• Milestones
• Country
• Year
• Descriptions
• Legend
• Glossary

  Niger
Paleontology related stamps (prehistoric animals, dinosaurs, fossils)

<< previous country

back to index

next country >>

Niger, officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River.  Niger became independent from France in 1960 and experienced single-party and military rule until 1991. Niger covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2, making it the largest country in West Africa, with over 80 percent of its land area covered by the Sahara Desert. The country's predominantly Islamic population of 17 Mio. people about is mostly clustered in the far south and west of the country. The capital city is Niamey, located in the far-southwest corner of Niger.  Niger is a developing country, and is consistently one of the lowest-ranked in the United Nations' Human Development Index. Much of the non-desert portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought and desertification. The economy is concentrated around subsistence and some export agriculture clustered in the more fertile south, and the export of raw materials, especially uranium ore. Niger faces serious challenges to development due to its landlocked position, desert terrain, high fertility rates and resulting overpopulation without birth control, poor education and poverty of its people, lack of infrastructure, poor health care, and environmental degradation.

In 1920, Niger was separated from Upper Senegal & Niger and became a separate colony.  The first stamps used in the new colony were stamps of Upper Senegal and Niger overprinted TERRITOIRE DU NIGER in 1921. The same stamps were surcharged in 1922.  From 1926, stamps marked prominently NIGER and in smaller letters AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE FRANCAISE were issued. 
The first stamps of Niger as an autonomous republic were issued in 1959 and are marked Republique du Niger.  Stamps up to the 1970s tended to be large engraved issues similar to other former French colonies, including stamps featuring famous paintings like those of France. Later, more cheaply produced stamps were issued but designs continue to be large pictorials, typically of local relevance with some issues designed to appeal internationally to thematic stamp collectors. In 2013 Niger became a client of Stamperija agency who start produce  many hundreds stamps every year on behalf of Mozambique.