Talk:Niger/Archive 1

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Archive 1 Archive 2

Adjective

What is the adjective that means "of or pertaining to Niger"? And, consequently, how are its citizens called? I think we should have these on all the country pages.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Weasel (talk • contribs) 11:29, 16 September 2004‎

Issue resolved:

Nigérien(s) (ni:ZerLE~^). It's funny tho that English doesn't have a word of its own.

see: SAMPA chart

Cheers, — Preceding unsigned comment added by Weasel (talk • contribs) 09:41, 15 September 2004‎

Niger and Nigeria

Are these 2 country names really related?? 66.245.112.204 00:15, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Both names are derived from the name of the river Niger. --S Baier 17:58, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Otherwise, the countries are very different - there are many ethnic groups in Nigeria. Of the four dominant groups in Niger, only the Hausa have any large-scale representation in Nigeria. --S Baier 17:55, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Pronunciation

I don't understand why GreatGatsby deleted the correct pronunciation of Niger and replaced it with the incorrect "nigh-ZEER". It should be "knee-ZHAIR" or "NIGH-jer", the former being better (but not necessarily more common). See Dictionary.com/Niger. He also deleted the explanation of the adjective Nigerien, which is pronounced "knee-ZHAIR-ee-an" (better) or "nigh-JEER-ee-an" and should not be confused with Nigerian for Nigeria. I have reverted the deletion. Any ideas? - TAKASUGI Shinji 04:26, 2005 Mar 18 (UTC)

He did it again. This is the third time.
By the way, which is easier for you guys to understand, "knee-ZHAIR" or "nee-ZHAIR"? I have avoided the latter because the English word nee is pronounced "nay". "Knee" gives the correct pronunciation, but the "k" in it might be confusing for non-English speakers. - TAKASUGI Shinji 00:18, 2005 Mar 23 (UTC)
I read an article in the Boston Globe about commonly mispronounced country names and Niger appeared and the pronounciation "nigh-ZEER" was given, and the only other pronounciation mentioned was the more commonly used one. I have never come across your alternate pronounciation. - GreatGatsby
Boston Globe must be wrong. Other than Dictionary.com/Niger, please check the following sites too:
They all list "knee-ZHAIR", as well as "NIGH-jer". There is no source (except the Boston Globe article you read) that gives "nigh-ZEER". I'll revert your change, okay? - TAKASUGI Shinji 04:49, 2005 Mar 23 (UTC)
Knee-zhair would be [ni:dzEr] in IPA I think, and nigh-jer is [naidzʌ]. The latter is also the pronunciation in Latin, where niger means black. Dylanwhs 08:21, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)
"Zh" is commonly used in American dictionaries for [ʒ], the "z" in azure [ˈæʒɝ]. Niger is pronounced either [niːˈʒɛɹ] or [ˈnaɪʤɝ], which can be written as "nee-ZHAIR" and "NIGH-jer" respectively for non-linguists. - TAKASUGI Shinji 09:10, 2005 Mar 23 (UTC)
Do you mean the "Zh" as the same sound the "s" in "leisure" and "asia"? Like the "Zh" in pinyin? I've always heard NIGH-jer. I'd write it nai-jur phonetically, though. Is there a proper way to write words phonetically in English without special symbols? I'd really like to know because I'm writing a book and I made up names in it. JeremyJX 15:53, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

I found this article *(http://www.slate.com/id/2085735/) that says Niger is prounouced (nee-ZHER). I tend to agree that the silent k isn't needed for showing how to prounounce it. We wouldn't type (gnee-ZHER) either.

