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Niger NEWS MEDIA
News
Stand
Background: Niger became independent from France in 1960 and
experienced single-party and military rule until 1991, when
Gen. Ali SAIBOU was forced by public pressure to allow
multiparty elections, which resulted in a democratic
government in 1993. Political infighting brought the
government to a standstill and in 1996 led to a coup by Col.
Ibrahim BARE. In 1999 BARE was killed in a coup by military
officers who promptly restored democratic rule and held
elections that brought Mamadou TANDJA to power in December of
that year. TANDJA was reelected in 2004. Niger is one of the
poorest countries in the world with minimal government
services and insufficient funds to develop its resource base.
The largely agrarian and subsistence-based economy is
frequently disrupted by extended droughts common to the Sahel
region of Africa.
Borders: Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km, Burkina Faso 628 km, Chad
1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821 km, Nigeria 1,497 km
Population: 13,956,980
GDP per capita: $243.45 per capita
Capital with population: Niamey - 398,265
Largest city with population: Niamey - 398,265
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