The Niger

République you the Niger
Republic of the Niger

(detail) (detail)
office language	French
capital	Niamey
system of government	parliamentary democracy
president	Tandja Mamadou
head of the government	Hama Amadou
surface	approx. 1.267.000 km ²
number of inhabitants	11.665.937 (S 2005)
population density	of 9.2 inhabitants per km ²
independence	from France at the 3. August 1960
currency	CFA franc
time belt	UTC +1
national anthem	La Nigérienne
Kfz characteristic	RN
Internet TLD	.ne
preselection	+227

the Republic of the Niger independent since 1960 (dt.: [ˈniːgər], also: that the Niger; frz.: [niˈʒɛːʀ]) a former French colony is in west Africa and borders in the north on Algeria and Libya, in the west at Mali and Burkina Faso, in the east at Chad and in the south at Nigeria and Benin. The Niger is belonged to few developed countries in the world a Binnenstaat with portion of the seeing era , the Sahel and the Sudan and to to. After a phase of coups d'etat and rebellions of the Tuareg the Niger seems to stabilize politically. Existence-threatening for the largest part of the population of the Niger are regularly returning Dürren and food scarceness.

Table of contents 1 geography 2 population 3 history 4 politics 5 administrative arrangement 6 economics 6,1 agriculture of 6,2 hunger emergencies and food scarceness 7 culture 8 literature 9 film 10 Web on the left of

geography

of two thirds of the national territory of the Republic of the Niger are in the seeing era. Only the narrow strip of the national territory, which drags on along the Nigerian border, is in the Sahelzone in such a way specified (Sahel = arab. „Banks “of the desert). This strip is at the northern edge of the Trockensavanne.

See also: List of the cities in the Niger

population

it gives particularly in the north of the country many oasis inhabitants, Nomaden and Halbnomaden. Many of them give however the Nomadismus up and pull into the partially over-populated cities. The majority of the population lives in the south, mostly at the border to Nigeria and Benin.

The large majority of the Nigrer professes itself to the Islam (94%), the remainder of the population divides into Christians and trailers of indigener religions.

Approximately 52% of the total population belong to the group of peoples of the Djerma and Songhai , over 23% are Haoussa, approximately 8% of the population are Tuareg - Berber, about 6% are Beri Beri (Kanuri) and 4.3% Fulbe. In addition live in the country over 3000 Frenchmen, usually in the cities.

75% of the population speak Hausa as first or secondary language, further languages apart from French are Songhai Djerma, Fulfulde, Tamaschagh (a Tuareg Berbersprache), Kanuri and other one.

The very high Fertilitätsrate of 7,4 births per woman leads to a population growth of annually about 2.75%. The population explosion without brakes places the country before large problems.

74% of the men and 90% of the women are illiterates.

The life expectancy amounts to at present about 42 years.

history

major item see to history of the Niger

numerous finds and rock designs occupying the settlement of the territory of the Niger since earliest time. At the time of the propagation Islam around the year 660 the peoples of the Niger were already organized in states, which could keep up to the arrival of the Frenchmen an important position. In the year 1921 the Niger became a French colony within French west Africa. The fixing of the boundaries took place here without consideration of the historical cultural and linguistic conditions. The Niger became 1958 autonomous republic and two years later finally independently. 1995 could be terminated a rebellion of the Tuareg with the signing of a peace treaty and 1999 Tandja Mamadou to the president were selected and with the elections 2004 in the office confirmed.

politics

the condition are arranged after the model of France as semi präsidentielles system with step-by-step selection of the president (every 5 years).

The presidents of the Republic of the Niger:

• 1958 - 1974 Hamani Diori
• 1974 - 1987 Seyni Kountché
• 1987 - 1999 Ali Saibou
• since 1999 Mamadou Tandja

in the parliament (Assemblée national one) order the parties Mouvement national de la Societé de Développement (MNSD) (of 38 seats) and Convention Démocratique et Sociale (CDS) (of 17 seats) together over a majority of the 83 seats.

administrative arrangement

the national territory divides into seven départements and the capital district.

Section and Arrondissements:

Agadez Agadez Arlit Bilma Diffa Diffa Maïné Soroa N'Guigmi Dosso Birni N'Gaouré Dogon Doutchi Dosso Gaya Loga

Maradi Aguié Dakoro Guidan Roumdji Madarounfa Mayahi Tessaoua Tahoua Birni N'Konni Bouza Illéla Keita Madaoua Tahoua Tchin Tabaraden

Tillabéri Filingué Ouallam Say Téra Tillabéry Zinder Gouré Magaria Matamey Mirria Tanout Niamey (capital district)

economics

the national economy of the Niger reached 2001 a gross domestic product of scarcely 1.7 billion euro, corresponds to a restaurant achievement of approximately 150 euro per head of the population. 40% of the national income originate from the agriculture, while the industrielle sector constitutes only about 14% of the total output. Most important export property is uranium, whose export generates 32% of the total exports, most important trade partner remains France. The Niger still ranks among the poorest countries in the world: still 2003 amounted the portion of the population with less than 1 US Dollar per day to 61% (see also: Table: The highest poverty world-wide).

agriculture

in the seeing era region of the Niger is only in oases, approximately in the Aïr mountains, building of irrigation fields possible. Only the narrow strip along the Nigerian border is in the Sahelzone and is thus for the building of rain fields suitable. The rain time is extremely briefly, limited three to four months. Beyond that the rain time is characterized by a high variability of the rainfalls: Regionally just as strongly different downpours can come down, as the temporal distribution of the rain quantity can be very uneven during the rain time.

