Profile
Background and figures as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.
Nomadic peoples from the Saharan north and agriculturalists from the south settled present-day Niger. The Taureg kingdom of Takedda was one of the largest kingdoms in the north and played a prominent role in regional trade in the 14th century. In the south, the primary ethnic groups were the Songhai-Zarma in the west, the Hausa in the center, and the Kanuri in the east. When European colonizers arrived in the 19th century, the region was an assemblage of disparate local kingdoms.
- Capital
- Niamey
- Government
- formerly, semi-presidential republic
- Population
- 27,322,555
- Area
- 1.267 million sq km
- Location
- Western Africa, southeast of Algeria
- Climate
- desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south
- Natural resources
- uranium; coal; iron ore; tin; phosphates; gold…
- Languages
- Hausa; Zarma; French (official); Fufulde…
- Religions
- Muslim 95.5%; ethnic religionist 4.1%; Christian 0.3%; agnostics and other 0.1%
- Independence
- 3 August 1960 (from France)
- Administrative divisions
- 7 regions (régions, singular - région) and 1 capital district* (communauté urbaine);
- Currency
- Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF)
- Export partners
- UAE 31%; France 23%; China 18%; India 6%…
- Import partners
- China 26%; France 15%; India 12%; Nigeria 7%…
Source: CIA World Factbook — a work of the US government, in the public domain