People:

Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (male 2,374,482; female 2,277,176)
15-64 years: 50% (male 2,345,773; female 2,447,951)
65 years and over: 2% (male 119,644; female 106,822) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.96% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 53.01 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 23.38 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.12 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 114.39 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 41.52 years
male: 41.83 years
female: 41.21 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 7.3 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien

Ethnic groups: Hausa 56%, Djerma 22%, Fula 8.5%, Tuareg 8%, Beri Beri (Kanouri) 4.3%, Arab, Toubou, and Gourmantche 1.2%, about 1,200 French expatriates

Religions: Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians

Languages: French (official), Hausa, Djerma

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 13.6%
male: 20.9%
female: 6.6% (1995 est.)

The largest ethnic groups in Niger are the Hausa, who also constitute the major ethnic group in northern Nigeria, and the Djerma-Songhai, who are also found in parts of Mali. Both groups are sedentary farmers who live in the arable, southern tier. The remainder of the Nigerien people are nomadic or seminomadic livestock-raising peoples -- Fulani, Tuareg, Kanouri, and Toubou. With rapidly growing populations and the consequent competition for meager natural resources, lifestyles of these two types of peoples have come increasingly into conflict in Niger in recent years.

Niger's high infant mortality rate is comparable to levels recorded in neighboring countries. However, the child mortality rate (deaths among children between the ages of 1 and 4) is exceptionally high (222 per 1,000) due to generally poor health conditions and inadequate nutrition for most of the country's children. Niger's very high fertility rate (7.4%) nonetheless means that nearly half (49%) of the Nigerien population is under age 15. School attendance is very low (19%), including 23% of males and only 15% of females. Additional education occurs through Koranic schools.