Total area: 1,267,000 km2
land area: 1,266,700 km2

Comparative area: slightly more than three times the size of California

Land boundaries: 5,697 km total; Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km, Burkina 628 km, Chad 1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821 km, Nigeria 1,497 km

Coastline: none--landlocked

Maritime claims: none--landlocked

Disputes: Libya claims about 19,400 km2 in northern Niger; exact locations of the Chad-Niger-Nigeria and Cameroon-Chad-Nigeria tripoints in Lake Chad have not been determined, so the boundary has not been demarcated and border incidents have resulted; Burkina and Mali are beginning to demarcate their international boundary, including the tripoint with Niger

Climate: desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south

Terrain: predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north

Natural resources: uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates

Land use: 3% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 7% meadows and pastures; 2% forest and woodland; 88% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: recurrent drought and desertification severely affecting marginal agricultural activities; overgrazing; soil erosion

Note: landlocked

NOTE: The information regarding Niger on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Niger Geography 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Niger Geography 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.