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The land now known as Niger can be traced back to 135 million
years BCE following the discovery in 1999 of a dinosaur named
Jobaria Tiguidensis, a 20-ton Sauropod. Just five thousand
years ago the land was fertile grassland but today, following
millennia of desertification, 80% of the landlocked country is
covered by the Sahara with that desert increasing in size every year. The area had a long
experience of European exploration with it becoming occupied by
France in 1890 and later turning into a French colony in 1922. Modern day Niger,
with its population of 25.80 million (2022) shares borders with Nigeria and
Benin to its south, Burkina Faso and Mali to its
west, Algeria and Libya to its north and Chad
to its east. Achieving independence on April 3rd 1960 from France, having briefly been an autonomous republic of the French Community for the two years before that time, Niger quickly lapsed into what can only be described as a failed state with a rapid
succession of unstable governments, single party or military, with the latest coup occurring in 2010 and another thwarted in 2021.
Niger faces enormous challenges including famine, lack of rainfall and poor harvests
as well as poor access to education or health services. Like in so many of the poorest countries in Africa, the average age is just 15
years old and the infant mortality rate in 2020 was 43.495 deaths per 1000 live births. This is widely credited to a low 13% immunization rate for children between 12-23 months. Just under half the population being aged 0-14 years old and life expectancy is around 62.42 years (2019). Those
who survive are at risk of sexual exploitation and human trafficking for
enforced begging, enforced working in in gold mines, domestic servitude and also
for working in agriculture and stone quarries. To
add to all of these problems are the famines that regularly sweep across West Africa
placing literally millions of already malnourished children at risk of
starving to death following years of drought across the region.
Already some 41,000 children have already dropped out of school because of
these crises and a further half a million are also expected to do so as the
situation worsens. Many will never return. Adding to the problem are the
tens of thousands of refugees who have fled into Niger following the
rebellion in the north of Mali. Find out all about Niger in the profile
articles below exploring the country in more detail with pictures, facts and
videos.
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Niger Profile: The Niger River
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Niger Profile: Sponsor Children in Niger
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