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Updates: 

An update to ISO 3166-2, issued on 2014-11-03, changes the status of departments to regions.

Sorin Cosoveanu provided me with census data from 2012, in agreement with source [4], and with areas for the regions that I used to replace the former figures in the main table.

Country overview: 

Short name	NIGER
ISO code	NE
FIPS code	NG
Language	French (fr)
Time zone	+1
Capital	Niamey

 

The area now known as Niger was part of French Sudan at the beginning of the 20th century. As the French administration got better organized, the area became a military territory, separate from the colony of Upper Senegal and Niger to its west. Niger became a territory within French West Africa on 1922-10-13. It obtained full independence on 1960-08-03.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Niger
2. Dutch: Niger, Republiek Niger (formal)
3. English: Republic of Niger (formal)
4. Finnish: Niger
5. French: Niger, République f du Niger m (formal)
6. German: Niger m
7. Icelandic: Níger
8. Italian: Niger m
9. Norwegian: Niger, Republikken Niger (formal)
10. Portuguese: Níger, República f do Níger m (formal)
11. Russian: Голландия (variant), Республика Нигер (formal)
12. Spanish: Níger, República f de Níger (formal)
13. Swedish: Niger
14. Turkish: Nijer Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

Named for the Niger River, from Tamashek gher n-gheren: river among rivers

Primary subdivisions: 

Niger is divided into seven régions (regions) and one communauté urbaine (urban commune).

Region	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)
Agadez	NE.AG	1	NG01	487,620	667,799	257,839
Diffa	NE.DF	2	NG02	593,821	156,906	60,582
Dosso	NE.DS	3	NG03	2,037,713	33,844	13,067
Maradi	NE.MA	4	NG04	3,402,094	41,796	16,138
Niamey	NE.NI	8	NG08	1,026,848	402	155
Tahoua	NE.TH	5	NG06	3,328,365	113,371	43,773
Tillabéri	NE.TL	6	NG09	2,722,482	97,251	37,549
Zinder	NE.ZI	7	NG07	3,539,764	155,778	60,146
8 divisions				17,138,707	1,267,147	489,248
Region: Niamey is a urban commune. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 2012-12-10 census Capitals have the same name as their regions.

Further subdivisions:

See the Departments of Niger page.

The regions are subdivided into departments, which are further subdivided into entities of three types: rural communes, urban communes, and administrative stations (postes administratifs).

Territorial extent: 

Niamey is enclaved within Kollo department of Tillabéri region.

The UN LOCODE page  for Niger lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Change history: 

1. 1932-09-06: Part of Upper Volta transferred to Niger
2. 1947-09-04: Districts of Dori and Fada N'Gourma restored to Upper Volta
3. As part of French West Africa, Niger was divided into sixteen cercles (districts): Agadez, Birni N'Konni, Dogondoutchi, Dosso, Filingué, Gouré, Madaoua, Magaria, Maradi, N'Guigmi, Niamey, Tahoua, Téra, Tessaoua, Tillabéry, and Zinder. Their capitals had the same names as the districts.
4. 1961-12-31: Law of territorial organization created 31 circumscriptions. De facto, the 16 colonial cercles continued to exist, and served as a level of division above the circumscriptions. Four cercles (Dogondoutchi, Filingué, N'Guigmi, and Téra) had only one circumscription.
5. 1964-07-17: Niger reorganized into seven departments, subdivided into 32 arrondissements which corresponded to the former circumscriptions.
6. 1988-04: Capital of Niamey department moved from Niamey to Tillabéri.
7. 1992: Tillabéri department split from Niamey (whose FIPS code was NG05 before the change). Status of Niamey changed from department to urban commune.
8. 2001-08-10: Law No. 2001-023 changed the status of departments to regions.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Agadez: Agadès (obsolete)
2. Tillabéri: Tillabéry (variant)

Population history:

Region	1960	1977-10-07	1988-05-10	2001-05-20	2012-12-10
Agadez	62,000	124,985	205,108	321,639	487,620
Diffa	123,000	167,389	186,792	346,595	593,821
Dosso	450,000	693,207	1,016,469	1,505,864	2,037,713
Maradi	561,000	949,747	1,385,170	2,235,748	3,402,094
Niamey		242,973	392,165	707,951	1,026,848
Tahoua	687,000	993,615	1,305,417	1,972,729	3,328,365
Tillaberi	748,000	928,849	1,322,025	1,889,515	2,722,482
Zinder	609,000	1,002,225	1,406,943	2,080,250	3,539,764
Total	3,240,000	5,102,990	7,220,089	11,060,291	17,138,707

 

Data for 1960-2001 are from source [2]. Other sources sometimes disagree. Census 2012: source [4].

Sources: 

1. [1] 2001 census data are from the Institut National de Statistique - Niger  website (retrieved 2009-06-05).
2. [2] Annuaire statistique des cinquante ans d'indépendance du Niger . Institut National de la Statistique, 2010-08 (retrieved 2012-08-21).
3. [3] L'Évaluation des effectifs de la population des pays Africains, Tome I. Groupe de Démographie Africaine, Paris, 1982.
4. [4] Présentation des résultats globaux définitifs du Quatrième Recensement Général de la Population et de l’Habitat (RGP/H) de 2012 . Institut National de la Statistique (retrieved 2014-04-18).