I would agree it should be pronounced (NIGH-jer). This makes most sense when you look at the name. Anyone from Niger that could possibly shine some light on the situation? Bonzostar (talk) 20:31, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

People mispronouncing Niger

This might not be relevant, but I want to share it with everyone. Today at work, a co-worker read the paper and thought the country "Niger" was pronounced like the n-word. Thoughts? Comments? JeremyJX 15:55, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

"knee-ZHAIR", as well as "NIGH-jer" seem to be the best bets on English pronounciation. Quicksilvre 02:16, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

Yes, some of my schoolmates joked about it the other day, but here in Brasil people tend to spell Niger correctly. Cheiro de Lysoform

Pronouncing it like the "N-word" would require a lack of understanding of English phonics. While there's plenty of exceptions, a short vowel should be followed by a double-consonant. A single consonant following indicates a long vowel. Hence the most obvious pronounciation should be "NIGH-jer". If "knee-ZHAIR" is more correct, that's fine, just not so obvious. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.254.246.237 (talk) 15:34, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Geography

According to the article, "Niger borders seven countries on all sides and has a total of 5,697 km of borders. The longest border is Chad to the east, at 1,175 km. This is followed by Nigeria to the south (1,497 km)." This can't possibly be true; which is it? Quicksilvre 02:16, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

The 2005 Niger food crisis

I've added a brief pargraph near the beginning of the article briefly acknowledging the current famine situation in Niger, including an internal link to Wikipedia's seperate (and well-written) article on the subject.

I mentioned the subject of what's been called the West's total failure to respond early enough to the crisis. I know that's harsh, but I'm hoping nobody thinks I'm violating NPOV, since I cite a couple of aid organizations that themselves are leveling those charges (and backing them up).

--Brent 08:41, 5 August 2005 (UTC)


I think there are a couple of problems with the text you added, including the charge that "Among many factors contributing to the famine, the most preventable has been a slow response to the crisis by the world's rich nations." While the inadequate response may indeed be a significant problem, your paragraph implies that indifference is the main cause. As the article you linked to explains, the root problem is inadequate rainfall and crops damged by locusts. I think that omitting that fact while criticizing the slow response is very misleading, and certainly not NPOV.
You also described it as "a catastrophic famine currently devastating localized parts of Niger and neighboring Mali." Yet the article you linked to says "the crisis, while locally severe, had not reached the level of famine according to famine scales." This is another inconsistencey that I think strains the idea of a neutral viewpoint.
I think your points would better be made in the article on the 2005 crisis, rather than the general entry for the country.
--Anson2995 20:03, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

Wikify

Any reason why the wikify notice was removed? The article still does not make use of the standard country template. Greenman 09:43, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

Have replaced the tag until there's an explanation. Greenman 09:37, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

School attendance

"School attendance is 50%, including 38% of males and only 27% of females." What is the mysterious third gender that's pulling the average up? --Reuben 21:10, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

Since many african countries have low life expectancy, maybe this means 50% of the total population. --repeat and persistant vandal

Um, you realize that makes no sense as an answer to the question, right? I think something's wrong with the school attendance statistics. --Reuben 05:43, 16 August 2005 (UTC)
Have updated stats, with references Greenman 09:37, 16 August 2005 (UTC)
Excellent. Thanks for the good research, Greenman. --Reuben 18:41, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

NPOV concern

I'd like to re-raise the concern I expressed earlier about the section on the current food crisis in Niger. I made edits last week with a discussion of my rationale on this talk page, but my edits were reverted without any explanation.

So I'd like to reiterate my concerns.

1) I don't believe a lenghty discussion of a current event belongs on a country page like this. A pointer to a separate page seems more appropriate, and a very good one already exists (2005 Niger food crisis).

2) The paragraph on the Niger page discussing the 2005 crisis contains factual errors and contradicts some of the facts in the expanded article which it points to. For example, the Niger comments refer to the crisis as a "famine", while the Crisis article says that it does not meet the defintion of a famine.

3) I think that criticizing the lack of aid by "rich nations" violates the principles of NPOV. The use of words like "appalingly" expresses an underlying political philosophy, particularly when one chooses to list just one of the factors contributing to the crisis. The lack of response may be worthy of note, but by omittting the other (arguably more significant) causes, it becomes more of an editorial commentary and less of a factual report. Again, the longer article on the crisis does a better job of laying out all of the facts in a balanced context.

4) Furthermore, if Doctors without Borders and the UN World Food Program have made the charge that is attributed to them here, a direct quote or a linked citation should be included. That could go on the 2005 Niger food crisis page, and proper attribution makes it NPOV compliant (in my opinion).

