Niger held elections in February 2016. The NigerienParty for Democracy and Socialism–Tarayya wonmore National Assembly seats than any other

party, although not enough to have a majority. In the pres-idential election, the party’s candidate, incumbentMahamadou Issoufou, won 48% of the votes; his nearestcompetitor, Hama Amadou, won 17%. The two advancedto a runoff held in March. Before the runoff was held,however, the coalition to which Amadou’s party belongedannounced that it would boycott the election because ofalleged electoral process irregularities. Issoufou was easi-ly reelected, winning more than 92% of the vote.

DemographyPopulation (2016): 19,609,000.Density (2016): persons per sq mi 40.1,persons per sq km 15.5.

Sex distribution (2014): male 50.18%;female 49.82%.

Population projection: (2020) 23,017,000;(2030) 34,046,000.

Major cities (2012): Niamey 978,029;Maradi 267,249; Zinder235,605; Tahoua 117,826;Agadez 110,497.

Urban-rural (2014):

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 pop-ulation (2015): 45.5(world avg. 19.5).

Death rate per 1,000 pop-ulation (2015): 12.4(world avg. 8.1).

Natural increase rate per1,000 population (2015):33.1 (world avg. 11.4).

Life expectancy at birth(2015): male 53.9 years;female 56.4 years.

Age breakdown (2015):

Ethnic composition (2001): Religious affiliation (2005):

Niger

Official name: République du Niger (Republic ofNiger).

Form of government: republic with one legislativehouse (National Assembly [171)]1.

Head of state: President Mahamadou Issoufou1.Head of government: Prime Minister Brigi Rafini.Capital: Niamey.Official language: French.Official religion: none.Monetary unit: CFA franc (CFAF); valuation (Sept. 1,2016) 1 U.S.$ = CFAF 586.04; 1 £ = CFAF 779.44.

Area and population area population

2015Regions Capitals sq mi sq km census

Agadez Agadez 257,839 667,799 524,689Diffa Diffa 60,582 156,906 652,855Dosso Dosso 13,067 33,844 2,149,736Maradi Maradi 16,138 41,796 3,660,720Tahoua Tahoua 43,773 113,371 3,652,136Tillabéri Tillabéri 37,549 97,251 2,900,725Zinder Zinder 60,146 155,778 3,891,664

CityNiamey Niamey 155 402 1,096,239TOTAL 489,2002 1,267,0002 18,528,764

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National economyBudget (2012). Revenue: CFAF 729,296,000,000 (tax revenue 65.6%;external aid and grants 31.0%; nontax revenue 3.4%).Expenditures: CFAF 823,602,000,000 (current expen-diture 54.0%, of which wages and salaries 15.6%;capital expenditure 46.0%).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2014): U.S.$2,274,-000,000.

Gross national income (GNI; 2015): U.S.$7,830,000,000(U.S.$390 per capita); purchasing power parity GNI(U.S.$950 per capita).

Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture,forestry, fishing (2014): millet 3,323,000, cowpeas1,586,000, sorghum 1,426,000, peanuts (groundnuts)403,000, dry onions 382,0005, cabbages 206,2225,tomatoes 188,7675, mangoes, mangosteens, and guavas 176,0005, cas-sava 130,000, lettuce and chicory 76,8385, sesame seeds 55,200, bam-bara beans 32,300; livestock (number of live animals) 14,884,000goats, 11,377,000 cattle, 11,116,000 sheep, 1,731,000 asses, 1,720,000camels; roundwood 11,472,609 cu m, of which fuelwood 94%; fisheriesproduction (2012) 46,600 (from aquaculture, negligible). Mining andquarrying (2013): limestone (2012) 23,200; uranium 4,235; gold (metalcontent) 1,078 kg. Manufacturing (value added in CFAF ’000,000;2008): food and food products 6,797; paper products, printing, andpublishing 2,604; soaps and other chemical products 1,625; woodproducts and furniture 1,557; textiles 412. Energy production (con-sumption): electricity (kW-hr; 2012–13) 222,000,0007 ([2012]990,000,000), by source (2012): fossil fuels 100.0%; hard coal (metrictons; 2013) 242,000 ([2012] 230,000); crude petroleum (barrels; 2012)4,750,000 (4,480,000); petroleum products (metric tons; 2012) 560,000(366,000); natural gas, none (none).

Population economically active (2014): total 6,150,000; participationrates (2006): over age 15, female 41.9%; unemployed (2012) 5.1%.

Average household size (2004): 6.2.Land use as % of total land area (2011): in temporary crops or left fal-low 11.8%, in permanent crops 0.05%, in pasture 22.7%, forest area0.9%.

Foreign trade6

Imports (2014): U.S.$2,151,100,000 (machinery andelectrical equipment 19.9%; transportation equip-ment 17.5%; mineral products 9.7%; preparedfoodstuffs 8.7%; chemicals and chemical products8.4%; cereals and rice 8.2%). Major import sources:

Exports (2014): U.S.$1,049,700,000 (mineral prod-ucts 72.9%, of which uranium 45.6%; vegetablesand vegetable products 4.4%; prepared foodstuffs3.7%; textiles 3.0%). Major export destinations:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads: none. Roads (2010):

total length 11,774 mi, 18,949km (paved 21%). Vehicles(20123): passenger cars 119,332;trucks and buses 22,175.

Education and healthLiteracy (2012): percentage of total population age 15and over literate 15.5%; males literate 23.3%; femalesliterate 8.9%.

Health: physicians (2012) 1,029 (1 per 16,673 persons);hospital beds (2009) 3,805 (1 per 3,935 persons); infantmortality rate per 1,000 live births (2015) 84.6; under-nourished population (2006–08) 2,300,000 (16% oftotal population based on the consumption of a mini-mum daily requirement of 1,700 calories).

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel (November 2015):5,300 (army 98.1%, air force 1.9%); para-military 5,400. Military expenditure as per-centage of GDP (2014): 0.9%; per capitaexpenditure U.S.$4.

1Constitutional transition to civilian rule took place on April 7, 2011. 2Detail does not add to total givenbecause of rounding. 3January 1. 4Import taxes and duties less imputed bank service charges. 52012.6Imports c.i.f.; exports f.o.b. 7SONICHAR and Nigelec electricity companies only. 8Subscribers.

Internet resources for further information:• Institut National de la Statistique www.stat-niger.org• La Banque de France: La Zone Franc

www.banque-france.fr/eurosysteme-et-international/zone-franc.html

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force2012 20113

in value % of total labour % of labourCFAF ’000,000 value force force

Agriculture, forestry, fishing 1,320,036 38.2 158,000 2.8Mining and quarrying 372,830 10.8 31,000 0.6Manufacturing 209,146 6.0 1,012,000 18.1Construction 83,448 2.4 603,000 10.8Public utilities 38,918 1.1 181,000 3.3Transp. and commun. 209,863 6.1 635,000 11.4Trade, hotels 460,419 13.3 1,419,000 25.4Finance, real estate 129,214 3.7 224,000 4.0Pub. admin., defense 280,804 8.1 … …Services 161,206 4.7 1,315,000 23.6Other 192,0114 5.64

TOTAL 3,457,895 100.0 5,578,000 100.0

}

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2015 8,9598 4658

Landline 2015 110 5.7

Internet users 2009 116 7.6Broadband 2015 118 0.68

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