01% other: 96.45% (2001) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
Languages | French (official), Hausa, Djerma | Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui) |
Legal system | based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | NA |
Legislative branch | 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, Social Democratic Rally 7 RDP 6i ANDP 5, Party for Socialism and Democarcy in Niger 1, other 8 |
unicameral Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 25 July 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 42.18 years
male: 42.38 years female: 41.97 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 66.98 years
male: 64.83 years female: 69.23 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 17.6% male: 25.8% female: 9.7% (2003 est.) |
definition: percentage of people over the age of 15 who can read and write
total population: 55% (1996) male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria | Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 31,021 GRT/52,198 DWT
ships by type: cargo 3, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Germany 5 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Air Force, National Intervention and Security Force | no regular military forces; Police Force (includes Maritime Surveillance Unit for search and rescue missions and surveillance operations) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $21.7 million (2003) | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.1% (2003) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,460,637 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,333,027 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 122,363 (2004 est.) | - |
National holiday | Republic Day, 18 December (1958) | Independence Day, 1 October (1978) |
Nationality | noun: Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien |
noun: Tuvaluan(s)
adjective: Tuvaluan |
Natural hazards | recurring droughts | severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level |
Natural resources | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum | fish |
Net migration rate | -0.67 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | 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 [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]; Party for Socialism and Democracy in Niger [leader NA]; Rally for Democracy and Progress or RDP [leader NA]; Union of Democratic Patriots and Progressives-Chamoua or UPDP-Chamoua [Professor Andre' SALIFOU, chairman] | there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
Population | 11,360,538 (July 2004 est.) | 11,146 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 63% (1993 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.67% (2004 est.) | 1.4% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Funafuti, Nukufetau |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM 6, shortwave 4 (2001) | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1999) |
Radios | - | 4,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christian | Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6% |
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: 1.11 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2002 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: country code - 227; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
general assessment: serves particular needs for internal communications
domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 22,400 (2002) | 1,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 24,000 (2003) | 0 (1994) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (2002) | 0 (1997) |
Terrain | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north | very low-lying and narrow coral atolls |
Total fertility rate | 6.83 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 3.07 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA (2002 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 300 km
note: Niger River is navigable to Gaya between September and March (2004) |
none |