Niger - officially the Republic of the Niger.
Niger came under the control of the French in 1922 but became an autonomous state within the French community by 1958.
It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest.
It covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2 (490,000 sq mi), making it the second-largest landlocked country in West Africa, after Chad. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara. Its predominantly Muslim population of about 25 million lives mostly in clusters in the further south and west of the country. The capital Niamey is located in Niger's southwest corner.
As a landlocked nation, mineral export accounts for much of the country's GDP.
Since 1990, the population growth rate has remained above 3% each year. The 2020 population grew 3.84% over the 2019 population, adding about 896,000 people to the population.
Population growth
