"text":"<p>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.</p> <p>In the late 19th century, the British and French agreed to partition the middle regions of the Niger River, and France began its conquest of what would become the colony of Niger. France experienced determined local resistance -- particularly during the Tuareg uprising (1916-1917) -- but established a colonial administration in 1922.</p> <p>After achieving independence from France in 1960, Niger experienced single-party or military rule until 1991, when political pressure forced General Ali SAIBOU to allow multiparty elections. Political infighting and democratic backsliding led to coups in 1996 and 1999. In 1999, military officers restored democratic rule and held elections that brought Mamadou TANDJA to power. TANDJA was reelected in 2004 and spearheaded a 2009 constitutional amendment allowing him to extend his presidential term. In 2010, military officers led another coup that deposed TANDJA. ISSOUFOU Mahamadou was elected in 2011 and reelected in 2016. In 2021, BAZOUM Mohamed won the presidential election, marking Niger’s first transition from one democratically elected president to another. Nonetheless, a military junta led by General Abdourahamane TIANI once again seized power in July 2023, detaining President BAZOUM and announcing the creation of a National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP).<br><br>Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world with minimal government services and insufficient funds to develop its resource base. It is ranked fourth to last in the world on the UN Development Program's Human Development Index of 2023/2024. The largely agrarian and subsistence-based economy is frequently disrupted by extended droughts common to the Sahel region of Africa. The Nigerien Government continues its attempts to diversify the economy through increased oil production and mining projects. In addition, Niger is facing increased security concerns on its borders from various external threats including insecurity in Libya, spillover from the conflict and terrorism in Mali, and violent extremism in northeastern Nigeria.</p>"
"text":"Niger (shared with Guinea [s], Mali, Benin, and Nigeria [m]) - 4,200 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"majority of the populace is located in the southernmost extreme of the country along the border with Nigeria and Benin as shown in this population distribution map"
"text":"landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world; northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture"
"text":"<p>Niger has the highest total fertility rate (TFR) of any country in the world, averaging close to 7 children per woman in 2022. A slight decline in fertility over the last few decades has stalled. This leveling off of the high fertility rate is in large part a product of the continued desire for large families. In Niger, the TFR is lower than the desired fertility rate, which makes it unlikely that contraceptive use will increase. The high TFR sustains rapid population growth and a large youth population – almost 70% of the populace is under the age of 25, as of 2020. Gender inequality, including a lack of educational opportunities for women and early marriage and childbirth, also contributes to high population growth.</p> <p>Because of large family sizes, children are inheriting smaller and smaller parcels of land. The dependence of most Nigeriens on subsistence farming on increasingly small landholdings, coupled with declining rainfall and the resultant shrinkage of arable land, are all preventing food production from keeping up with population growth.</p> <p>For more than half a century, Niger's lack of economic development has led to steady net outmigration. In the 1960s, Nigeriens mainly migrated to coastal West African countries to work on a seasonal basis. Some headed to Libya and Algeria in the 1970s to work in the booming oil industry until its decline in the 1980s. Since the 1990s, the principal destinations for Nigerien labor migrants have been West African countries, especially Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, while emigration to Europe and North America has remained modest. During the same period, Niger’s desert trade route town Agadez became a hub for West African and other Sub-Saharan migrants crossing the Sahara to North Africa and sometimes onward to Europe.</p> <p>More than 60,000 Malian refugees have fled to Niger since violence between Malian government troops and armed rebels began in early 2012. Ongoing attacks by the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency, dating to 2013 in northern Nigeria and February 2015 in southeastern Niger, pushed tens of thousands of Nigerian refugees and Nigerien returnees across the border to Niger and displaced thousands of locals in Niger’s already impoverished Diffa region.</p>"
"text":"majority of the populace is located in the southernmost extreme of the country along the border with Nigeria and Benin as shown in this population distribution map"
"text":"<em>due to internal conflict, high food prices, and floods - </em>about 3.28 million people are projected to be acutely food insecure during the June to August 2023 lean season period; this would be an improvement on the situation in 2022, mostly reflecting the sharp upturn in crop yields following the below average cereal output in 2021; persistent insecurity continues to disrupt livelihoods and has displaced over 370,000 people, mostly in the Diffa, Tahoua and Tillabery regions, as of May 2023; high food prices, as well as the floods in 2022 that affected about 327,000 people, are additional factors that have aggravated food insecurity (2023)"
