Niger17.45° N, 9.50° E
Half of everyone here is under 15 — no country in the world is younger.
median age 15.3 years · 224th/224
CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · ranks computed across the countries in this atlas that carry the value
geometry: Natural Earth 1:50m · EPSG:6933 equal-area
Each line is every country in this atlas that carries the value, ordered smallest to largest. The line down the middle is the world median; the mark on each line is this country.
The name Niger comes from the Niger River, which passes through the country's southwest; the river's name probably comes from the local Tuareg name, "egereou n-igereouen" ("big rivers").
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
Nomadic peoples from the Saharan north and agriculturalists from the south settled present-day Niger. European colonizers found disparate kingdoms in the 19th century; Britain and France partitioned middle Niger regions in the late 19th century, and France established colonial administration in 1922. After independence from France in 1960, single-party or military rule continued until 1991, when General Ali Saibou allowed multiparty elections. Political infighting and democratic backsliding led to coups in 1996 and 1999, when officers restored democratic rule and brought Mamadou Tandja to power.
Tandja was reelected in 2004, spearheaded a 2009 amendment extending his term, and was deposed by officers in 2010. Issoufou Mahamadou was elected in 2011 and reelected in 2016; Bazoum Mohamed won in 2021, marking Niger’s first transition from one democratically elected president to another. A junta led by General Abdourahamane Tiani seized power in July 2023, detained President Bazoum, and announced a National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP). Niger has minimal government services and insufficient funds to develop its resource base; its agrarian, subsistence-based economy is frequently disrupted by extended droughts. The government seeks diversification through increased oil production and mining projects amid increased border threats from insecurity in Libya, conflict and terrorism in Mali, and violent extremism in northeastern Nigeria.
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
Following the 26 July 2023 military coup, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland assumed control of all government institutions and rules by decree. Before the coup, Niger was a semi-presidential republic with a mixed system of civil law based on French civil law, Islamic law, and customary law. After several previous constitutions, a constitution passed by referendum 31 October 2010 entered into force 25 November 2010. Niger gained independence from France on 3 August 1960, and its national holiday is Republic Day, 18 December (1958).
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
CIA World Factbook
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