By Marie Biehl and Hannah Coyne actual picture of Niger! Taken by satellite Pictures from Wikipedia

 Did you know French is their official language?  Or that their water percentage is only.02%?  Or that they are a Presidential Republic?  And that they have a Prime Minister AND a President?  And that they drive on the right side of the road?  Or maybe that they are named after the Niger River?(obviously…)  Or maybe that their independence was declared on August 3, 1960?  Or maybe that their motto is “Fraternité, Travail, Progrès”…  (Which means “Fraternity, Work, Progress”)  Or that 80% of their land is Sahara Desert?  And that Republique du Niger is its official name?

GEOGRAPHY!  Landlocked  West Africa  It lies at the southern edge of the Sahara desert  Slightly less than twice the size of Texas  Borders 7 countries, which are Nigeria, Chad, Libya, Algeria, Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso…  The Niger River (in the southwest) flows through the country's only fertile area.  The terrain is mainly desert plains and sand dunes, with flat to rolling plains in the south and hills in the north.

 Much of Northern Niger is covered by rolling sand dunes.  It is true desert  A surprisingly green mountainous region, known as the Air, rises in the North part of the country.  Mount Greboun, Niger’s highest point at 6,376 ft, is located there  In southern Niger there is a grassy steppe, or plain, which receives low to temperate rain fall  Niger River  Kaouar-tal

Climate!  The majority of the time their climate is hot and dry.  the majority of their land is desert.  Receives less than 4 inches of rain a year

Agriculture use

 Agriculture is the main economic activity of a bulk of Niger' s 13,000,000 citizens.  Mainly based on subsistence farming.  Crops can be grown in a grassy steppe in the lower part of the country, but the sandy soil does not retain much moisture.  They sell cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava, rice, livestock

 Once part of the Mali Kingdom.  1790-Niger was explored by Mungo Park of Scotland  1850-Also explored by Heinrich Barth of Germany ~ By the end of the 1800’s France ruled the South  1922-Colony of Niger was created  Niger became a self governing member of the French community.  Niger gained full independence  1960 to 1974-Niger was severely affected by the great Sahel Drought  1974-HamaniDiori was overthrown in a military coup  1987-Lieutenant Colonel General Seyni Kountche died  Elections for new president  1996-Mahamane Ousmane was overthrown  1999-Mainassara was assassinated

C ULTURE AND TRADITIONS For our cultures and traditions section we are going to show some old cultural recipes in a new setting … Mango salad Chin-Chin3 Caakiri

E CONOMY  Agriculture is the main economic activity of a bulk of Niger' s 13,000,000 citizens.  Mainly based on subsistence farming.  Agriculture: They sell cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava, rice, livestock,  Manufactured: They sell cement, bricks, textiles, and processed food  Mineral: They sell uranium, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, coal, molybdenum, gypsum, salt, petroleum

Africa Today…pt.1  They are a poor country.  land: 1,266,700 sq km  water: 300 sq km  Natural Hazards: recurring droughts  Environment's current issues: overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations threatened because of poaching (illegal hunting) and habitat destruction  Population: 15,306,252  Median Age:  total: 15.2 years  male: 14.9 years  female: 15.4 years

Africa Today…pt.2  MAJOR INFECTOUS DISEASES…:  degree of risk: very high  food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever  vectorborne disease: malaria  water contact disease: schistosomiasis  animal contact disease: rabies  respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis  note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

Niger Animals: