Niger
Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational IssuesCountry name - conventional long form : Republic of Niger
Country name - conventional short form : Niger
Country name - local long form : Republique du Niger
Country name - local short form : Niger
Government type : republic
Capital - name : Niamey
Capital - time difference : UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
National holiday : Republic Day, 18 December (1958)
Population : 13,272,679 (July 2008 est.)
Nationality - noun : Nigerien(s)
Nationality - adjective : Nigerien
Languages : French (official), Hausa, Djerma
Currency (code) : Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Currency code : XOF
Major infectious diseases - degree of risk : very high
Major infectious diseases - note : highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)
Niger is located Western Africa, southeast of Algeria. The climate is desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south. The terrain is predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north.
Background
This entry usually highlights major historic events and current issues and may include a statement about one or two key future trends.Background : Niger became independent from France in 1960 and experienced single-party and military rule until 1991, when Gen. Ali SAIBOU was forced by public pressure to allow multiparty elections, which resulted in a democratic government in 1993. Political infighting brought the government to a standstill and in 1996 led to a coup by Col. Ibrahim BARE. In 1999 BARE was killed in a coup by military officers who promptly restored democratic rule and held elections that brought Mamadou TANDJA to power in December of that year. TANDJA was reelected in 2004. 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. A predominately Tuareg ethnic group emerged in February 2007, the Nigerien Movement for Justice (MNJ), and attacked several military targets in Niger's northern region throughout 2007. Events have since evolved into a budding insurrection.
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