--Anson2995 17:04, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

Agree that the intro is not POV - have toned it down a bit, please discuss further on the talk page. Greenman 09:37, 16 August 2005 (UTC)
Thanks, Greenman, that addresses the POV concerns I had. The first sentence is still incorrect, because it calls the situation a famine. As the 2005 Niger food crisis article points out, this situation would be classified as a "food crisis" based on the famine scales. I have changed the wording to reflect that. I guess the only other concern I have is as to form. Should a current event be documented on a country page like this? I'll yield to the consensus opinion on that one, but it seems out of place to me. --Anson2995 19:36, 16 August 2005 (UTC)
Regarding the Politcal side of this, It should not even be discussed. You are comparing them to first world contries, and judging them on the base that they have less. But compared to other 3rd world, Niger is doing great. Thus they should not need any "relief" at all. And relief from what? Non-western ideas and technology? There should be a section in this article of why we shouldn't help them, since they are fine. You can say anything you want, you are comparing them to your life. And you don't live theirs. So you don't know. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.89.220.56 (talk) 01:24, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

Languages

Is french the only official or are the others listed in the offical lang. box as well. Fabhcún 10:04, August 31, 2005 (UTC)

Could there be a list of commonly spoken languages such as hausa and fulfulde? Cheers. K — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.132.147.225 (talk • contribs) 19:34, 26 June 2006‎

Could someone please correct the link to the Gulmancema language. It's currently linking to "Gourmantché", but should link to "Gourmanchéma language". Thank you. :) 69.196.167.176 (talk) 17:35, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

Done. Thanks for pointing it out! bobrayner (talk) 17:56, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

Nigeriens pronouncing Niger

I spent three years in Niger as a Peace Corps volunteer and doing Ph.D. research, and here is the deal on pronunciation: in Niger one says "knee-ZHAIR", following the French pronunciation - any resident of the country says this, as does anyone educated in French (France, Canada, etc.). This is strictly speaking the correct pronunciation. However sometimes you hear "NIGH-djer" in English, analogous to Nigeria.

Residents are Nigérien(s) [male] and Nigérienne(s) [female]. Sjrbaier 04:02, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

It is worth noting that the above comment is by a user identified as Stephen Baier, the author of (in my opinion) one of the two best English language works on Nigerien history An Economic History of Central Niger. Oxford University (1980). I'm going to go with this as pretty darn definitive. T L Miles (talk) 21:07, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

I was in the Peace Corps Niger as well. Providing additional information on pronunciation: "knee-JHAIR," with the "JH" sound as in the name "Jacques." Gholmes 20:02, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Images

I've introduced some images into the page as they were sorely needed but I still think this page needs to be cleaned up by anyone interested or who has the time. A more concise history section is needed, the same going for the economy section. Jaw101ie 12:37, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

majority of this page lifted verbatim from U.S. State Dept.

I took a look at this page, and then took a look at the U.S. State Department's summary of Niger, and huge chunks of this wiki (i.e. the history, politics, economy, economic reform, foreign aid, foreign relations, defense, and demographic sections) are pretty much lifted wholesale and verbatim from the State Dept's "Background Notes". (scroll down to Niger link; I can't get the actual Niger page to link here for some reason). Seems like more sources would be a good idea, otherwise this wiki isn't contributing much to the body of information on Niger. Also, shouldn't verbatim lifting of entire paragraphs and sections be attributed in wikis? -Conifertree 17 Sept. 06

Good catch. Here are the edits in which the material was added. [1]. U.S. government material is automatically public domain, but it should still be credited. I'll add an attribution at the end, feel free to improve it. -Will Beback 00:49, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

