Geography of Niger
Location: | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria |
Geographic coordinates: | 16 00 N, 8 00 E |
Map references: | Africa |
Area: | total: 1.267 million sq km land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km |
Area - comparative: | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
Land boundaries: | total: 5,697 km border countries: Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km, Burkina Faso 628 km, Chad 1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821 km, Nigeria 1,497 km |
Coastline: | 0 km (landlocked) |
Maritime claims: | none (landlocked) |
Climate: | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south |
Terrain: | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north |
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Niger River 200 m highest point: Mont Bagzane 2,022 m |
Natural resources: | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, molybdenum, gypsum, salt, petroleum |
Land use: | arable land: 11.43% permanent crops: 0.01% other: 88.56% (2005) |
Irrigated land: | 730 sq km (2003) |
Natural hazards: | recurring droughts |
Environment - current issues: | overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction |
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Geography - note: | landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world; northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture |