James Baquet

Niger is one of the world’s countries that, through dealing with other challenges, has not had the chance to maximize its tourism industry. In fact, it doesn’t even seem to have a tourism slogan. Instead, I have used the national motto — “fraternity, work, progress” (originally in the national language, French, as “Fraternite, Travail, Progres”) — in the title of this column.

Though officially in western Africa, Niger seems to be about centrally located on the east-to-west axis. It’s also pretty much centrally located top-to-bottom in the horizontal portion of the continent. Chad runs along its eastern border; Nigeria and Benin are to its south; Burkina Faso is on the southwest, and Mali on the west. Algeria is to the northwest, and Libya to the northeast. It is West Africa’s largest country, and the 21st-largest in the world.

The country is named after the Niger River, West Africa’s principal river. At 4,180 kilometers long, it extends from southeastern Guinea in the west, and runs through Mali, Niger, along the Niger/Benin border, and then through Nigeria into the Gulf of Guinea.

Most of the population, as well as the capital, Niamey, is in the southwestern end of the country, where the Niger River runs. Nevertheless, over 80 percent of the country lies within the Sahara Desert.

The official language is French, a legacy of the nearly six decades of colonial rule. Independence was gained in 1958. However, Arabic and a number of tribal tongues also hold status as national languages. The vast majority of the population of 21 million or so is Muslim.

Niger is consistently near the bottom of the U.N.’s Human Development Index, which focuses on indicators of life expectancy, education and per capita income. Periodic drought is a persistent problem, and the subsistence economy offers few exports. Development is also challenged by the amount of desert land, overpopulation due to high birthrates and inefficient agriculture practices. At just over 71 percent, it has one of the highest rates of illiteracy in the world.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. constant, relentless

2. large number of babies being born

3. parallel to the ground, not vertical

4. brotherhood

5. all the same, anyway

6. inability to read

7. take the greatest advantage of

8. lack of rainfall

9. line running through something

10. system based on barter rather than money, barely at a level sufficient for survival