Cultivation products are mainly different kinds of millet as well as beans and peanuts. Only in drying river lowering kinds of vegetable, Henna, Capsicum become - kinds, tobacco among other things in the cultivation of irrigation cultivated. Mobiles capital are herds of flock, which market in times of distress first and then verzehrt become.

Means of production are today the individualized possession at reason and soil as well as the seeds acquired by the together keeping house household, which must be perhaps in addition-bought in cooperative ones. This happens, if the seeds verzehrt because of food scarceness instead of are yielded. With national cooperative ones or rich dealers the farmers are to blame for themselves partially. also by the purchase of insecticides and fertilizers.

The media are to a large extent a not mechanized agriculture: the kurzstielige heel and a langstieliges Jäteisen (Kanuri: ashasha). Ox-pulled plows are usually in the possession enrich farmers, who are identical usually to the native aristocracy. The predominant part of the farmers has for this no entrance.

The before-colonial social structure sees a joint use of the soils by an extended family, gandu (Hausa: Household) forwards. Individual possession at reason and soil was to a large extent unknown. Since the colonial age by the consolidation of family requirements for possession and an increasing marketing of reason and soil an individual possession of soil was established. The population pressure led to land scarceness. Erbteilung led to fragmenting of Landbesitz. Individual plots can hardly still nourish today (small) a family.

A further problem represents wide clearing for the production of fuel material, as well as nearly complete clearing away of plant material after the harvest, so that areas of arable land are no more protected on the one hand against the sun exposure and on the other hand the fertilization effect is missing by rotting plant material. The soils become impoverished.

The long drying time makes a supply attitude system, which was necessary in before-colonial time social and religiously sanctioned. This supply attitude was closely bound to the before-colonial structure of the households, their work and Konsumptionsstruktur. With fragmenting the households and individualizing of soil possession particularly since the Dekolonisierung accompanies a dissolution of these before-colonial rearrangement structures. Today's (small) families can fall back hardly still to a net of family and nachbarschaftlicher solidarity structures, particularly in view of the generally dominant ecological pressure to the ecologically fragile climate zone.

hunger emergencies and food scarceness

the following points are considered as causal to the recurring catastrophic hunger emergencies in the country:

• Population explosion by one the highest Fertilitätsraten of the world.
• Education lacking due to the education-hostile tradition Islam, particularly which concerns the school attendance of girls.
• The Niger is for historical reasons a pure inland and consists predominantly of desert.
• Grasshopper troubles destroy the harvests.

culture

• national holiday:

3. August (independence day)

18. December (day of the Republic of)

• other one legal holidays:

1. January. 2006 New Year

10. January. Tabaske (victim celebration)

11. April Mouloud (birthday of the prophet)

17. April Ostermontag

24. April Concord day

1. May day of the work

22. - 24. October. Oath aluminium-Fitr (end of the Ramadan)

25. Dec. Christmas.

Note:

Islamic holidays are computed after the moon calendar and shift therefore from year to year. The few Christian municipalities celebrate also Easter and other church celebrations.

literature

• Cornelia NIC desert mash: Indigene supply attitude and colonial crisis prevention politics. Obligation memory and Sociétés Indigènes de Prévoyance in the colony the Niger after 1932, Frankfurt 2000.
• Boureima alpha Gado: Une histoire of the famines outer Sahel. Étude of the grandes crises alimentaires (XIX XXe of siècles), Paris 1993.
• Polly Hill: Population, Prosperity and Poverty. Rural Kano 1900 and 1970, Cambridge, 1977.
• Guy Nicolas: Dynamique et appréhension you moons outer its d´une société haoussa, Paris 1975.
• Claude Raynaut: Structures normative et relation électives. Étude d´une communauté villageoise haoussa, Paris 1972.
• Holger white: Babban Yunwa. Hunger and society in north Nigeria and the neighbour regions in the early colonial age, Helsinki 1997.
• Mano Dayak: Born with sand in the eyes: The autobiography of a leader of the Tuareg rebel, union publishing house, Zurich 1997. ISBN 3-293-00237-4

film

• on the Berlinale 2005 became a documentation worth seeing of the Beninese director Idrissou Mora Kpai over the uranium and mining industry city Arlit with the title Arlit - deuxième Paris presents.

Web on the left of

• offiziele side of the parliament (French)
• land and travel information of the German Foreign Office
• information for recommended inoculation
• report on the situation in the countries to the Niger von Ärzte without borders
• articles to the hunger emergency of TIME Europe (English)
• independent weekly paper (French)
• African picture book
• the virtual community of the Niger (French)

coordinates: 12°-23° N, 0°-16° O