"text":"Niger (shared with Guinea [s], Mali, Benin, and Nigeria [m]) - 4,200 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"note":"<strong>Note:</strong> on 26 July 2023, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, a military junta which took control of Niger's government, dissolved all government institutions, and rules by decree"
"text":"note - following the 26 July 2023 military coup, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland assumed control of all government institutions and rules by decree; formerly, mixed legal system of civil law, based on French civil law, Islamic law, and customary law"
"text":"formerly proposed by the president of the republic or by the National Assembly; consideration of amendments requires at least three-fourths majority vote by the Assembly; passage requires at least four-fifths majority vote; if disapproved, the proposed amendment is dropped or submitted to a referendum; constitutional articles on the form of government, the multiparty system, the separation of state and religion, disqualification of Assembly members, amendment procedures, and amnesty of participants in the 2010 coup cannot be amended; amended 2011, 2017"
"note":"<strong>Note:</strong>on 26 July 2023, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, a military junta which took control of Niger's government, dissolved the country's constitution"
"text":"the CNSP rules by decree; previously, the president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 27 December 2020 with a runoff held on 21 February 2021 (next election was to be held in 2025); prime minister appointed by the president, authorized by the National Assembly"
"text":"<em><br>2020/2021</em>: Mohamed BAZOUM elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Mohamed BAZOUM (PNDS-Tarrayya) 39.3%, Mahamane OUSMANE (MODEN/FA Lumana Africa) 17%, Seini OUMAROU (MNSD-Nassara) 9%, Albade ABOUDA (MPR-Jamhuriya) 7.1%, other 27.6%; percent of vote in second round - Mohamed BAZOUM 55.7%, Mahamane OUSMANE 44.3%<br><br><em>2016</em>: ISSOUFOU Mahamadou reelected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - ISSOUFOU Mahamadou (PNDS-Tarrayya) 48.6%, Hama AMADOU (MODEN/FA Lumana Africa) 17.8%, Seini OUMAROU (MNSD-Nassara) 11.3%, other 22.3%; percent of vote in second round - ISSOUFOU Mahamadou 92%, Hama AMADOU 8%"
"text":"Niger Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS Tarayya) (80); Nigerien Democratic Movement for an African Federation (Moden Fa . Lumana Africa ) (19); Patriotic Movement for the Republic (MPR-JAMHURIYA) (13); National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD) - Nassara (13); Other (41)"
"note":"<strong>Note:</strong> on 26 July 2023, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, a military junta which took control of Niger's government, dissolved the National Assembly"
"text":"formerly, Constitutional Court judges nominated/elected - 1 by the president of the Republic, 1 by the president of the National Assembly, 2 by peer judges, 2 by peer lawyers, 1 law professor by peers, and 1 from within Nigerien society; all appointed by the president; judges serve 6-year nonrenewable terms with one-third of membership renewed every 2 years; High Judicial Court members selected from among the legislature and judiciary; members serve 5-year terms"
"text":"formerly, Court of Cassation; Council of State; Court of Finances; various specialized tribunals and customary courts"
},
"note":"<strong>Note:</strong> on 26 July 2023, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, a military junta which took control of Niger's government, dissolved the country's judicial system"
"text":"<p>Alliance for Democracy and the Republic<br>Alliance for Democratic Renewal or ARD-Adaltchi-Mutuntchi<br>Alliance of Movements for the Emergence of Niger or AMEN AMIN<br>Congress for the Republic or CPR-Inganci<br>Democratic Alternation for Equity in Niger<br>Democratic and Republican Renewal-RDR-Tchanji<br>Democratic Movement for the Emergence of Niger Falala<br>Democratic Patriots' Rally or RPD Bazara<br>National Movement for the Development of Society-Nassara or MNSD-Nassara<br>Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress-Zaman Lahiya or ANDP-Zaman Lahiya<br>Nigerien Democratic Movement for an African Federation or MODEN/FA Lumana<br>Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism or PNDS-Tarrayya<br>Nigerien Patriotic Movement or MPN-Kishin Kassa<br>Nigerien Rally for Democracy and Peace<br>Patriotic Movement for the Republic or MPR-Jamhuriya<br>Peace, Justice, Progress–Generation Doubara<br>Rally for Democracy and Progress-Jama'a or RDP-Jama'a<br>Rally for Peace and Progress or RPP Farilla<br>Social Democratic Rally or RSD-Gaskiyya<br>Social Democratic Party or PSD-Bassira</p>",
"note":"<strong>Note:</strong> after the 26 July 2023 military coup, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland dissolved the National Assembly and prohibited all political party activity"
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and green with a small orange disk centered in the white band; the orange band denotes the drier northern regions of the Sahara; white stands for purity and innocence; green symbolizes hope and the fertile and productive southern and western areas, as well as the Niger River; the orange disc represents the sun and the sacrifices made by the people",
"text":"low-income Sahel economy; major instability and humanitarian crises limit economic activity; COVID-19 eliminated recent antipoverty gains; economy rebounding since December 2020 Nigerian border reopening and new investments; uranium resource rich"
