1.
Niger
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Niger, officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. Niger is bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. Niger covers a area of almost 1,270,000 km2, making it the largest country in West Africa. The countrys predominantly Islamic population of about 19 million is mostly clustered in the far south, the capital city is Niamey, located in the far-southwest corner of Niger. Niger is a country, and is consistently one of the lowest-ranked in the United Nations Human Development Index. Much of the portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought. The economy is concentrated around subsistence and some export agriculture clustered in the fertile south. Nigerien society reflects a diversity drawn from the long independent histories of its ethnic groups and regions. Historically, what is now Niger has been on the fringes of large states. Since independence, Nigeriens have lived under five constitutions and three periods of military rule, following a military coup in 2010, Niger has become a democratic, multi-party state. A majority live in areas, and have little access to advanced education. Early human settlement in Niger is evidenced by archaeological remains. In prehistoric times, the climate of the Sahara was wet and provided favorable conditions for agriculture, in 2005–06, a graveyard in the Tenere desert was discovered by Paul Sereno, a paleontologist from the University of Chicago. His team discovered 5, 000-year-old remains of a woman and two children in the Tenere Desert, the evidence along with remains of animals that do not typically live in desert are among the strongest evidence of the green Sahara in Niger. It is believed that progressive desertification around 5000 BCE pushed sedentary populations to the south and south-east. By at least the 5th century BCE, Niger became an area of trade, led by the Berber tribes from the north. This trade has made Agadez a pivotal place of the trans-Saharan trade and this mobility, which would continue in waves for several centuries, was accompanied with further migration to the south and interbreeding between southern black and northern white populations. It was also aided by the introduction of Islam to the region at the end of the 7th century, several empires and kingdoms also flourished during this era up to the beginning of colonization in Africa
2.
Niger River
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The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about 4,180 km. Its drainage basin is 2,117,700 km2 in area and its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea. The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded only by the Nile and its main tributary is the Benue River. The Scottish explorer Mungo Park was the first Westerner known to have travelled to the portion of the Niger River. The earliest use of the name Niger for the river is by Leo Africanus in his Della descrittione dell’Africa et delle cose notabili che iui sono published in Italian in 1550, the name may come from Berber phrase ger-n-ger meaning river of rivers. As Timbuktu was the end of the principal Trans-Saharan trade route to the western Mediterranean. When European colonial powers began to send ships along the West coast of Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Niger Delta, pouring into the Atlantic through mangrove swamps and thousands of distributaries along more than 160 kilometres, was thought to be no more than coastal wetlands. The Niger River is a clear river, carrying only a tenth as much sediment as the Nile because the Nigers headwaters lie in ancient rocks that provide little silt. Like the Nile, the Niger floods yearly, this begins in September, peaks in November, an unusual feature of the river is the Inner Niger Delta, which forms where its gradient suddenly decreases. The result is a region of braided streams, marshes, and lakes the size of Belgium, the river loses nearly two-thirds of its potential flow in the Inner Delta between Ségou and Timbuktu to seepage and evaporation. All the water from the Bani River, which flows into the Delta at Mopti, the average loss is estimated at 31 km3/year, but varies considerably between years. The river is joined by various tributaries, but also loses more water to evaporation. The quantity of water entering Nigeria measured in Yola was estimated at 25 km3/year before the 1980s, the most important tributary of the Niger in Nigeria is the Benue River which merges with the river at Lokoja in Nigeria. The Niger takes one of the most unusual routes of any major river and this strange geography apparently came about because the Niger River is two ancient rivers joined together. Over time upstream erosion by the lower Niger resulted in capture of the upper Niger by the lower Niger. The northern part of the river, known as the Niger bend, is an important area because it is the major river and this made it the focal point of trade across the western Sahara, and the centre of the Sahelian kingdoms of Mali and Gao. The surrounding Niger River Basin is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the Sudan province, the origin of the rivers name remains unclear. What is clear is that Niger was an appellation applied in the Mediterranean world from at least the Classical era, when knowledge of the area by Europeans was slightly better than fable
3.
