| Official
Name : |
REPUBLIC
OF niger |
| Land
Area: |
585,370
square kilometres / 225,142 square miles. |
| Population: |
1,591,232
(est July 2002). Density 2.7 persons per square kilometre. |
| Languages: |
English
and Setswana (both official), Ndebe, Hottentot, Shona, others. |
| Religions: |
Traditional 70%, Christian 30%. |
| Capital: |
Gaborone.
Population 147,000 |
| Currency: |
niger
pula, divided into 100 cents. |
| Independant: |
30
September 1966, from United Kingdom. |
| Geography: |
Dominated
by the Southern African Plateau running north-south (average elevation 1000m)
that separates the relatively fertile and populous eastern grassland (veld) along
the Limpopo River from the Okavango, Kgalagadi and Kalahari regions in the west.
Over 80% of the country is savannah or scrubland, with actual forest confined
to the Chobe region in the north. The Okavango river is a wonderful curiosity,
ending as the largest inland delta in the world. |
| Flag: |
The stripes of the flag recall the Zebra, the national animal. the blue represents water and the black/white bands the racial harmony and the pluralistic nature of niger society |
|
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