But my other point is -- if people are simply lifting huge chunks of government text on a subject for this wiki, what is the point? What is the value? Huge editing is needed, and this wiki should reflect multiple sources, not just the U.S. government's take on Niger. (I do not have time to do this). At this point, there should be no text in this wiki, just a hyperlink to the U.S. Department of State's background notes on Niger. That's all this wiki is, essentially. -Conifertree, 9 Oct. 2006

food crisis

Before invasion of Africa by colonial powers, the population was in harmony with the environment and sustainable: ie the number of people accurately and by defualt reflected the carrying capacity of the land and the tendency (by cultural aggreement) for the tribes to go to war. A stable situation. The well-meaning behaviour of colonial powers who themselves were ignorant of ecology casued several froms of disruption: disallowed tribal warfare; disallowed birth control (RC church), improved survival by introducing antibiosis and immunisation and hygiene while doing nothing to curb birth rate. This has resulted in a population explsion. combine this with poor farming practice, influx of arms, and corruption among our leaders, break-dwon of infrastructrue, etc, etc and the result is widespread famine. Meanwhile the wellmeaning west squeaks onward about 'elimination of poverty.' The real solution is radical curbing of the poplation growth, ie birth control. Signed: an African — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.27.90.186 (talk • contribs) 04:50, 19 October 2006‎

Early history

Where is the early history, did niger start with colonialism?--HalaTruth(ሐላቃህ) 13:37, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Slavery

this is out of place, as slavery is not an aspect of the economy, this sounds like a social issue or a human rights issue.--HalaTruth(ሐላቃህ) 13:39, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

That makes no sense - slavery is part of the economics of a society. Ttiotsw (talk) 07:56, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

The head of the government's National Commission for Human Rights and Fundamental Liberation claims that slavery does not exist, saying "Even if they have no salary, they refuse to leave the master because they are at ease with the master;" but foreign journalists report that, according to claims by opposition lawmakers, "about 10% of the members of parliament keep slaves or are from slave-owning families." [2][3]

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery "In Niger, slavery is also a current phenomenon; a Nigerien study has found that more than 800,000 people are still slaves, almost 8% of the population." and there are 2 sources. Seems odd there is no mention of this in the Niger article. CONSPIRACY!!! 198.6.46.11 14:06, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

I also think that Niger's apparently booming slave trade deserves a mention on the Niger main page. It seems like a pretty important piece of information considering the aforementioned link. Does anybody oppose it being incorporated? Daverd2 (talk) 23:02, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

I agree - a recent BBC story on a court case, [4] cites a "local organisation fighting to end the practice says there are more than 40,000 slaves in Niger.". That court case is claimed by the BBC correspondent as notable as "Ecowas court ruling will be binding on all member states and so would have consequences for people being kept as slaves beyond Niger". I think there is enough evidence to add a section on Slavery and for a consensus to keep it in. Ttiotsw (talk) 07:56, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

sprotect?

Should we consider protecting this article? While there are occasional good edits from IP addresses, this page is a major target of vandalism. If anyone else agrees, I would like to consider compiling some statistics on vandalism and taking the page to WP:RPP to ask for permanent semiprotection. bikeable (talk) 20:36, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

In addition to strengthening the budgetary process and public finances, the Government of Niger has embarked on an ambitious program to privatize 12 state-owned companies. To date, seven have been fully privatized, including the water and telephone utilities, with the remainder to be privatized in 2005.

This is out of date, so if anyone knows the new facts could you change this?


  • Protect this article. It has had 50 edits (vandalism/reverts) in the last month, mostly from numbered accounts. Permanent semiprotection sounds like a good idea. 160.5.12.21 14:07, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:CEN-SAD-emblem.png

Image:CEN-SAD-emblem.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 06:13, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Niger Scouting

Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into the Hausa language and the Zarma language? Thanks! Chris 05:27, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

That's a really random request 198.6.46.11 14:07, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject Africa/Niger work group

Please note the addition of the WikiProject Africa/Niger work group. Anyone willing to coordinate Niger-related topics can add lists/suggestions there, as well as well at Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa T L Miles (talk) 06:28, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

unsigned comment

Is the "not to be confused with nigger" addendum at the very beginning of the page for a country at all necessary, or is this part of the aforementioned influx of vandalism? 129.119.187.242 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 00:18, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