Mudbrick
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A mudbrick is a brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. In warm regions with little timber available to fuel a kiln. In some cases brickmakers extended the life of mud bricks by putting fired bricks on top or covering them with stucco, the Great Mosque of Djenné, in central Mali, is the worlds largest mudbrick structure. This plaster must be reapplied annually, the South Asian inhabitants of Mehrgarh constructed, and lived in, mud brick houses between 7000–3300 BC. Mud bricks used at more than 15 reported sites in 3rd millennium BC are attributed as major cultural trait in the ancient Indus valley civilization, mudbricks were in use in the Middle East during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. The Mesopotamians used sun-dried bricks in their city construction, typically these bricks were flat on the bottom and curved on the top, some bricks were formed in a square mould and rounded so that the middle was thicker than the ends. In Ancient Egypt, workers gathered mud from the Nile river, workers then tramped on the mud while straw was added to solidify the mold. In Minoan Crete at the Knossos site there is evidence that sun-dried bricks were used in the Neolithic period. Mudbricks were used to some extent in pre-Roman Egypt, and mudbrick use increased at the time of Roman influence, adobe – Often used in the making of mudbricks. Cob Earth structure Loam Rammed earth Possehl, Gregory L. Mehrgarh in Oxford Companion to Archaeology, Earth Architecture, website whose focus is contemporary issues in earth architecture. Very experienced experts are contactable and there are regular demonstrations in the area, video showing mud brick making, mud brick building and biolytic sewerage in South Africa. CRAterre, Centre de recherche architectural en terre, French university research organisation dedicated to unfired earth construction
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Regions of Niger
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Niger is divided into seven regions, each named after its capital. Additionally, the capital, Niamey, comprises a capital district. The Regions are subdivided into departments 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 or rural communes, and are governed by the department, whereas communes have had elected councils, additional semi-autonomous subdivisions include sultanates, provinces and tributaries. The Nigerien government estimates there are an additional 17000 villages administered by rural communes, prior to the devolution program on 1999-2006, the regions were styled as departments. The current departments used to be called arrondissements. ]Tillabéri department was created in 1992 and 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 had only one circonscription, departments of Niger Communes of Niger Geography of Niger ISO 3166-2, NE for the region codes under the ISO 3166-2 standard. List of FIPS region codes for the department codes under the FIPS 10-4 standard
6.
Departments of Niger
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The Regions of Niger are subdivided into 63 Departments. Before the devolution program on 1999-2005, these Departments were styled arrondissements, confusingly, the next level up 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, 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, the 63 Departments are broken down into Communes. The former postes administratifs for largely uninhabited desert areas or military zones were incorporated as full departments with borders to be determined, the 36 pre-2011 Departments are listed below, by Region
7.
Sultanate of Damagaram
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The Sultanate of Damagaram was a powerful pre-colonial state in what is now southeastern Niger, centered on the city of Zinder. The Sultanate of Damagaram was founded in 1731 by Muslim Kanouri aristocrats, Damagaram was technically a vassal state of the decaying Kanem-Bornu Empire, but quickly came to conquer all its fellow vassal states of western Bornu. In the 1830s, the band of Bornu nobles and retainers conquered the Myrria kingdom. By the 19th century, Damagaram had absorbed 18 Bornu vassal states in the area, Zinder rose from a small Hausa village to an important center of the Trans-Saharan trade with the moving of the capital of Damagaram there in 1736. The large fortress of the southeast central city was shortly thereafter. The Hausa town and Zengou, its Tuareg suburb, expanded with this trade, Damagaram had a mixed relationship with the other major regional power, the Sokoto Caliphate to the south. Damagaram sat astride the trade route linking Tripoli to Kano, one of the more powerful Sokoto sultanates. An east west trade from the Niger River to Bornu also passed through Zinder, making relations with animist neighbors like Maradi or the Gobirwa as profitable, and thus important. Damagaram also covered some of the more productive of Bornus western salt producing evaporation mines, as well as farms producing Ostrich feathers, highly valued in Europe. In the mid 19th century, European travelers estimated the state covered some 70,000 square kilometers and had a population over 400,000, mostly Hausa, but also Tuareg, Fula, Kanuri, Arab and Toubou. At the center of the state was the family, a Sultan with many wives and children. The sultan ruled through the activities of two officers the, Ciroma his heir-apparent the Yakudima. By the end of the 19th century, Damagaram could field an army of 5,000 cavalry,30,000 foot soldiers, and a dozen cannons, which they produced in Zinder. Damagaram could also call upon forces of the allied Kel Gres Tuareg who formed communities near Zinder and other parts of the sultanate, when the French arrived in force in the 1890s, Zinder was the only city of over 10,000 in what is today Niger. Damagaram found itself threatened by well-armed European incursions to the west, in 1898, A French force under Captain Marius Gabriel Cazemajou spent three weeks under the Sultans protection in Damagaram. Cazemajou had been dispatched to form an alliance against the British with Rabah, Cazemajou was murdered by a faction at the court, and the remainder of the French escaped, protected by other factions. In 1899, the elements of the ill-fated Voulet-Chanoine Mission finally arrived in Damagaram on its way to revenge Cazemajous death. Meeting on 30 July at the Battle of Tirmini,10 km from Zinder, with colonialism came the loss of some of Damagarams traditional lands and its most important trade partner to the British in Nigeria
8.
