Niger Country Profile

The following country profile was taken from the SIM.org website. Click here to see the page.

Welcome to the Republic of Niger, the largest country in West Africa. A landlocked country, 80 percent of the land is desert where the heat can be so intense that rain frequently vaporizes before it reaches the ground. The life expectancy at birth in Niger is 41 years. Most of the population is under 17 years old. Twelve percent of all infants die before their first birthday.

Niger is the largest country in West Africa and is 80% desert. It is a landlocked, arid nation in north central Africa, surrounded by Algeria, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali. The northern borders of Niger stretch to the middle regions of the Sahara Desert. The remaining 20% along the southern border consists of dry to semi-fertile savanna (grassland).
The rest of the region is still rain-fed. The southern border receives up to 76 cm (30 in) of rain in the wet season, but due to the dryness of the air, most of this quickly evaporates. Enough rain is retained to enable limited agriculture. Two-thirds of Niger receives less than 10 cm (4 in) of rain per year. Lake Chad has shrunk beyond the borders of Niger to the southeast.
The climate of Niger is hot and dry. Rainy season, negligible in the north, lasts from June to October in the south. The United Nations considers 39% of the population to be undernourished for lack of rain. According to the United Nations Development Index, it is the second poorest country in the world. The average annual temperature at the capital, Niamey, in the southeast, is 29°C (85°F). The days and nights are hot except from December to February when the nights get cooler.

Religion: At least 4,000 years ago, Niger was inhabited by a highly civilized people. Islam took root among the country's leaders a thousand years ago, but became the religion of the rural people only in the 19th century. Niger is predominantly Muslim. Despite constitutional religious freedom, pressures exist to make the nation more Islamic.
Livelihood: Ninety-five percent of the population lives on rain-fed agriculture, making little more than a subsistent living. The southern region-south of the Sahara Desert--consists of small-scale gardens along the banks of the Niger River to the southwest.

Ruins of cities preserved by the arid climate of the Sahara Desert indicate that a highly civilized people inhabited Niger 4,000 years ago. In the last 1,000 years, three empires have controlled this historically-important crossroads of the Sahara. The Borno Empire ruled the East around Lake Chad from the eighth to the nineteenth centuries; the Hausa Empire controlled the central regions during most of this same time; and the Songhai Empire dominated western Niger until 1591.
Islam spread into Niger in the tenth and eleventh centuries, taking root among the aristocracy and upper levels of the cities. It was not until the nineteenth century that it became the religion of the rural people.
The Scottish explorer, Mungo Park, who was killed on the Niger River in 1806, made the first recorded European contact with Niger. The British followed up his exploration in the ensuing years, seeking to learn more about this vast unknown region and to develop trade with African states. In 1890, France began its first military foray into the area. By 1899, she had begun the process of colonization. After much bloodshed, Niger became a French colony in 1921.
On August 3, 1960, Niger declared independence from France under the leadership of President Hamani Diori. In 1974, due to the economic and social problems created by the great drought of 1973, Diori was overthrown in a military coup led by Lieutenant General Seyni Kountche. Kountche maintained close ties with France and developed stronger relations with neighboring countries. He died in 1987 and General Ali Saibou became acting president. Following Niger's first democratic elections in 1993, Mahamane Ousmane became president.
The constitution introduced at independence was suspended in 1974 following a military coup. After that time the Supreme Military Council (CMS), with executive power vested in its chairman, ruled the country. In 1983, President Kountche set up a 150-member National Council of Development (CND) presided over by a civilian prime minister. It provided for a 93-seat National Assembly and President.
Between 1987 and 1999, several constitutions were created and abolished until Colonel Bare seized control of the government during a military coup. After a constitutional convention and subsequent changes to the document, he was elected president in a contested democratic election in 1996 and assassinated 1999.