Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesFifth Republic of Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesNiamey. Beginning with Niger's first municipal elections of 2 February 1999, the nation started electing local officials for the first time. Citizens now elect local committee representatives in each Commune, chosen by subdivisions of the commune: "Quarters" in towns and "Villages" in rural areas, with additional groupings for traditional polities and nomadic populations. These officials choose Mayors, and from them are drawn representatives to the Department level. The same process here chooses a Departmental council and

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

, and representatives to the Regional level. The system is repeated a Regional level, with a Regional Prefect, council, and representatives to the High Council of Territorial Collectives (''Le Haut Conseil des Collectivités Territoriales HCCT''). The HCCT has only advisory powers, but its members (Regions, Departments, and Communes) have some financial, planning, educational and environmental powers. The central government oversees this process through the office of the Minister of State for the Interior, Public Safety and Decentralization.

Current administrative structure

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesNiamey, comprises a

capital district A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politica ...

Regions of Niger Niger is divided into eight regions (French: ''régions;'' singular''région)'', each of which is named after its capital. Current regions *Additionally, the national capital, Niamey, comprises a special capital district. Current administrativ ...

Agadez Region Agadez Region is one of the seven regions of Niger. At , it covers more than half of Niger's land area, and is the largest region in the country, as well as the largest African state subdivision. The capital of the department is Agadez. Histo ...

Diffa Region Diffa is one of the seven Regions of Niger, located in the southeast of the country. The capital of the region is Diffa. Geography Diffa Region is situated in the extreme southeast of Niger between 10° 30’ and 15° 35’ longitude East and 1 ...

* Dosso Region *

Maradi Region The Region of Maradi is one of seven Region of Niger. It is located in south-central Niger, east of the Region of Tahoua, west of Zinder, and north of the Nigerian city of Katsina. The administrative centre is at Maradi. The population of the R ...

Tahoua Region Tahoua is one of eight Regions of Niger. The capital of the region is the commune of Tahoua. The region covers 106,677 km². Geography Tahoua borders Agadez Region to the northeast, Maradi Region to the southeast, Nigeria's Sokoto State to t ...

Tillabéri Region Tillabéri (var. ''Tillabéry'') is one of the eight Regions of Niger; the capital of the Region is Tillabéri. Tillabéri Region was created in 1992, when Niamey Region was split, with Niamey and its immediate hinterland becoming a new ''capital ...

Zinder Region Zinder Region is one of the seven regions of Niger; the capital of the region is Zinder. The region covers 145,430 km². It is the most populous province of Niger. History Numerous Palaeolithic and Neolithic remains, as well as cave painting ...

The Regions are subdivided into

Departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and communes. As of 2005, there were 36 ''départements'', divided into 265 ''communes'', 122 ''cantons'' and 81 ''groupements''. The latter two categories cover all areas not covered by ''Urban Communes'' (population over 10000) or ''Rural Communes'' (population under 10000), and are governed by the Department, whereas Communes have (since 1999) elected councils and mayors. Additional semi-autonomous sub-divisions include ''Sultanates'', ''Provinces'' and ''Tributaries'' (''tribus''). The Nigerien government estimates there are an additional 17000 Villages administered by ''Rural Communes'', while there are a number of ''Quartiers'' (

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

or neighborhoods) administered by ''Urban Communes''.

Restructuring

Prior to the devolution program on 1999–2006, these Regions were styled Departments. Confusingly, the next level down (Arrondissements) were renamed Departments.

1992 division

Tillabéri department was created in 1992, when Niamey Region (then called "department") was split, with the area immediately outside Niamey renamed as the ''capital district''.According t
Statsoid
: "~1992: Tillabéry Region/department split from Niamey (whose FIPS code was NG05 before the change). Status of Niamey changed from department to capital district."

Historical evolution

Prior to independence, Niger was divided into sixteen

Cercles Cercles (; oc, Cercle) is a former commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune La Tour-Blanche-Cercles. History From 1825 to 1877, the nearby town of La ...

as second level administration divisions: 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 cercle. After independence, the ''31 December 1961 Law of territorial organization'' created 31 ''circonscriptions''. The 16 colonial cercles continued to exist, and served as a level of division above these circonscriptions. Four cercles (Dogondoutchi, Filingué, N'Guigmi, and Téra) had only one circonscription. The ''Law of August 14, 1964'' then reorganized the country into seven departments, adopting the French second level administration naming system, in contrast to neighbor

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

, which retained the colonial

and Regions.

References

{{Regions and departments of Niger