Niamey
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Niamey is the capital and largest city of the West African country Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank and it is an administrative, cultural and economic centre. Niameys population, which was estimated at 774,235 in 2006, is now projected to be much higher, the city is located in a pearl millet growing region, while manufacturing industries include bricks, ceramic goods, cement and weaving. Niamey was probably founded in the century, but was of little importance to most of the country until the French developed a colonial post in the 1890s. This rapidly grew into an important centre, in 1926 it became the capital of Niger, and the population gradually increased, from about 3,000 in 1930 to around 30,000 in 1960. The period from 1970 to 1988 was one in which the economy of Niger boomed, in this period, the population of Niamey grew from 108,000 to 398,365 inhabitants. The city expanded from 1,367 hectares in 1970 to 4,400 hectares by 1977, by some estimates the population had reached 800,000 in 2000. In 2011, government press estimated the urban population at over 1.5 million. A major cause of the increase has been in migration for work and during droughts and this last factor means a majority of the citys citizens are youths. Covering an area of over 250 km2, the area sits atop two plateaus reaching 218 m in altitude, bisected by the Niger River. At Niamey, the river, running almost straight SSE from Gao, the city was founded on the east of the river as it meanders from a west to east flow to run almost directly south. A series of marshy islands begin at Niamey and extend south in the river, most of the rainfall is from late June to mid-August. There is practically no rain from mid-October to April, Niamey is remarkably hot throughout the year. In fact, it is one of the hottest major cities on the planet, average monthly high temperatures reach 38 °C four months out of the year and in no month do average high temperatures fall below 32 °C. During the dry season, particularly from November through February, nights are generally cool, average nighttime lows between November and February range from 14–18 °C. Under the military government of General Seyni Kountché, there were controls on residency. Noticeable in the centre since the 1980s are groups of poor, young. Within the richer or more trafficked neighbourhoods, these beggars have in fact formed a well-regulated hierarchical system in which beggars garner sadaka according to cultural and religious norms
9.
Kano
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Kano is the state capital of Kano State in Northern West, Nigeria. It is situated in the Sahelian geographic region, south of the Sahara, Kano is the commercial nerve center of Northern Nigeria and is the second largest city in Nigeria, after Lagos. The total area of Metropolitan Kano is now 499 square kilometres, the principal inhabitants of the city are the Hausa people. As in most parts of northern Nigeria, the Hausa language is spoken in Kano. The city is the capital of the Kano Emirate, the current emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II, was enthroned on 8 June 2014 after the death of Alhaji Ado Bayero, the thirtienth emir of Kano Emirate, on Friday,6 June 2014. The citys Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, the airport serving northern Nigeria, was named after politician Aminu Kano. Kano was originally known as Dala, after the hill, and was referred to as such as late as the end of the 15th century, the Kano Chronicle identifies Barbushe, a priest of a Dala Hill spirit, as the citys first settler. His grandson Gijimasu, the king, began building city walls at the foot of Dala Hill. His own son, Tsaraki, the king, completed them during his reign. In the 12th century Ali Yaji as King of Kano renounced his allegiance to the cult of Tsumburbura, accepted Islam, the reign of Yaji ensued an era of expansionism that saw Kano becoming the capital of a pseudo Habe Empire. In 1463 Muhammad Rumfa ascended the throne, during his reign, political pressure from the rising Songhai Empire forced him to take Auwa, the daughter of Askiyah the Great as his wife. She was to become the first female Madaki of Kano. Rumfa reformed the city, expanded the Sahelian Gidan Rumfa, and played a role in the further Islamization of the city, the Kano Chronicle attributes a total of twelve innovations to Rumfa. According to the Kano Chronicle, the thirty-seventh Sarkin Kano was Mohammed Sharef and his successor, Kumbari dan Sharefa, engaged in major battles with Sokoto. At the beginning of the 19th century, Fulani Islamic leader Usman dan Fodio led a jihad affecting much of central Sudan, in 1805 the last sultan of Kano was defeated by the Jobe Clan of the Fulani, and Kano became an Emirate of the Caliphate. Kano was the largest and most prosperous province of the empire and this was one of the last major slave societies, with high percentages of enslaved population long after the Atlantic slave trade had been cut off. Heinrich Barth, a German scholar who spent several years in northern Nigeria in the 1850s, estimated the percentage of slaves in Kano to be at least 50%, most of whom lived in slave villages. The city suffered famines from 1807–10, in the 1830s,1847,1855,1863,1873,1884, from 1893 until 1895, two rival claimants for the throne fought a civil war, or Basasa
10.
