Niger vs. Chad
Geography
| Niger | Chad | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Western Africa, southeast of Algeria | Central Africa, south of Libya |
| Geographic coordinates | 16 00 N, 8 00 E | 15 00 N, 19 00 E |
| Map references | Africa | Africa |
| Area | total: 1.267 million sq km land: 1,266,700 sq km water: 300 sq km | total: 1.284 million sq km land: 1,259,200 sq km water: 24,800 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | almost nine times the size of New York state; slightly more than three times the size of California |
| Land boundaries | total: 5,834 km border countries (7): Algeria 951 km, Benin 277 km, Burkina Faso 622 km, Chad 1196 km, Libya 342 km, Mali 838 km, Nigeria 1608 km | total: 6,406 km border countries (6): Cameroon 1116 km, Central African Republic 1556 km, Libya 1050 km, Niger 1196 km, Nigeria 85 km, Sudan 1403 km |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
| Climate | desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south | tropical in south, desert in north |
| Terrain | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north | broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Idoukal-n-Taghes 2,022 m lowest point: Niger River 200 m mean elevation: 474 m | highest point: Emi Koussi 3,445 m lowest point: Djourab 160 m mean elevation: 543 m |
| Natural resources | uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, molybdenum, gypsum, salt, petroleum | petroleum, uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad), gold, limestone, sand and gravel, salt |
| Land use | agricultural land: 35.1% (2018 est.) arable land: 12.3% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 22.7% (2018 est.) forest: 1% (2018 est.) other: 63.9% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 39.6% (2018 est.) arable land: 3.9% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 35.7% (2018 est.) forest: 9.1% (2018 est.) other: 51.3% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 1,000 sq km (2012) | 300 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | recurring droughts | hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north; periodic droughts; locust plagues |
| Environment - current issues | overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; contaminated water; inadequate potable water; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction | inadequate supplies of potable water; improper waste disposal in rural areas and poor farming practices contribute to soil and water pollution; desertification |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping-London Convention |
| Geography - note | landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world; northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture | note 1: Chad is the largest of Africa's 16 landlocked countries note 2: not long ago - geologically speaking - what is today the Sahara was green savannah teeming with wildlife; during the African Humid Period, roughly 11,000 to 5,000 years ago, a vibrant animal community, including elephants, giraffes, hippos, and antelope lived there; the last remnant of the "Green Sahara" exists in the Lakes of Ounianga (oo-nee-ahn-ga) in northern Chad, a series of 18 interconnected freshwater, saline, and hypersaline lakes now protected as a World Heritage site note 3: Lake Chad, the most significant water body in the Sahel, is a remnant of a former inland sea, paleolake Mega-Chad; at its greatest extent, sometime before 5000 B.C., Lake Mega-Chad was the largest of four Saharan paleolakes that existed during the African Humid Period; it covered an area of about 400,000 sq km (150,000 sq mi), roughly the size of today's Caspian Sea |
| Total renewable water resources | 34.05 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 45.7 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | majority of the populace is located in the southernmost extreme of the country along the border with Nigeria and Benin as shown in this population distribution map | the population is unevenly distributed due to contrasts in climate and physical geography; the highest density is found in the southwest, particularly around Lake Chad and points south; the dry Saharan zone to the north is the least densely populated as shown in this population distribution map |
Source: CIA Factbook
