Taiwan (2003) | Niger (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | the central administrative divisions include the provinces of Fu-chien (some 20 offshore islands of Fujian Province including Quemoy and Matsu) and Taiwan (the island of Taiwan and the Pescadores islands); Taiwan is further subdivided into 16 counties (hsien, singular and plural), 5 municipalities* (shih, singular and plural), and 2 special municipalities** (chuan-shih, singular and plural); Chang-hua, Chia-i, Chia-i*, Chi-lung*, Hsin-chu, Hsin-chu*, Hua-lien, I-lan, Kao-hsiung, Kao-hsiung**, Miao-li, Nan-t'ou, P'eng-hu, P'ing-tung, T'ai-chung, T'ai-chung*, T'ai-nan, T'ai-nan*, T'ai-pei, T'ai-pei**, T'ai-tung, T'ao-yuan, and Yun-lin; the provincial capital is at Chung-hsing-hsin-ts'un
note: Taiwan uses the Wade-Giles system for romanization |
7 departments (departements, singular - departement) and 1 capital district* (capitale district); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 20.1% (male 2,366,560; female 2,175,886)
15-64 years: 70.6% (male 8,095,741; female 7,871,954) 65 years and over: 9.3% (male 1,074,112; female 1,018,747) (2003 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, corn, vegetables, fruit, tea; pigs, poultry, beef, milk; fish | cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry |
Airports | 39 (2002) | 26 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 37
over 3,047 m: 8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
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: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 18
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
Area | total: 35,980 sq km
land: 32,260 sq km water: 3,720 sq km note: includes the Pescadores, Matsu, and Quemoy |
total: 1.267 million sq km
land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
Background | In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. It reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1947 constitution drawn up for all of China. Over the next five decades, the ruling authorities gradually democratized and incorporated the native population within the governing structure. In 2000, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist to the Democratic Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the island prospered and became one of East Asia's economic "Tigers." The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship between Taiwan and China - specifically the question of eventual unification - as well as domestic political and economic reform. | 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 | 12.74 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 49.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $36 billion
expenditures: $36.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.) |
revenues: $320 million, including $134 million from foreign sources
expenditures: $320 million, including capital expenditures of $178 million (2002 est.) |
Capital | Taipei | Niamey |
Climate | tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south |
Coastline | 1,566.3 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 1 January 1947, amended in 1992, 1994, 1997, and 1999 | 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: none
conventional short form: Taiwan local long form: none local short form: T'ai-wan former: Formosa |
conventional long form: Republic of Niger
conventional short form: Niger local long form: Republique du Niger local short form: Niger |
Currency | new Taiwan dollar (TWD) | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States |
Death rate | 6.2 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 22.25 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $24.7 billion (2002) | $1.6 billion (1999 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people on Taiwan are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality - the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) - which has offices in the US and Taiwan; US office located at 1700 N. Moore St., Suite 1700, Arlington, VA 22209-1996, telephone: [1] (703) 525-8474, FAX: [1] (703) 841-1385); Taiwan offices located at #7 Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3, Taipei, Taiwan, telephone: [886] (2) 2709-2000, FAX: [886] (2) 2702-7675; #2 Chung Cheng 3rd Road, 5th Floor, Kao-hsiung, Taiwan, telephone: [886] (7) 224-0154 through 0157, FAX: [886] (7) 223-8237; and the American Trade Center, Room 3208 International Trade Building, Taipei World Trade Center, 333 Keelung Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan 10548, telephone: [886] (2) 2720-1550, FAX: [886] (2) 2757-7162 | 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 | none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of the US are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the US with headquarters in Taipei and field offices in Washington and 12 other US cities | 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 | involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea", a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding "code of conduct"; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does China | 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 - 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 | Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with gradually decreasing guidance of investment and foreign trade by government authorities. In keeping with this trend, some large government-owned banks and industrial firms are being privatized. Exports have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. The trade surplus is substantial, and foreign reserves are the world's third largest. Agriculture contributes 2% to GDP, down from 32% in 1952. While Taiwan is a major investor throughout Southeast Asia, China has become the largest destination for investment and has overtaken the US to become Taiwan's largest export market. Because of its conservative financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from the Asian financial crisis in 1998. The global economic downturn, combined with problems in policy coordination by the administration and bad debts in the banking system, pushed Taiwan into recession in 2001, the first year of negative growth ever recorded. Unemployment also reached record levels. Output recovered moderately in 2002 in the face of continued global slowdown, fragile consumer confidence, and bad bank loans. Growing economic ties with China are a dominant long-term factor. Exports to China - mainly parts and equipment for the assembly of goods for export to developed countries - drove Taiwan's economic recovery in 2002. | 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 | 140.5 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 | 151.1 billion kWh (2001) | 220 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 71.4%
