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Niger (continued) 1994); results—MNSD is the only party; seats—(150 total) MNSD 150 (indirectly elected)

Communists: no Communist party; some sympathizers in outlawed Sawaba party

Member of: ACP, AfDB, APC, CCC, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, Lake Chad Basin Commission, Niger River Commission, NAM, OAU, OCAM, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Moumouni Adamou DJERMAKOYE; Chancery at 2204 R Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483-4224 through 4227; US—Ambassador Carl C. CUNDIFF; Embassy at Avenue des Ambassadeurs, Niamey (mailing address is B. P. 11201, Niamey); telephone [227] 72-26-61 through 64 and 72-26-70

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and green with a small orange disk (representing the sun) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of India which has a blue, spoked wheel centered in the white band

Economy

Overview: About 90% of the population is engaged in farming and stock rearing, activities which generate almost half of the national income. The economy also depends heavily on exploitation of large uranium deposits. Uranium production grew rapidly in the mid-1970s, but tapered off in the early 1980s, when world prices declined. France is a major customer, while FRG, Japan, and Spain also make regular purchases. The depressed demand for uranium has contributed to an overall sluggishness in the economy, a severe trade imbalance, and a mounting external debt.

GDP: $2.4 billion, per capita $330; real growth rate 7.1% (1988 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): -1.4% (1988)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $254 million; expenditures $510 million, including capital expenditures of $239 million (1988 est.)

Exports: $371 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities—uranium 76%, livestock, cowpeas, onions, hides, skins; partners—NA

Imports: $441 million (e.i.f., 1988 est.); commodities—petroleum products, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, electronic equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemical products, cereals, foodstuffs

External debt: $1.8 billion (December 1989 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 4.7% (1989 est.)

Electricity: 102,000 kW capacity; 225 million kWh produced, 30 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: cement, brick, rice mills, small cotton gins, oilseed presses, slaughterhouses, and a few other small light industries; uranium production began in 1971

Agriculture: accounts for roughly 40% of GDP and 90% of labor force; cash crops—cowpeas, cotton, peanuts; food crops—millet, sorghum, cassava, rice; livestock—cattle, sheep, goats; self-sufficient in food except in drought years

Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $349 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $2.8 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $504 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $61 million

Currency: Communauté Financière Africaine franc (plural—francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Communauté Financière Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1—287.99 (January 1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)

Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September

Communications

Highways: 39,970 km total; 3,170 km bituminous, 10,330 km gravel and laterite, 3,470 km earthen, 23,000 km tracks

Inland waterways: Niger river is navigable 300 km from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March

Civil air: no major transport aircraft

Airports: 31 total, 29 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 11 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: small system of wire, radiocommunications, and radio relay links concentrated in southwestern area; 11,900 telephones; stations—15 AM, 5 FM, 16 TV; satellite earth stations 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, and 4 domestic

Defense Forces

Branches: Army, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie, paramilitary Republican Guard, paramilitary Presidential Guard, paramilitary National Police

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,656,466; 894,095 fit for military service; 87,478 reach military age (18) annually

Defense expenditures: $20.6 million (1988)  Nigeria



&emsp;

Geography

Total area: 923,770 km²; land area: 910,770 km²

Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of California

Land boundaries: 4,047 km total; Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690 km, Chad 87 km, Niger 1,497 km

Coastline: 853 km

Maritime claims:
 * Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation
 * Extended economic zone: 200 nm
 * Territorial sea: 30 nm

Disputes: exact locations of the Chad-Niger-Nigeria and Cameroon-Chad-Nigeria tripoints in Lake Chad have not been determined, so the boundary has not been demarcated and border incidents have resulted; Nigerian proposals to reopen maritime boundary negotiations and redemarcate the entire land boundary have been rejected by Cameroon

Climate: varies—equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north

Terrain: southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast, plains in north

Natural resources: crude oil, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc, natural gas

Land use: 31% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 23% meadows and pastures; 15% forest and woodland; 28% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: recent droughts in north severely affecting marginal agricultural activities; desertification; soil degradation, rapid deforestation

People

Population: 118,819,377 (July 1990), growth rate 3.0% (1990)

Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1990)  230