Niger

A country that is mostly desert, named for a river that only touches its southwestern corner, and holding uranium that has shaped its foreign relations for fifty years. Around four-fifths of Niger is Sahara, and almost the entire population lives in the narrow southern band where rainfall permits farming. The territory contained parts of the Songhai empire, the Hausa city-states and the Kanem-Bornu empire around Lake Chad, and the Tuareg confederations of the Air massif resisted French conquest into the twentieth century. France administered it as the poorest part of French West Africa and independence came in 1960. Uranium found at Arlit supplied French nuclear power for decades on terms Nigerien governments repeatedly called unfair, and forged documents about Nigerien uranium were used in the case for invading Iraq in 2003. The country has among the highest birth rates in the world and the youngest population. Lake Chad has shrunk by most of its area since the 1960s. Coups in 1974, 1996, 1999, 2010 and 2023 have punctuated its politics. Niamey is the capital. The Agadez region is a principal route for migration towards the Mediterranean. The country covers about 1.27 million square kilometres. Its name and Nigeria's both come from the river, whose own name predates either. The Air and Tenere reserve is among the largest protected areas in Africa. Dinosaur fossils from the Tenere include some of the largest crocodiles ever found. French is official, with Hausa and Zarma widely spoken. Around half the population is under fifteen.

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