    • Vandalism. This article should really be protected, sadly. T L Miles (talk) 14:26, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
      • How is this vandalism? The article could create confusion in that the derogatory word "Nigger" was derived from this (African) country.
No, the two words are not related directly. It is possibly they are both derived from a word meaning "black", but the etymology of "Niger" is actually unknown. --seberle (talk) 12:59, 25 May 2013 (UTC)
When are the terms "confused" except by people who deliberately conflate them in an attempt at racist humor? My vote is that this is vandalism and needs to be reverted ASAP. I would do it myself, but I have already done so once and do not want to be accused of edit warring. -- Marie Paradox (talk) 01:15, 26 May 2013 (UTC)
I agree. It's unlikely to be misspelled often and is certain to offend many visitors to the page in its prominent location.--seberle (talk) 13:33, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
I agree too. Thanks for removing it. bobrayner (talk) 21:44, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
By that reasoning, the article about the word Nigger should be deleted because people might get offended by its existence. And your argument is not even a valid one the first place, Wikipedia is not censored. - 190.231.184.226 (talk) 20:11, 15 September 2013 (UTC)
I disagree. As already pointed out, the word Nigger has nothing to do with this article, even indirectly. Including it only encourages the impression that the two words are somehow related. The article about the word Nigger, on the other hand, is the appropriate place to discuss this term. This has nothing to do with censorship, only clarity and avoiding unnecessary offense. --seberle (talk) 08:35, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

gdp

there is a mistake in total gdp or gdp per capita —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.4.61.155 (talk) 21:25, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

I just updated these. The problem is finding a consistent dataset for all these that also provides rankings. As I didn't want to generate the ranks myself from the IMF or World Bank, I chose the CIA data, and added refs to the others. CIA DID NOT provide a total pop rank, so I removed it so that the data is consistent. This was the source of the initial problem: the data was from more than one source. T L Miles (talk) 01:29, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

what about the name?

i've read the french, english and hebrew articles on Niger and none of them says anyhthing of interest about the name. i'd really be interested to know what's the meaning of it ("black" or something possibly?) and also how it stands in relation to the name of nearby Nigeria.

how come that you so often find in Africa such similar names for countries, for example the Republic of Congo and the DROC. huh? Monkey dog2088 (talk) 20:45, 8 August 2008 (UTC)


see River_Niger. In both cases, different colonial powers controlled neighboring regions. --T L Miles (talk) 00:34, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Again requesting semi protection

As most of the edits to this page are either vandalism by anon IPs or attempts to fix said vandalism, I am again attempting to have this page semi-protected. See Wikipedia:Requests_for_page_protection#Current_requests_for_protection. Otherwise this becomes a daily task which, if missed, results in racist abuse stuck in every nook and cranny of this article, making it very difficult to revert or ferret out. I would appreciate the views of other editors on this.T L Miles (talk) 02:51, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Muslim 80% or 90%?

Under the heading 'Demographics', the article says that, 80% people of Niger practice Islam, while under the heading 'Religion', it claims that 90% people of Niger are Muslim. Which one is true, I wonder! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.49.40.140 (talk) 15:31, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Two different people have written these articles and hundreds of people have edited them. You could look at the sources listed and correct which one is incorrect. I believe they both are incorrect, as the number is over well %90, and the difference rests upon how the animist Mawri population is counted as many are nominally Muslim, and that number is growing as well.
Please add discussions to the bottom of this page, and sign your posts with four tildes, thusly: ~~~~. Thank you T L Miles (talk) 21:48, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Inconsistency

According to this page, Uranium exports represent 72% of the country's exports, but according to the article referred to in the mining section (Mining in Niger), Uranium represents only 40% of the country's exports. Which is it? Am I reading it wrong? I have not edited the document. 193.57.156.241 (talk) 11:20, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm assuming these figures were referenced to two different sources, perhaps from two different times. Note that these could be percent of exports by value, or by hard currency value, or by some other measure. In which case you should look at the references given and clarify these phrases. It could also be that, given the wild fluctuations in world commodity prices in the lase few years, they are for different times (possibly even the same year) calculated from what was then the world market price. In short, please look at the references, and add the needed qualifiers. T L Miles (talk) 14:28, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

typo

{{editsemiprotected}} In "===Military rule and Forth Republic=== " Forth should be Fourth.

