This is the history of Niger. See also the history of Africa and the history of West Africa.
Ancient rock engraving showing herds of giraffe, ibex, and other animals in the southern Sahara and Niger
Ruins of the trade oasis of Djado in the northeast Niger
A member of the FAN Parachute Company, 1988.
Tuareg men in the Niger, 1997
Rassemblement Démocratique Africain
The Rassemblement Démocratique Africain, commonly known as the RDA and variously translated as African Democratic Assembly and African Democratic Rally, was a political party in French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa which was important in the decolonization of the French empire. The RDA was composed of different political parties throughout the French colonies in Africa and lasted from 1946 until 1958. At certain points, the RDA was the largest political party in the colonies in Africa and played a key role in the French government headed by the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (UDSR). Although the regional party largely dissolved in 1958 with the independence votes for the colonies, many of the national parties retained the RDA in their name and some continue to do so. The political ideology of the party did not endorse outright secession of colonies from France, but it was anti-colonial and pan-Africanist in its political stances.
Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Ivory Coast was the political leader of RDA for much of its existence