y

Facts on niger

Map showing Niger's environmental features. Tan color indicates the four-fifths of northern Niger that is not suitable for cultivation or grazing. The white and green cross-hatching at the bottom indicates the one-fifth of Niger that supports limited livestock raising and the production of rain-fed drought-resistant crops like millet and sorghum. The southernmost and westernmost regions of Niger contain water sources, either seasonal streams or perenniel rivers, that support irrigated agriculture.Only about 255 square miles of Niger are currently irrigated.
NIGER is the fifth-largest country in Africa by land area, and it is about twice the size of Texas. Eighty percent of the country is dominated by the Sahara Desert, however, and only 3.5 percent of its land - most of it in the far south and west - is potentially arable. Moreover, only 255 square miles of Niger's arable land is irrigated, an area that would cover only one-quarter of Rhode Island. ADF is working with community-based agricultural and pastoral communities to help them acquire the resources and skills they need enhance their ability to respond effectively to Niger's environmental challenges, increase their food security, and develop sustainable income-generating activities.

Offical Country Name Republic of Niger
Location Landlocked nation in west Africa bordering on Mali, Algeria, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Benin, and Burkina Faso
Land Area 488,000 square miles
(about twice the size of Texas)
Languages French (official), Hausa, Djerma
Climate Semi-arid to arid
Environment Northern four-fifths are desert (Sahara)
Southern one-fifth is savanna suitable for livestock and limited rain-fed agriculture or more extensive irrigated agriculture in Niger River valley and along border with Nigeria
Environmental issues Recurring drought, overgrazing, soil erosion, deforestation, desertification, wildlife threatened by poaching and habitat degradation
Arable land 3.54 percent
Irrigated land 255 square miles
(about one-quarter the size of Rhode Island)
Population 11.7 million
Age structure 0-14 years: 47.3 percent
15-64 years: 50.6 percent
> 65 years: 2.1 percent
Median age 16.25 years
Life expectancy at birth 42.13 years
41.8 years (female)
42.5 years (male)
Infant mortality rate 121.7 deaths / 1,000 live births
Literacy rate (percentage over age 15 who can read and write with minimal proficiency)
17.6 percent (total)
25.8 percent (male)
9.7 percent (female)
Gross domestic product (GDP) US $9.716 billion
GDP per capita US $900 (purchasing power parity)
US $118 (EIU / Atlas method)
Population living below poverty line
(less than $1 / day)		 63 percent
Labor force employment in formal sector 70,000 (less than 1 percent of total population)
Agricultural products Cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava, rice, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, horses, poultry, onions
Natural resources Uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, petroleum
Export commodities Uranium, livestock, cowpeas, onions
Debt (2004) US $1.6 billion
International economic aid per year Approximately US $340 million

 


1400 I Street NW, 10th Floor | Washington. D.C. 20005-2248 | P: 202-673-3916 | F: 202.673.3810