205.235.104.4 (talk) 22:13, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Already done —Ms2ger (talk) 13:26, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Niger Death?

Does Anyone Have The Niger Death Rates ? Thank You . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.193.120.202 (talk) 21:07, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Land Area

On the map, Algeria obviously looks much bigger and the article on Algeria describes the land area being almost double what Niger's is. But yet this article states that Niger has the biggest land area in Africa. This doesn't make sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.116.156.254 (talk) 20:57, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually, the largest country in Africa is Sudan. But this article does not say "Niger has the biggest land area in Africa." It only says that Niger is the largest country in West Africa. Algeria is considered to be in North Africa. --seberle (talk) 02:57, 10 November 2009 (UTC)
I think this is a fair objection. Algeria is bigger than Niger and lies more to the west than Niger, so I don't think it's reasonable to say that Niger is the largest country in West Africa. The West Africa article opens with "West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent", which would surely include both Algeria and Niger. However, there is an alternate meaning of "West Africa", a UN subdivision which would hardly be intuitive to the average reader, which does not include Algeria.
One way around this could be to make the claim clearer, by saying something like "Niger is the largest country in "West Africa", according to one particular definition of "West Africa" which excludes a larger African country to the west of Niger". Any takers? No? ;-)
I'd rather we just dropped or modified the claim. It's misleading at best; there is a larger African country which lies further west. Bobrayner (talk) 04:35, 29 December 2009 (UTC)
It may be misleading to those not familiar with African geography, but it is accurate. The opening sentence to the West Africa article is not the final word and definitely needs work. "West Africa" is a commonly understood term of historical, cultural, political, ethnic and economic significance. It is not just an arbitrary UN definition and it does not include Algeria or other North African countries which are separated historically and geographically by the Sahara desert from West Africa. This group of countries have many commonalities and "West Africa" is the only accepted term for describing this region, not to mention the official name for many treaties and international organizations linking these countries. Niger happens to be the largest country in this well-defined region and Wikipedia reader ignorance of this region of the world should not be a reason for deleting this information. A link to the definition to "West Africa" should be sufficient for those who are confused, but if not, a sentence of explanation can be added. --seberle (talk) 04:28, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

Algeria is not normally considered a West African country—it is customarily classified as a North African country. If one simply looks at a map and splits the continent into two east-west halves, yes, Algeria is in the west, but West Africa is a well-defined subregion that is understood to include Niger and exclude Algeria. "Niger is the largest country in West Africa (by territory)" is a simple, factual statement, and it should be restored to the article. Perhaps it could say "West African subregion" instead of the slightly more ambiguous "West Africa", but it's a fairly important thing to mention in the intro. Everyking (talk) 04:02, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps a helpful example for Americans unfamiliar with African geography would be the expression Southern United States. New Mexico and Arizona are not included in this geographical area, even though they are farther south than some of the states that are considered part of the American South. Like the "American South", "West Africa" is a well-defined term decided by tradition and history. In any case, the Wikipedia article is now clear about the definition of West Africa. Another helpful article for those who need to brush up on their African geography is the Wikipedia article List of regions of Africa. West African countries have many important political, economic, cultural, linguistic, ethnic and historical ties. There are large numbers of people immigrating between these countries. Half of the countries in West Africa even share a common currency. There simply is no other common name that this important region goes by, and Wikipedia should not exclude information just because some people do not know this. The wonderful thing about Wikipedia is that there are links for those who might be confused about definitions of certain terms. --seberle (talk) 11:34, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Proposed merger with Education in Niger

As the Education in Niger is quite short, it would be worthwile to add the information in it to this article. Sarcelles (talk) 12:48, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

I support this. James Brian Ellis (talk) 17:07, 27 December 2009 (UTC)
Seconded, looks like a good move to me unless somehow lots more content could be conjured up for Education in Niger (which seems unlikely). Bobrayner (talk) 20:46, 28 December 2009 (UTC)

