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Geography of Niger

Continent	Africa
Region	Western Africa
Coordinates	16°00′N08°00′E / 16.000°N 8.000°E /16.000; 8.000
Area	Ranked 21st
• Total	1,266,700 km2 (489,100 sq mi)
• Land	99.98%
• Water	0.02%
Coastline	0 km (0 mi)
Borders	Land boundaries: Algeria 951 km Benin 277 km Burkina Faso 622 km Chad 1,196 km Libya 342 km Mali 838 km Nigeria 1,608 km[1]
Irrigated land	736.6 km² (2005)
Total renewable water resources	33.65 km3 (2011)
Highest point	Mont Idoukal-n-Taghès, 2,022 m
Lowest point	Niger River, 200 m
Climate	Hot desert;hot semi-arid in extreme southwest
Terrain	Mostly desert plains and sanddunes,hills in the north
Natural resources	Uranium,coal,iron ore,tin,phosphates,gold,molybdenum,gypsum,salt,petroleum
Natural hazards	Recurringdroughts
Environmental issues	Overgrazing, soilerosion,deforestation,poaching

Niger is alandlocked nation inWest Africa located along the border between theSahara andSub-Saharan regions. Itsgeographic coordinates arelongitude 16°N andlatitude 8°E.

• Total: 1,267,000 km² (489,191 sq mi)^[1]
  • country rank in the world: 21st
• Land: 1,266,700 km² (489,076 sq mi)
• Water: 300 km² (116 sq mi)

Area comparative

• Australia comparative: slightly smaller than theNorthern Territory
• Canada comparative: slightly less than twice the size ofManitoba
• United States comparative: slightly more than three times the size ofCalifornia
• EU comparative: approximately twice the size ofFrance

Niger, which attained independence fromFrance in 1960 was under military rule until 1991. On public demandGen. Ali Saibou held multiparty elections in 1993 and soon democracy came into effect in 1993. However, political unrest was caused byCol. Ibrahim Bare who staged a coup in 1996, but he later died in a counter insurgency operations by officers of the military establishment in 1999. This was followed by fresh elections for a democratic rule, andMamadou Tandja assumed power in December 1999. Tandja, who won the elections in 2004 and in 2009, wanted to bring about a constitutional amendment to extend his tenure as president. However, in February 2010, he was removed from the post of the president in a coup engineered by the military and the constitution was annulled. Soon after, in 2011, elections were held andMahamadou Issoufou got elected as the president and was sworn in April 2011.^[1]Niger's problem with rebellious groups continued during 2007 and 2008. Rebellion was controlled. However, its security problems with its neighbors such asLibya,Nigeria andMali have been a cause for concern.^[1]

Niger, with a land area of 1.267 million km², is a land locked country which is bounded with a land boundary of 5,834 km by seven countries:Algeria (951 km),Benin (277 km),Burkina Faso (622 km),Chad (1,196 km),Libya (342 km),Mali 838 km, andNigeria (1,608) km.^[1]

Niger is divided into 7 Regions (French:régions; singular – région). Each department's capital is the same as its name.

• The national capital,Niamey, comprises acapital district.

The Regions of Niger are subdivided into 63Departments.

The 63 Departments are broken down into Communes. As of 2006 there were 265 communes, includingcommunes urbaines (Urban Communes: centred in or as subdivisions of cities of over 10000),communes rurales (Rural Communes) centred in cities of under 10,000 and/or sparsely populated areas, and a variety of traditional (clan or tribal) bodies amongst semi-nomadic populations.

• 
  Communes of Niger

• 
  Niger's cities, main towns and other centres
• 
  Agadez is the largest city in central Niger, with a population of 88,569 (2005 census)
• 
  Niamey, the Capital ofNiger

• 
  A state-runSNTV coach running betweenOuagadougou (Burkina Faso) andNiamey, Niger
• 
  Truck and car traffic along Boulevard Mali Bero,Niamey, Niger

Some of the land in Niger is used asarable land (660 km² of land in Niger isirrigated) and aspasture. There are some forests and woodland. The table below describes land use in Niger, as of 2011.

Niger's climate is largely hot and dry, with most of the country in adesert region. The terrain is predominantly desert plains and sanddunes. There are also large plains in the south and hills in the north. In the southwest, there is ahot semi-arid climate near the edges of theNiger River Basin. There are small pockets of atropical savanna climate on the southern border.Lake Chad at the southeast corner of the country is shared between Niger,Nigeria,Chad, andCameroon.

Current environmental issues in Niger includeovergrazing,soil erosion,deforestation,desertification, recurring droughts, and endangered wildlife populations (such as theAfrican elephant,Northwest African cheetah,West African giraffe, andAddax), which are threatened because of poaching andhabitat destruction.^[8]

Recurringdroughts are a serious challenge for Niger.^[9] The2012 Sahel drought, along with failed crops, insect plagues, highfood prices and conflicts is currently affecting Niger causing a hunger crisis.^[10] Many families in Niger, still recovering from the2010 Sahel famine, are being affected by the 2012 Sahel drought.^[11]

The2005–06 Niger food crisis created a severe, but localizedfood security crisis in the regions of northernMaradi,Tahoua,Tillabéri, andZinder ofNiger from 2005 to 2006. It was caused by an early end to the 2004 rains,desert locust damage to some pasture lands, high food prices, andchronic poverty.

• Northernmost point:Tripoint with Algeria and Libya,Agadez Region: 23°31'N.^[12]
• Southernmost point: Benin/Niger/Nigeriatripoint,Dosso Region: 11°42'N
• Easternmost point: border with Chad,Agadez Region:16°00'E
• Westernmost point: border with Mali and Burkina Faso,Tillabéri Region: 0°07'E
• Highest point:Mont Idoukal-n-Taghès,Aïr Massif,Agadez Region:2,022 m (6,634 ft)^[1]
• Lowest point:Niger River at Nigeria border,Dosso Region: 200 m (656 ft)^[1]

• 
  Topography of Niger

Niger is a party to the following agreements:

Niger has signed, but not ratified theKyoto Protocol andLaw of the Sea.^[13][14]

Niger's protected areas comprise about 7.7 percent of the total land area.^[15] Six of the reserves are fully categorized under theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Niger possesses the following natural resources:

• 
  Lake Chad as seen fromApollo 7
• 
  Mud houses on the center island atLake Debo, a wide section of theNiger River
• 
  Theoasis atBilma, Niger
• 
  TheTimia oasis

• 
  African bush elephants photographed in the Niger section of theW National Park complex of protected areas.
• 
  West African giraffes inKouré, Niger.
• 
  AViolet turaco.

Surrounded by seven other countries, Niger has a total of 5,834 km of borders. The longest border is withNigeria to the south, at1,608 km. This is followed byChad to the east (1,196 km),Algeria to the north-northwest (951 km), andMali to the west (838 km). Niger also has short borders in its far southwest frontier (Burkina Faso at622 km andBenin at277 km) and to the north-northeast (Libya at342 km).^[1]

• Departments of Niger
• List of national parks of Niger
• Outline of Niger
• Regions of Niger

• L. Herrmann, K. Stahr and K. Vennemann.Atlas of Natural and Agronomic Resources of Niger and Benin, "Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft" (German Research Foundation), the University of Hohenheim. (No date). Retrieved 2008-02-22.

• Geography of Niger

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