Background
Despite being on the losing side of two world wars, Germany remains one of the most influential powers in Europe, boasting the 4th largest country in terms of surface area of the EU with 357,000 sq km, behind France, Spain and Sweden. However, with a population of almost 81.5 million, it is most populous nation in the EU. With the Baltic Sea to its north east, and the North Sea to the north west, Germany is bordered by a total of 9 countries. Denmark (68km) lies to the north, Poland (456km) and the Czech Republic (646km) to the east, Austria (784km) and Switzerland (334km) to the south, France (451km), Luxembourg (138km), Belgium (167km) and the Netherlands (577km) to the west.
Niger became independent from France in 1960 and experienced single-party and military rule until 1991, when Gen. Ali SAIBOU was forced by public pressure to allow multiparty elections, which resulted in a democratic government in 1993. Political infighting brought the government to a standstill and in 1996 led to a coup by Col. Ibrahim BARE. In 1999 BARE was killed in a coup by military officers who promptly restored democratic rule and held elections that brought Mamadou TANDJA to power in December of that year. TANDJA was reelected in 2004. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world with minimal government services and insufficient funds to develop its resource base. The largely agrarian and subsistence-based economy is frequently disrupted by extended droughts common to the Sahel region of Africa. A predominately Tuareg ethnic group emerged in February 2007, the Nigerien Movement for Justice (MNJ), and attacked several military targets in Niger's northern region throughout 2007. Events have since evolved into a budding insurrection.
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Afghanistan Algeria Azerbaijan Albania Armenia Angola Argentina Australia Austria Botswana Belgium Bangladesh Belize Bosnia and Herzegovina Bolivia Burma Benin Belarus Brazil Bhutan Bulgaria Burundi Canada Cambodia Chad Sri Lanka Congo, Democratic Republic of the China Chile Cameroon Colombia Costa Rica Central African Republic Cuba Denmark Ecuador Egypt Ireland Estonia Eritrea El Salvador Ethiopia Czech Republic Finland Fiji France Gambia, The Gabon Georgia Ghana Germany Greece Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Croatia Hungary Iceland Indonesia India Iran Israel Italy Cote d'Ivoire Iraq Japan Jamaica Jordan Kenya Kyrgyzstan Korea, North Korea, South Kuwait Kazakhstan Laos Lebanon Latvia Lithuania Liberia Slovakia Lesotho Libya Madagascar Moldova Mongolia Malawi Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Mali Morocco Mauritania Oman Mexico Malaysia Mozambique Niger Nigeria Netherlands Norway Nepal Suriname Nicaragua New Zealand Paraguay Peru Pakistan Poland Panama Portugal Papua New Guinea Guinea-Bissau Romania Philippines Russia Rwanda South Africa Senegal Slovenia Sierra Leone Singapore Somalia Spain Sudan Sweden Syria Switzerland United Arab Emirates Trinidad and Tobago Thailand Tajikistan Togo Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tanzania Uganda United Kingdom Ukraine United States Burkina Faso Uruguay Uzbekistan Venezuela Vietnam Namibia Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Aruba Antigua and Barbuda Andorra American Samoa Bahrain Barbados Bermuda Bahamas, The Solomon Islands Brunei Congo, Republic of the Cayman Islands Comoros Cape Verde Cyprus Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Equatorial Guinea Micronesia, Federated States of Faroe Islands French Polynesia Grenada Greenland Guam Kiribati Liechtenstein Luxembourg Mauritius Malta Maldives New Caledonia Vanuatu Netherlands Antilles Palau Qatar Marshall Islands Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Seychelles San Marino Saint Lucia Tonga São Tomé and Príncipe East Timor Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Virgin Islands Samoa Swaziland Serbia and Montenegro Saudi Arabia Hong Kong Macau Palestine Taiwan Guadeloupe Martinique Reunion West Bank French Guiana Saint Helena Anguilla Cocos (Keeling) Islands Northern Mariana Islands Cook Islands European Union Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Gibraltar Guernsey Gaza Strip Man, Isle of Jersey Mayotte Montserrat Montenegro Monaco Niue Norfolk Island Nauru Pitcairn Islands Saint Pierre and Miquelon Turks and Caicos Islands Tokelau Tuvalu British Virgin Islands Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Ashmore and Cartier Islands Akrotiri Antarctica Navassa Island Bassas da India Bouvet Island Coral Sea Islands Jarvis Island Dhekelia Europa Island Baker Island French Southern and Antarctic Lands Glorioso Islands Heard Island and McDonald Islands Howland Island British Indian Ocean Territory Clipperton Island Jan Mayen Johnston Atoll Juan de Nova Island Kingman Reef Christmas Island Palmyra Atoll Midway Islands Southern Ocean Paracel Islands Spratly Islands Saint Martin Svalbard South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Saint Barthelemy Tromelin Island Holy See (Vatican City) Wake Island Indian Ocean Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean Northern Ireland Scotland Yugoslavia Soviet Union Czechoslovakia East Germany England West Germany Wales