World Country Niger

About the world country Niger, its location, size, population, and who is in power.

NATIONS OF THE WORLD

NIGER

Location: Landlocked in the Sahelian belt of Africa, north of Nigeria.

Size: 489,189 sq. mi. (1,267,000 sq. km.). Population: 5,744,000.

Who Really Rules: Since 1974 the Niger army, represented by the Supreme Military Council, has ruled the country. Former colonial ruler, France, remains influential, with French troops stationed in the country and French citizens in the civil service. Uranium production, begun in 1971, catapulted Niger onto the list of strategic real-estate countries and provided funds to alleviate some of the widespread poverty of the country. In most mining projects, the official mining agency, Onarem, owns about a third of the equity, and French, U.S., and other foreign interests hold the remainder.