The Regions of Niger are subdivided into 63 Departments (French: departements). Before the devolution program on 1999-2005, these Departments were styled arrondissements. Confusingly, the next level up (Regions) had, before 2002-2005 been styled Departments. Prior to a revision in 2011, there had been 36 Departments. A draft law in August 2011 would expand that number to 63. Until 2010, Arrondissements remained a proposed subdivision of Departments, though none were used. The decentralisation process, begun in the 1995-1999 period replaced appointed Prefects at Departmental/Arrondisement level with elected councils, first elected in 1999. These were the first local elections held in the history of Niger. Officials elected at Commune level are then selected as representatives at Departmental, Regional, and National level councils and administration. The Ministry of Decentralisation was created to oversee this task, and to create a national consultative council of local officials.

On 1 August 2011, the National Assembly of Niger approved a draft law which would dramatically expand the number of Departments to 63. The law will create 27 new Departments centered on the former appointed sub departmental Postes Administratifs.

Niger (French pronunciation: [niʒɛʁ], but occasionally pronounced as /niːˈʒɛər/ or ⁱ/ˈnaɪdʒər/), officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east. Niger covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km², making it the largest nation in West Africa, with over 80 percent of its land area covered by the Sahara desert. The country's predominantly Islamic population of just above 15,000,000 is mostly clustered in the far south and west of the nation. The capital city is Niamey, located in the far southwest corner of Niger.

Niger is a developing country, and consistently ranks as one of the lowest ranks of the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI), 186th of 187 countries in 2011. 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 remains handicapped by its landlocked position, desert terrain, poor education and poverty of its people, lack of infrastructure, poor health care, and environmental degradation.