Hausa people
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The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. The largest population of Hausa are concentrated in Nigeria and Niger, most Hausa, however, live in small villages or towns in Africa, where they grow crops, raise livestock including cattle, and engage in trade. They speak the Hausa language, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Chadic group, the Hausa aristocracy had historically developed an equestrian based culture. Still a status symbol of the nobility in Hausa society. Daura city is the origin of Hausawa, Hausa people, the town predates all the major Hausa towns in tradition and culture. A table of Hausa ethnic population by country, Daura, in northern Nigeria is the oldest city of Hausaland. The Hausa of Sokoto, also in northern Nigeria, speak the oldest surviving classical vernacular of the language, historically Sokoto was the centre of Hausa Islamic scholarship. Migrants from these areas were introducing Islam to many of the Hausa by the 14th century, all of these groups live in the Sahel, Saharan and Sudanian regions, and as a result have influenced each others cultures to varying degrees. Today some Fulani people cannot be distinguished from Hausa people in northern states of Nigeria, due to inter-marriage. In Agadez and Saharan areas of central Niger, the Tuareg and Hausa groups are indistinguishable from each other in their traditional clothing, but the two groups differ in language, lifestyle and preferred beasts of burden. Islamic Shari’a law is loosely the law of the land in Hausa areas, well understood by any Islamic scholar or teacher, known in Hausa as a mallam, mallan or malam. This pluralist attitude toward ethnic-identity and cultural affiliation has enabled the Hausa to inhabit one of the largest geographic regions of non-Bantu ethnic groups in Africa, the Nok culture appeared in Northern Nigeria around 1000 BC and vanished under unknown circumstances around 300 AD in the region of West Africa. It is believed to be the product of a nation that branched to create the Hausa, Gwari, Birom, Kanuri, Nupe. The Kwatarkwashi Culture or Sokoto Culture located to the North west of Nok is thought to be the same as or an ancestor of the Nok. Noks social system is thought to have highly advanced. The Nok culture is considered to be the earliest sub-Saharan producer of life-sized Terracotta, the refinement of this culture is attested to by the image of a Nok dignitary at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The dignitary is portrayed wearing a crooked baton, the dignitary is also portrayed sitting with flared nostrils, and an open mouth suggesting performance. Other images show figures on horseback, indicating that the Nok culture possessed the horse, iron use, in smelting and forging for tools, appears in Nok culture in Africa at least by 550 BC and possibly earlier
11.
Trans-Saharan trade
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Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara to reach sub-Saharan Africa from the North African coast, Europe, to the Levant. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century, the Sahara once had a very different environment. In Libya and Algeria, from at least 7000 BC, there was pastoralism, herding of sheep and goats, large settlements, cattle were introduced to the Central Sahara from 4000 to 3500 BC. Remarkable rock paintings, in places which are very dry, portray vegetation. As a desert, Sahara is now a hostile expanse that separates the Mediterranean economy from the economy of the Niger basin, as Fernand Braudel points out that crossing such a zone is worthwhile only when exceptional circumstances cause the expected gain to outweigh the cost and danger. The Sahara has always been home to groups of people practicing trade on a regular, Trade, beginning around 300 CE, was conducted by caravans of camels. These camels would be fattened for a number of months on the plains of either the Maghreb or the Sahel before being assembled into a caravan. According to Ibn Battuta, the explorer who accompanied one of the caravans, the caravans would be guided by highly paid Berbers who knew the desert and could ensure safe passage from their fellow desert nomads. The survival of a caravan was precarious and would rely on careful coordination, in the middle of the 14th century Ibn Battuta crossed the desert from Sijilmasa via the salt mines at Taghaza to the oasis of Oualata. A guide was sent ahead and water was brought on a journey of four days from Oualata to meet the caravan, Ancient trade spanned the northeastern corner of the Sahara in the Naqadan era. Predynastic Egyptians in the Naqada I period traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the Western Desert to the west, many trading routes went from oasis to oasis to resupply on both food and water. They also imported obsidian from Ethiopia to shape blades and other objects, Ancient cities dating to the First Dynasty of Egypt arose along both its Nile and Red Sea junctions, testifying to the routes ancient popularity. It became a route from Thebes to the Red Sea port of Elim. Records exist documenting knowledge of the route among Senusret I, Seti, Ramesses IV and also, later, later, Ancient Romans would protect the route by lining it with varied forts and small outposts, some guarding large settlements complete with cultivation. Described by Herodotus as a road traversed, in forty days, it became by his time an important land route facilitating trade between Nubia and Egypt, and subsequently became known as the Forty Days Road. From Kobbei,40 kilometres north of al-Fashir, the route passed through the desert to Bir Natrum, another oasis and salt mine, the Darb el-Arbain trade route was the easternmost of the central routes. The westernmost of the three routes was the Ghadames Road, which ran from the Niger River at Gao north to Ghat. Next was the easiest of the three routes, the Garamantean Road, named after the rulers of the land it passed through
12.