hydro: 6% nuclear: 22.6% other: 0% (2001) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Yu Shan 3,952 m |
lowest point: Niger River 200 m
highest point: Mont Bagzane 2,022 m |
Environment - current issues | air pollution; water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage; contamination of drinking water supplies; trade in endangered species; low-level radioactive waste disposal | 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: none of the selected agreements because of Taiwan's international status
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements because of Taiwan's international status |
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 | Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, aborigine 2% | 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 | 34.88 (2002), 34.74 (2001), 33.09 (2000), 31.6 (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 CHEN Shui-bian (since 20 May 2000) and Vice President Annette LU (LU Hsiu-lien) (since 20 May 2000)
head of government: Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) YU Shyi-kun (since 1 February 2002) and Vice Premier (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) LIN Hsin-yi (since 1 February 2002) cabinet: Executive Yuan appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 18 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); premier appointed by the president; vice premiers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier election results: CHEN Shui-bian elected president; percent of vote - CHEN Shui-bian (DPP) 39.3%, James SOONG (SOONG Chu-yu) (PFP) 36.84%, LIEN Chan (KMT) 23.1%, HSU Hsin-liang (independent) 0.63%, LEE Ao (CNP) 0.13% |
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 | NA (2001) | $246 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and electrical equipment 54%, metals, textiles, plastics, chemicals (2002) | uranium ore 65%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions (1998 est.) |
Exports - partners | Hong Kong 23.9%, US 20.8%, Japan 9.3%, China 7.7% (2002) | France 43.4%, Nigeria 35.0%, Spain 4.5%, US 3.9% (2000) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June (up to FY98/99); 1 July 1999 - 31 December 2000 for FY00; calendar year (after FY00) | calendar year |
Flag description | red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays | 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 - $406 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $8.4 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 2%
industry: 31% services: 67% (2002 est.) |
agriculture: 41%
industry: 17% services: 42% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $18,000 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $820 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2002 est.) | 3.1% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 23 30 N, 121 00 E | 16 00 N, 8 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location adjacent to both the Taiwan Strait and the Luzon 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 | 3 (2002) | - |
Highways | total: 35,931 km
paved: 31,583 km (including 608 km of expressways) unpaved: 4,348 km (2000) |
total: 10,100 km
paved: 798 km unpaved: 9,302 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 6.4%
highest 10%: 41.1% (2002 est.) |
lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 35% (1995) (1995) |
Illicit drugs | regional transit point for heroin and methamphetamine; major problem with domestic consumption of methamphetamine and heroin | - |
Imports | NA (2001) | $331 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and electrical equipment 44.5%, minerals, precision instruments (2002) | consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals |
Imports - partners | Japan 24.3%, US 16.1%, China 7.1%, South Korea 6.9% (2002) | France 16.8%, Cote d'Ivoire 13.4%, US 9.6%, Nigeria 7.6% (2000) |
Independence | - | 3 August 1960 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 6% (2002) | NA% |
Industries | electronics, petroleum refining, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing | uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses |
Infant mortality rate | total: 6.65 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.34 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
122.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -0.2% (2002 est.) | 4.2% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | APEC, AsDB, BCIE, ICC, ICFTU, IFRCS, IOC, WCL, WTrO | 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) | 8 (2000) | 1 (2002) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 660 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Judicial Yuan (justices appointed by the president with consent of the National Assembly; note - beginning in 2003, justices will be appointed by the president with consent of the Legislative Yuan) | State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 10 million (2003) | 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries |
Labor force - by occupation | services 58%, industry 35%, agriculture 7% (2001 est.) | agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4% |
Land boundaries | 0 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: 24%
permanent crops: 1% other: 75% |
arable land: 3.94%
permanent crops: 0% other: 96.06% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects | French (official), Hausa, Djerma |
Legal system | based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Yuan (225 seats - 168 elected by popular vote, 41 elected on the basis of the proportion of islandwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected from overseas Chinese constituencies on the basis of the proportion of islandwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected by popular vote among the aboriginal populations; members serve three-year terms) and unicameral National Assembly (300 seat nonstanding body; delegates nominated by parties and elected by proportional representation within three months of a Legislative Yuan call to amend the Constitution, impeach the president, or change national borders)