"Education in Niger" is a highly notable topic with obvious potential for expansion; it's fine to add that content here, but the article shouldn't be redirected to this one. Everyking (talk) 04:27, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

It could go either way, I definitely think more discussion should be weighed on this. In a way with something such as education, it could have it's own article, but the way Education in Niger sounds, it would probably just do better here. Especially, since there's never really been much history on the other and it's only be around for two years. What a way that would start a New Year, deleting an article. :P 71.96.231.201 (talk) 06:46, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Every country needs to have an article on its education. It shouldn't be a point of debate. Everyking (talk) 18:22, 2 January 2010 (UTC)
Every country including Niger should have its article on education, but in this case the content of the article should be moved to the article on the country. Sarcelles (talk) 18:33, 2 January 2010 (UTC)
That's fine, as long as the other article isn't redirected to this one. Everyking (talk) 01:42, 3 January 2010 (UTC)
I agree with Everyking that they should not be merged. Material from Education in Niger can be incorporated here, but it should be kept as a separate article. It's a notable topic and there is plenty of scope for expansion. --BelovedFreak 01:30, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

And, of course, Education in Niger was blanked and redirected here today. This is why I now avoid Wikipedia. T L Miles (talk) 02:03, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

Every bit of text that was there is now here, so nothing has been lost. If the material grows so long that it should be split off that can happen in the future. The material is more likely to be read if it's in this article than in a separate, one-paragraph article.   Will Beback  talk  08:21, 13 February 2010 (UTC)
I certainly don't want to drive away anyone over this. Reasonable folks can differ. I've reverted myself and am happy to abide by whatever other folks here think is right.   Will Beback  talk  10:10, 13 February 2010 (UTC)
I actually think it's best as it is now - a summary in this article, which is then expanded on in Education in Niger, in the same way that all the spin-off articles do. Of course the problem is now that that article is pretty short at the moment, and doesn't do the topic justice, so we need to expand it. I'll start looking for material to add.--BelovedFreak 10:41, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

Coup Under Way

There's news here about a coup attempt under way right now: [5] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.172.171.178 (talk) 17:25, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

And from Al Jazeera: [6]--92.234.201.151 (talk) 19:06, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
UKPA news (via Google News) that the president has been kidnapped and his whereabouts are unknown. [7] 72.172.171.178 (talk) 19:51, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Head of government

I see the caption for Prime Minister has been removed. Does the coup mean that this side of Niger's administration has been abolished? There was no mention of it the last time I checked the Ali Badjo Gamatié article. Even so, because this takeover has been presented by the Wikipedia community as de facto, surely this position would still exist would it not. If the military has taken over the ministries then you'd expect them to appoint a PM as well (as in Mauritania when Laghdaf replaced El Waghef). Evlekis (talk) 10:55, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Media reports that I've seen/heard have leaned more towards the coup having "suspended" rather than "taken over" the government. Closed offices, closed borders, that kind of thing. If that is the case then what exactly does the PM do? And if the coup leaders have removed the previous PM, when will they fill the seat again? Of course the situation is likely to change rapidly, but if the country is currently controlled by guys with tanks & guns then having no named PM is probably less misleading than listing a pre-coup PM. Bobrayner (talk) 18:25, 20 February 2010 (UTC)
I see your point. It is just that - if we continue to present the closure of offices as de facto, it stands to reason that all previous appointments remain de jure; I am not promoting a political viewpoint because I don't believe in separating the two. I would prefer we all accept what is de facto and leave it at that, the whole fabric of what constitutes "legal" activity is shady and open to interpretation by all sides invovled in any political dispute. Taking on board what you are saying, I have now amended the Ali Badjo Gamatié article so that it now honours the coup. I have updated the intro to state that his position has been abolished as displayed in his infobox. Evlekis (talk) 22:15, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

It wasn't abolished; they just didn't have a prime minister for a few days because they didn't want to leave the previous one on the job but also hadn't gotten around to picking a new. They appointed Mahamadou Dandah to fill the post today. Everyking (talk) 21:23, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Typo in Military section

End of second paragraph, it should be materiel, not material.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.224.148.118 (talk • contribs) 10:22, 6 June 2010‎

I tweaked that sentence to remove the ambiguous word.
bobrayner (talk) 12:11, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

nigerian or nigerien

which is it?80.5.12.72 (talk) 19:11, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

For Niger, Nigerien; for Nigeria, Nigerian.--BelovedFreak 19:17, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

thanks80.5.12.72 (talk) 23:15, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

CONFUSED!!!