Kanuri people
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The Kanuri people are an African ethnic group living largely in the lands of the former Kanem and Bornu Empires in Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. Those generally termed Kanuri include several subgroups and dialect groups, some of whom feel themselves distinct from the Kanuri, most trace their origins to ruling lineages of the medieval Kanem-Bornu Empire, its client states or provinces. In contrast to neighboring Toubou or Zaghawa pastoralists, Kanuri groups have traditionally been sedentary, engaging in farming, fishing the Chad Basin, Kanuri peoples include several subgroups, and identify by different names in some regions. The largest population of Kanuri reside in the northeast corner of Nigeria, some 3 million Kanuri speakers live in Nigeria, not including the some 200,000 speakers of the Manga or Mangari dialect. The Nga people in Bauchi State trace their origins to a Kanuri diaspora, in southeastern Niger, where they form the majority of the sedentary population, the Kanuri are commonly called Beri Beri. The 400,000 Kanuri population in Niger includes the Manga or Mangari subgroup, numbering some 100,000 in the area east of Zinder, who regard themselves as distinct from the Beri Beri. Around 40,000 members of the Tumari subgroup, sometimes called Kanembu in Niger, are a distinct Kanuri subgroup living in the Nguigmi area, Kanuri speak varieties of Kanuri, one of the Nilo-Saharan languages. Divisions include the Manga, Tumari, and Bilma dialects of Central Kanuri, inheriting the religious and cultural traditions of the Kanem-Bornu state, Kanuri peoples are predominantly Sunni Muslim. In Chad, Kanembu speakers differentiate themselves from the large Kanuri ethnicity, the Kanembu are centered in Lac Prefecture and southern Kanem Prefecture. Although Kanuri was the language of the Bornu Empire, in Chad. Kanuri remains a language in southeastern Niger, northeastern Nigeria. In the early 1980s, the Kanembu constituted the greatest part of the population of Lac Prefecture, once the core ethnic group of the Kanem-Borno Empire, whose territories at one time included northeastern Nigeria and southern Libya, the Kanembu retain ties beyond the borders of Chad. For example, close family and commercial ties bind them with the Kanuri of northeastern Nigeria, within Chad, many Kanembu of Lac and Kanem prefectures identify with the Alifa of Mao, the governor of the region in precolonial times. According to Kanuri tradition, Sef, son of Dhu Ifazan of Yemen, arrived in Kanem in the ninth century and this tradition however, is likely a product of later Islamic influence, reflecting the association with their Arabian origins in the Islamic era. Evidence of indigenous state formation in the Lake Chad area dates back to circa 800 BCE at Zilum, the Kanuri became Muslims in the 11th century. Following the downfall of the Bornu Empire and the Scramble for Africa in the 19th century, despite the loss of the Kanuri-led state, the Shehu of Bornu continues as the head of the Bornu Emirate. This traditional Kanuri/Kanembu state maintains a rule of the Kanuri people, based in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. The Shehu of Bornu draws his authority from a state founded before 1000 CE, the current ruling line, the al-Kanemi dynasty, dates to the accession of Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi in the early 19th century, displacing the Sayfawa dynasty which had ruled from around 1300 CE
13.
Bornu Empire
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The Bornu Empire was a state of what is now northeastern Nigeria from 1380 to 1893. It was a continuation of the great Kanem Empire founded centuries earlier by the Sayfawa Dynasty, in time it would become even larger than Kanem, incorporating areas that are today parts of Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Around 1380, the Kanembu finally overcame attacks from neighboring Arabs, Berbers and Hausa, over time, the intermarriage of the Kanembu and Bornu peoples created a new people and language, the Kanuri. Even in Bornu, the Sayfawa Dynastys troubles persisted, during the first three-quarters of the 15th century, for example, fifteen mais occupied the throne. Then, around 1455, Mai Ali Dunamami defeated his rivals and he built a fortified capital at Ngazargamu, to the west of Lake Chad. This was the first permanent home a Sayfawa mai had enjoyed in a century, so successful was the Sayfawa rejuvenation that by the early 16th century Mai Ali Gaji was able to defeat the Bulala and retake Njimi, the former capital. The empires leaders, however, remained at Ngazargamu because its lands were more productive agriculturally, Ali Gaji was the first ruler of the empire to assume the title of Caliph. With control over both capitals, the Sayfawa dynasty became more powerful than ever, the two states were merged, but political authority still rested in Bornu. Kanem-Bornu peaked during the reign of the statesman Mai Idris Alooma, Idris Alooma is remembered for his military skills, administrative reforms, and Islamic piety. His main adversaries were the Hausa to the west, the Tuareg and Tubu to the north, and his active diplomacy featured relations with Tripoli, Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire, which sent a 200-member ambassadorial party across the desert to Alumas court at Ngazargamu. Alooma also signed what was probably the first written treaty or cease-fire in Chadian history, Alooma introduced a number of legal and administrative reforms based on his religious beliefs and Islamic law. He sponsored the construction of mosques and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. As with other politicians, Aloomas reformist goals led him to seek loyal and competent advisers and allies. Alooma regularly sought advice from a council composed of heads of the most important clans and he required major political figures to live at the court, and he reinforced political alliances through appropriate marriages. Kanem-Bornu under Alooma was strong and wealthy, government revenue came from tribute, sales of slaves, and duties on and participation in trans-Saharan trade. Unlike West Africa, the Chadian region did not have gold, still, it was central to one of the most convenient trans-Saharan routes. Between Lake Chad and Fezzan lay a sequence of well-spaced wells and oases, and from Fezzan there were connections to North Africa. Many products were sent north, including natron, cotton, kola nuts, ivory, ostrich feathers, perfume, wax, and hides, imports included salt, horses, silks, glass, muskets, and copper
14.
