Niger (pron-en?na?d??r or IPA-enni?????r; IPA-frni???), officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east. Niger covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2, over 80 percent of which is covered by the Sahara desert. The countrys predominantly Islamic population of just above 15,000,000 is mostly clustered in the far south and west of the nation. The capital city is Niamey.
Niger is a developing country. Much of the non-desert portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought and desertification. The economy is concentrated around subsistence and some export agriculture clustered in the more fertile south, and the export of raw materials?especially uranium ore. Niger remains handicapped by its landlocked position, desert terrain, poor education and poverty of its people, lack of infrastructure, poor health care, and environmental degradation.
Nigerien society reflects a great diversity drawn from the long independent histories of its several ethnic groups and regions and their relatively short period living in a single state. Historically, what is now Niger has been on the fringes of several large states. Since independence, Nigeriens have lived under five constitutions and three periods of military rule (military dictatorship). A majority live in rural areas, and have little access to advanced education.
Native Name: ''R�publique du Niger'' fr icon,''Republic of Niger'' en icon,''Jamhuriyar Nijar'' ha icon
Common Name: Niger
Image Flag: Flag of Niger.svg
Image Coat: Coat of Arms of Niger.svg
Image Map: LocationNiger.svg
National Motto: "Fraternit�, Travail, Progr�s"nbsp2fr icon,"Fraternity, Work, Progress"
National Anthem: ''La Nig�rienne''
Official Languages: French (French language) (Official),Hausa (Hausa language), Fulfulde, Gulmancema (Gourmantch�), Kanuri (Kanuri language), Zarma (Zarma language), Tamasheq (Tuareg languages) (as "national (national language)")
Demonym: Nigerien
Capital: Niamey
Latd: 13 latm=32 latNS=N longd=2 longm=05 longEW=E
Largest City: Niamey
Leader Title1: President of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (List of Presidents of Niger)
Leader Name1: Salou Djibo
Leader Title2: Prime Minister (Prime Minister of Niger)
Leader Name2: Mahamadou Danda
Area Rank: 22nd
Area Magnitude: 1 E12
Area Km2: 1,267,000
Area Sq Mi: 489,678
Percent Water: 0.02
Population Estimate: 15,306,252
Population Estimate Rank: 63rd
Population Census: 10,790,352
Population Density Km2: 12.1
Population Density Sq Mi: 31.2
Gdp Ppp: $10.206 billion
Gdp Ppp Per Capita: $719
Gdp Nominal: $5.261 billion
Gdp Nominal Per Capita: $370
Established Event1: Declared
Established Date1: August 3, 1960
Hdi: decrease 0.340
Hdi Rank: 182nd
Hdi Category: low
Gini: 50.5
Gini Category: high
Fsi: 91.2 increase 4.2
Fsi Rank: 32nd
Fsi Category: Alert
Currency: West African CFA franc
Currency Code: XOF
Time Zone: WAT (West Africa Time)
Utc Offset: +1
Time Zone Dst: ''not observed''
Utc Offset Dst: +1
Drives On: right
Cctld: .ne
Calling Code: 227