elections: Legislative Yuan - last held 8 December 2001 (next to be held NA December 2004); note - the National Assembly is a nonstanding body and is called into session election results: Legislative Yuan - percent of vote by party - DPP 39%, KMT 30%, PFP 20%, TSU 6%, independents and other parties 5%; seats by party - DPP 87, KMT 68, PFP 46, TSU 13, independents and other parties 11 |
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: 76.87 years
male: 74.12 years female: 79.88 years (2003 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: 86% male: 93% female: 79% (1980) note: literacy for the total population has reportedly increased to 94% (1998) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 15.3% male: 21.2% female: 9.4% (2002) |
Location | Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Africa |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 142 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 3,973,958 GRT/6,306,361 DWT
ships by type: bulk 41, cargo 22, chemical tanker 2, combination bulk 3, container 45, petroleum tanker 18, refrigerated cargo 9, roll on/roll off 2 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Hong Kong 3, Japan 1 (2002 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), Air Force, Coast Guard Administration, Armed Forces Reserve Command, Combined Service Forces Command | Army, Air Force, Gendarmerie, National Intervention and Security Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $7.574 billion (FY02) | $20.9 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.7% (FY02) | 1.3% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 6,583,604 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49: 2,270,793 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 5,019,268 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49: 1,227,994 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 19 years of age (2003 est.) | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 189,967 (2003 est.) | males: 108,993 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Republic Day (Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution), 10 October (1911) | Republic Day, 18 December (1958) |
Nationality | noun: Chinese/Taiwanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese/Taiwanese |
noun: Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien |
Natural hazards | earthquakes and typhoons | recurring droughts |
Natural resources | small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, and asbestos | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | -0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | condensate 25 km; gas 435 km (2003) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [CHEN Shui-bian, chairman]; Kuomintang or KMT (Nationalist Party) [LIEN Chan, chairman]; People First Party or PFP [James SOONG (SOONG Chu-yu), chairman]; Taiwan Solidarity Union or TSU [HUANG Chu-wen, chairman]; other minor parties including the Chinese New Party or CNP | 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 | Taiwan independence movement, various business and environmental groups
note: debate on Taiwan independence has become acceptable within the mainstream of domestic politics on Taiwan; political liberalization and the increased representation of opposition parties in Taiwan's legislature have opened public debate on the island's national identity; a broad popular consensus has developed that Taiwan currently enjoys de facto independence and - whatever the ultimate outcome regarding reunification or independence - that Taiwan's people must have the deciding voice; advocates of Taiwan independence oppose the stand that the island will eventually unify with mainland China; goals of the Taiwan independence movement include establishing a sovereign nation on Taiwan and entering the UN; other organizations supporting Taiwan independence include the World United Formosans for Independence and the Organization for Taiwan Nation Building |
NA |
Population | 22,603,001 (July 2003 est.) | 10,639,744 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 1% (2000 est.) | 63% (1993 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.65% (2003 est.) | 2.7% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Chi-lung (Keelung), Hua-lien, Kao-hsiung, Su-ao, T'ai-chung | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 218, FM 333, shortwave 50 (1999) | AM 5, FM 6, shortwave 4 (2001) |
Radios | - | 680,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 1,108 km
narrow gauge: 1,108 km 1.067-m gauge (519 km electrified) note: there also are 1,255 km of 1.067-m gauge routes belonging to the Taiwan Sugar Corporation and to the Taiwan Forestry Bureau used to haul products and limited numbers of passengers (2002) |
0 km (2002) |
Religions | mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5% | Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christian |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.1 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.05 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2003 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: provides telecommunications service for every business and private need
domestic: thoroughly modern; completely digitalized international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); submarine cables to Japan (Okinawa), Philippines, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe (1999) |
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 | 12.49 million (September 2000) | 20,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 16 million (September 2000) | 6,700 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 29 (plus two repeaters) (1997) | 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (2002) |
Terrain | eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north |
Total fertility rate | 1.57 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 7 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 5.2% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | NA | 300 km
note: the Niger River is navigable from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March |