Tuareg people
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The Tuareg people are a large Berber ethnic confederation. They principally inhabit the Sahara desert, in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, small groups of Tuareg are also found in northern Nigeria. The Tuareg speak the Tuareg languages, which belong to the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family, the Tuaregs have been called the blue people for the indigo-dye colored clothes they traditionally wear and which stains their skin. A semi-nomadic Muslim people, they are believed to be descendants of the Berber autochthones of North Africa, the Tuaregs have been one of the ethnic groups that have been historically influential in the spread of Islam and its legacy in North Africa and the adjacent Sahel region. Tuareg society has traditionally featured clan membership, social status and caste hierarchies within each political confederation, the Tuareg have controlled several trans-Saharan trade routes, and have been an important party to the conflicts in the Saharan region during the colonial and post-colonial era. The origin and the meaning of the name Tuareg have long been debated and it would appear that Twārəg is derived from the broken plural of Tārgi, a name whose former meaning was inhabitant of Targa, the Tuareg name of the Libyan region commonly known as Fezzan. Another theory is that Tuareg is derived from Tuwariq, the plural of the Arabic exonym Tariqi, the term for a Tuareg man is Amajagh, the term for a woman Tamajaq. Spellings of the appellation vary by Tuareg dialect, however, they all reflect the same linguistic root, expressing the notion of freemen. As such, the endonym strictly refers only to the Tuareg nobility, not the artisanal client castes, the English exonym Blue People is similarly derived from the indigo color of the tagelmust veils and other clothing, which sometimes stains the skin underneath. Another term for the Tuareg is Imuhagh or Imushagh, a cognate to the northern Berber self-name Imazighen, the Tuareg today inhabit a vast area in the Sahara, stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Their combined population in these territories exceeds 2.5 million, with a population in Niger of around 2 million. The Tuareg are also the majority group in the Kidal Region of northeastern Mali. The Tuareg traditionally speak the Tuareg languages, also known as Tamasheq, Tamachen, Tamashekin, Tomacheck and these tongues belong to the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. According to Ethnologue, there are an estimated 1.2 million Tuareg speakers, around half this number consists of speakers of the Eastern dialect. The exact number of Tuareg speakers per territory is uncertain, the CIA estimates that the Tuareg population in Mali constitutes approximately 0. 9% of the national population, whereas about 3. 5% of local inhabitants speak Tuareg as a primary language. In contrast, Imperato estimates that the Tuareg represent around 3% of Malis population, in antiquity, the Tuareg moved southward from the Tafilalt region into the Sahel under the Tuareg founding queen Tin Hinan, who is believed to have lived between the 4th and 5th century. The matriarchs 1,500 year old tomb is located in the Sahara at Abalessa in the Hoggar Mountains of southern Algeria. Vestiges of an inscription in Tifinagh, the Tuaregs traditional Libyco-Berber writing script, have found on one of the ancient sepulchres walls
15.