"text":"Niger is one of the largest countries in West Africa but also one of the poorest in the world; as with many African markets, a lack of fixed telecoms infrastructure has led to growth in mobile services; Niger’s mobile penetration is modest compared to other countries in the region, while fixed broadband penetration is negligible; recent international investment to complete the Trans-Saharan Dorsal optical fiber (SDR) network has extended the reach of fiber infrastructure in the country, and also increased international capacity; new cables linking the country with Chad and Burkina Faso have extended Niger’s connectivity with international cable infrastructure (2022)"
"text":"state-run TV station; 3 private TV stations provide a mix of local and foreign programming; state-run radio has only radio station with national coverage; about 30 private radio stations operate locally; as many as 100 community radio stations broadcast; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available"
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> the Gendarmerie (GN) and the National Guard (GNN) are paramilitary forces; the GN has primary responsibility for rural security while the GNN is responsible for domestic security and the protection of high-level officials and government buildings; the GNN in past years was known as the National Forces of Intervention and Security and the Republican Guard<br><br><strong>note 2: </strong>the National Police includes the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance, which is charged with border management"
"text":"information varies; estimated 30-35,000 active FAN troops; estimated 5-10,000 paramilitary Gendarmerie and National Guard personnel (2024)",
"note":"<strong>note: </strong>in 2020, the Nigerien Government announced it intended to increase the size of the FAN to 50,000 by 2025 and 100,000 by 2030"
"text":"the FAN has a wide mix of mostly older, typically Soviet-era, or donated/secondhand weapons and equipment, along with small quantities of more modern items such as unmanned aerial vehicles/drones and air defense systems; suppliers have included China, Egypt, France, Italy, Russia, Turkey, and the US (2024)"
"text":"Niger has committed about 1,000 troops to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups operating in the general area of the Lake Chad Basin and along Nigeria's northeast border; national MNJTF troop contingents are deployed within their own country territories, although cross‐border operations are conducted periodically (2024)"
"text":"the military seized control of the government in 2023; since its establishment in 1960-61, it has played a significant role in the country’s politics, attempting coups in 1974, 1996, 1999, 2010, and 2021, and ruling Niger for much of the period before 1999<br><br>while the FAN is responsible for ensuring external security, most of its focus is on internal counterinsurgency/counterterrorism operations against terrorist groups operating in the areas bordering Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, and Nigeria, as well as much of northern Niger and the Diffa and Lake Chad regions; these groups include the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS), Boko Haram, ISIS-West Africa, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM)<br><br>since the 2010s, Niger has placed considerable emphasis on improving the effectiveness and mobility of its security forces for countering terrorism and protecting the country’s borders; with training support and material assistance from the US and the EU, each security service has created new units or reconfigured existing units with an emphasis on mobility, hybridization, and specialized training; the Army has established a special operations command, several special intervention battalions, and an anti-terrorism unit known as the 1st Expeditionary Force of Niger (EFoN); the National Gendarmerie has created mobile units modeled on European gendarmerie forces known as the Rapid Action Group—Surveillance and Response in the Sahel (Groupe d'action Rapides—Surveillance et Intervention au Sahel or GAR-SI Sahel); the National Guard (GNN) has established mobile Multipurpose Squadrons (Escadrons Polyvalentes de la Garde Nationale de Niger or EP-GNN), while the National Police have created Mobile Border Control Companies (Compagnie Mobile de Contrôle des Frontières or CMCF); Niger has also established training centers for special forces in Tillia and peacekeeping in Ouallam; meanwhile, the Air Force has received armed UAVs from Turkey (2024)"
"text":"Boko Haram; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS); Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham – West Africa (ISIS-WA); Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM); al-Mulathamun Battalion (al-Mourabitoun)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide"
"text":"335,277 (includes the regions of Diffa, Tillaberi, and Tahoua; unknown how many of the 11,000 people displaced by clashes between government forces and the Tuareg militant group, Niger Movement for Justice, in 2007 are still displaced; inter-communal violence; Boko Haram attacks in southern Niger, 2015) (2023)"
"text":"Tier 2 Watch List — the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking compared with the previous reporting period, therefore Niger was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List; for more details, go to: https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/niger/"
"text":"<p>a transit country for illegal drugs shipped through Niger to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East; drugs from South America, cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and various synthetics transit through Niger to European and Middle Eastern markets; hashish from Morocco is trafficked through Niger to Libya and Egypt and Europe and the Middle East; Nigerien citizens and migrants crossing Niger consume significant quantities of the opioid tramadol from neighboring Nigeria</p>"
