1986 Edition

Agriculture

commercial — cowpeas, groundnuts, cotton; main food crops — millet, sorghum, rice

Airfields

63 total, 58 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 18 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m

Branches

executive authority exercised by President Seyni Kountche in the name of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), which is composed of army officers; office of prime minister created January 1983; since November 1983, civilians have held all cabinet portfolios except Defense and Interior, which are held by President Kountche

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

Budget

(1986 est.) revenue $173 million, (1986 est.) $364.6 million expenditures

Capital

Niamey

Civil air

3 major transport aircraft

Communists

no Communist party; some sympathizers in outlawed Sawaba party

Elections

popular elections currently allowed only for choosing representatives for village Development Councils, which advise on local economic development Political parties and leaders: political parties banned

Electric power

101,700 kW capacity (1985); 133 million kWh produced (1985), 20 kWh per capita

Exports

$319.1 million (1985 est.); uranium, livestock, cowpeas, onions, hides, skins; exports understated because much regional trade not recorded

Fiscal year

1 October-30 September Communications

GDP

$1.2 billion (1985 est), $240 per capita (1985); annual real growth rate -3.1% (1985 est.)

Government leader

Brig. Gen. Seyni KOUNTCHE, President of Supreme Military Council, Chief of State (since 1974); Hamid ALGABID, Prime Minister (since November 1983)

Highways

36,500 km total; 2,800 km bituminous, 10,700 km gravel and laterite, 23,000 km tracks

Imports

$351.9 million (1982 est.); petroleum products, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, electronic equipment, Pharmaceuticals, chemical products, cereals, foodstuffs

Inland waterways

Niger River navigable 300 km from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier from mid-December through March

Legal system

based on French civil law system and customary law; constitution adopted 1960, suspended 1974; committee appointed January 1984 to "reflect" on a new national charter; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Major industries

cement plant, brick factory, rice mill, small cotton gins, oil presses, slaughterhouse, and a few other small light industries; uranium production began in

Major trade partners

France (about half), other EC countries, Nigeria, UDEAC countries; US (3.8%, 1981); preferential tariff to EC and franc zone countries

Member of

AfDB, APC, CEAO, KAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDE— 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 Economy

Military manpower

males 15-49, 1,456,000; 785,000 fit for military service; about 66,000 reach military age (18) annually

Monetary conversion rate

475 Communaute Financiere Af ricaine (CFA) f rancs= US$1 (1985)

National holidays

Independence Day, 3 August; Republic Day, 18 December

Natural resources

uranium, coal, iron, tin, phosphates

Official name

Republic of Niger

Political subdivisions

1 departments, 32 arrondissements

Railroads

none

Suffrage

universal adult

Telecommunications

small system of wire and radio-relay links concentrated in southwestern area; 9,800 telephones (0.2 per 100 popl.); 9 AM, 2 FM, 12 TV stations; 2 Atlantic Ocean satellite stations, 4 domestic antennas Defense Forces

Type

republic; military regime in power since April 1974