Sultanate of Bornu
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The Bornu Empire was a state of what is now northeastern Nigeria from 1380 to 1893. It was a continuation of the great Kanem Empire founded centuries earlier by the Sayfawa Dynasty, in time it would become even larger than Kanem, incorporating areas that are today parts of Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Around 1380, the Kanembu finally overcame attacks from neighboring Arabs, Berbers and Hausa, over time, the intermarriage of the Kanembu and Bornu peoples created a new people and language, the Kanuri. Even in Bornu, the Sayfawa Dynastys troubles persisted, during the first three-quarters of the 15th century, for example, fifteen mais occupied the throne. Then, around 1455, Mai Ali Dunamami defeated his rivals and he built a fortified capital at Ngazargamu, to the west of Lake Chad. This was the first permanent home a Sayfawa mai had enjoyed in a century, so successful was the Sayfawa rejuvenation that by the early 16th century Mai Ali Gaji was able to defeat the Bulala and retake Njimi, the former capital. The empires leaders, however, remained at Ngazargamu because its lands were more productive agriculturally, Ali Gaji was the first ruler of the empire to assume the title of Caliph. With control over both capitals, the Sayfawa dynasty became more powerful than ever, the two states were merged, but political authority still rested in Bornu. Kanem-Bornu peaked during the reign of the statesman Mai Idris Alooma, Idris Alooma is remembered for his military skills, administrative reforms, and Islamic piety. His main adversaries were the Hausa to the west, the Tuareg and Tubu to the north, and his active diplomacy featured relations with Tripoli, Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire, which sent a 200-member ambassadorial party across the desert to Alumas court at Ngazargamu. Alooma also signed what was probably the first written treaty or cease-fire in Chadian history, Alooma introduced a number of legal and administrative reforms based on his religious beliefs and Islamic law. He sponsored the construction of mosques and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. As with other politicians, Aloomas reformist goals led him to seek loyal and competent advisers and allies. Alooma regularly sought advice from a council composed of heads of the most important clans and he required major political figures to live at the court, and he reinforced political alliances through appropriate marriages. Kanem-Bornu under Alooma was strong and wealthy, government revenue came from tribute, sales of slaves, and duties on and participation in trans-Saharan trade. Unlike West Africa, the Chadian region did not have gold, still, it was central to one of the most convenient trans-Saharan routes. Between Lake Chad and Fezzan lay a sequence of well-spaced wells and oases, and from Fezzan there were connections to North Africa. Many products were sent north, including natron, cotton, kola nuts, ivory, ostrich feathers, perfume, wax, and hides, imports included salt, horses, silks, glass, muskets, and copper
16.
Rabih az-Zubayr
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Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah or Rabih Fadlallah, usually known as Rabah in French, was a Sudanese warlord and slave trader who established a powerful empire east of Lake Chad, in todays Chad. Born around 1842 to a Nubian family in Halfaya Al-Muluk, a suburb of Khartoum, he first served with the irregular Egyptian cavalry in the Ethiopian campaign, when Rabih left the army in 1860s, he became the principal lieutenant of the Sudanese slaveholder Sebehr Rahma. The warlord and slaveholder al-Zubayr assumed control of the regions zaribas, Rabih, who was possibly a relative of al-Zubayr, was the chief lieutenant of the pasha. In 1874, az-Zubayr conquered the sultanate of Darfur, in 1876, he went to Cairo to request the khedive to officially sanction his position in Darfur, but was instead imprisoned. This caused in 1878 the revolt of az-Zubayrs son Suleyman, and of his lieutenants, like Rabih. In reaction the governor-general of Sudan, Gordon Pasha, made Romolo Gessi governor of Bahr el Ghazal, and sent him to suppress the rebellion, Suleyman surrendered July 15,1879, and was executed. Rabih instead is said to have left Suleyman the day before he surrendered, to escape from Egypt, Rabih left the Bahr el Ghazal, heading south with 700–800 bazingiris and 400 rifles. In 1885, he attempted to return in Sudan following the invitation of the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad, in 1890, he attacked the Muslim chief Kobur in the north of Oubangui-Chari, deposed him and established in his place his nephew Mahdi al-Senoussi, on whom he imposed his suzerainty. This alliance was sealed by the marriage of Khadija, daughter of Al-Mahdi al-Senoussi, together Mohammed and Rabih attacked Dar Runga, Kreich, Goula and then Banda Ngao. Mohammed al-Senoussis alliance with Rabih worried the colonial powers, especially France that was considering taking control of central Africa, Mohammed al-Senoussi remained faithful to Rabih and in 1891 killed the French Paul Crampel in Dar Banda. In the south-east of Lake Chad, he attacked the Baguirmi Kingdom in 1892, Gwaranga was besieged for three to five months in Manjaffa, and was later forced to leave his capital, which was completely destroyed in March 1893. In 1893, Rabih also turned his attentions to the Borno Empire of Shehu Ashimi of Borno, Borno was a Sahelian Kingdom that traced its origins back to the Middle Ages. That year, the empire consisted of 80,000 soldiers, mostly commanded by slaves. On the road to Borno, Rabih made prisoner the sultan of Karnak Logone, Shehu Ashimi of Borno sent 15,000 men to confront Rabih, the latter routed them in May or September 1893 first at Am Hobbio and then at Legaroua with only 2,000 horse. Rabih met Kyari at Gashegar, a two days walk from Kukawa, the capital of Borno, Kiyari defeated Rabih and captured his camp, the following day Rabih gathered his forces, and ordered 100 lashes be given to all his bannermen, including his own favored son Fadlallah. Only Boubakar, who had fought bravely, was spared, then he ordered a victorious counter-offensive, Kyari, who had refused to flee, was captured and beheaded. As for the city, Kukawa, it was plundered and razed to the ground. Rabih made Dikwa his capital, and there built a palace which was to win later the admiration of the French governor Émile Gentil, local legend says that during construction there was a shortage of water, and blood was substituted to mix with sand for its walls
17.