At the top, it should say: Not to be confused with Nigeria. 82.12.1.173 (talk) 19:24, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

The second sentence mentions that it borders Nigeria for those who might be confused. I think that should be sufficient, but feel free to disagree. I know a great many people who do confuse the two countries. --seberle (talk) 01:37, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

How many departments?

Are there 7 (8) departments or 36 in Niger? The text and the accompanying map seem to disagree on this. Has there been a mixup between the words "région" and "département" somewhere along the way? Many TIA.--Paracel63 (talk) 11:24, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Hi again! Found clarifying links and text. Renamed headline and map byline to add clarification. Is there a newer map somewhere?--Paracel63 (talk) 11:36, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
Until decentralization c. 2002, Divisions were 1: Departments 2: Arrondisments 3: Communes and or Posts or traditional collectivities. At Decentralization Departements were renamed Regions, Arrondisements were renamed Departements (confusingly), and Postes were eliminated. There are regular reorganizations at the Commune level, along with new subdivisions of Communes including Urban Collectivitie, Quartier, Collectivies, tribus, fractions etc. A further late 2010 reorganization appears to have been revised, and it is still unclear what the new government will do. This included the reintroduction of certain arrondisements, and the creation of Urban collectivies instead of multi-commune cities in the larger regional centers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by T L Miles (talk • contribs) 02:25, 30 March 2011‎

Presidential elections

Page still states that elections were indecisive and run-offs will be held in March 2011. Mahamadou Issoufou won the run-off - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12737230 81.101.248.181 (talk) 16:05, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

Relgious statistics

There are few solid statistics on religions in Niger. I am not sure why someone put 5% Christian in the graph -- I know of no estimate anywhere near that high. I replaced the stats with those from the ARDA, which seem to agree with other sources with which I am familiar. How do we link a reference/footnote to the graph so that it appears next to the graph and not in the text? --seberle (talk) 18:28, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 9 September 2012

Samira Hill is owned by a company called SML (Societe des Mines du Liptako) which is a joint venture between a Moroccan company, Societe Semafo, and a Canadian company, Etruscan Resources.

Semafo is a Canadian company, not Moroccan. http://www.semafo.com/company-profile.php MAGirard (talk) 22:02, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Done Illia Connell (talk) 02:58, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

Proposed removal of redundant publisher information

A number of citations in this article unnecessarily include the publisher for periodicals and websites that have their own Wikipedia article. This information has no value to anyone wanting to check or track down references. For example, publisher=Washington Post Company for references to The Washington Post, or publisher=IMDB for references to Box Office Mojo, only make the article longer - significantly longer when repeated many times - without adding anything useful. Therefore I plan to upgrade the article's citations to remove all such redundant publisher info, bringing them into line with the recommended use of the cite template (see Template:Citation#Publisher). Please raise any questions here or on my talk page. Colonies Chris (talk) 21:44, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger#Oil

a little outdated, would the authors/baby daddies/mommies of this article(/section) please do some (general) updating ?
thx :)
Regards
Paranoid Android1208 (talk) 21:25, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

We have a bigger article at Oil and mining industry of Niger which also needs updating. Agadem block, Sopamin &c could be nice new articles for anybody who wants to increase their DYK score. bobrayner (talk) 23:12, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Islam 10th or 15th century ?

Contradiction in Demographics "Islam, spread from North Africa beginning in the 10th century" in Religion paragraph vs "Islam was spread into what is now Niger beginning in the 15th century" in Islam paragraph 130.228.251.5 (talk) 13:07, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

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