@Niger
Introduction Niger
Background:
Not until 1993, 33 years after independence from France, did Niger
hold its first free and open elections. A 1995 peace accord ended a
five-year Tuareg insurgency in the north. Coups in 1996 and 1999
were followed by the creation of a National Reconciliation Council
that effected a transition to civilian rule by December 1999. 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.
Geography Niger
Location:
Western Africa, southeast of Algeria
Geographic coordinates:
16 00 N, 8 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 1.267 million sq km
land: 1,266,700 sq km
water: 300 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land boundaries:
total: 5,697 km
border countries: Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km, Burkina Faso 628 km,
Chad 1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821 km, Nigeria 1,497 km