French Third Republic
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It came to an end on 10 July 1940. Harsh reparations exacted by the Prussians after the war resulted in the loss of the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine, social upheaval, and the establishment of the Paris Commune. The early governments of the Third Republic considered re-establishing the monarchy, but confusion as to the nature of that monarchy, thus, the Third Republic, which was originally intended as a provisional government, instead became the permanent government of France. The French Constitutional Laws of 1875 defined the composition of the Third Republic and it consisted of a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate to form the legislative branch of government and a president to serve as head of state. The period from the start of World War I to the late 1930s featured sharply polarized politics, Adolphe Thiers called republicanism in the 1870s the form of government that divides France least, however, politics under the Third Republic were sharply polarized. On the left stood Reformist France, heir to the French Revolution, on the right stood conservative France, rooted in the peasantry, the Roman Catholic Church and the army. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 resulted in the defeat of France, after Napoleons capture by the Prussians at the Battle of Sedan, Parisian deputies led by Léon Gambetta established the Government of National Defence as a provisional government on 4 September 1870. The deputies then selected General Louis-Jules Trochu to serve as its president and this first government of the Third Republic ruled during the Siege of Paris. After the French surrender in January 1871, the provisional Government of National Defence disbanded, French territories occupied by Prussia at this time did not participate. The resulting conservative National Assembly elected Adolphe Thiers as head of a provisional government, due to the revolutionary and left-wing political climate that prevailed in the Parisian population, the right-wing government chose the royal palace of Versailles as its headquarters. The new government negotiated a settlement with the newly proclaimed German Empire. To prompt the Prussians to leave France, the government passed a variety of laws, such as the controversial Law of Maturities. The following repression of the communards would have consequences for the labor movement. The Orléanists supported a descendant of King Louis Philippe I, the cousin of Charles X who replaced him as the French monarch in 1830, his grandson Louis-Philippe, Comte de Paris. The Bonapartists were marginalized due to the defeat of Napoléon III and were unable to advance the candidacy of any member of his family, the Bonaparte family. Legitimists and Orléanists came to a compromise, eventually, whereby the childless Comte de Chambord would be recognised as king, consequently, in 1871 the throne was offered to the Comte de Chambord. Chambord believed the monarchy had to eliminate all traces of the Revolution in order to restore the unity between the monarchy and the nation, which the revolution had sundered apart. Compromise on this was if the nation were to be made whole again
18.
Zarma people
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Relatively prosperous, they own cattle, sheep, goats and dromedaries, renting them out to the Fulani people or Tuareg people for tending. The Zarma people have had a history of slave and caste system, like them, they also have had a historical musical tradition. The Zarma people are referred to as Zerma, Djerma, Dyerma, Zaberma, Zabarma or Zabermawa people. The estimates for the population of Zarma people as of 2013 has been generally placed over 3 million. Groups usually referred to as part of the Zarma or Songhay, the Zarma language is one of the southern Songhai languages, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Because of the language and culture, they are sometimes referred to as Zarma Songhay. The Zarma people are a West African ethnic group with unrecorded history, north African Muslims increased the trans-Saharan trade, becoming of growing importance to the fortunes of ethnic groups and their chiefs. The Muslim traders were major actors in introducing Islam, the Niger delta region already had major settlements of people before Islam arrived. This trade and commerce also ultimately led to cultural and religious conversion, various theories have been proposed as to how, when and why Zarma people converted to Islam. For example, Ahmad Baba in 1615 CE stated that black African Muslims willingly adopted Islam, according to Abdourahmane Idrissa and Samuel Decalo, the Zarma people had settled the Dallol Bosso valley, called Boboye in Zarma language, by the 17th-century. In 18th-century, they came under sustained violence from the Fulani people, slavery has been a historic practice in West Africa long before the arrival of colonialism. The 15th-century ruler Sunni Ali is an part of the legends revered by the Zarma people. The slavery system was a part of the society and political arrangement. According to Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan, the population accounted for nearly two-third to three-quarters of the total population of Songhay-Zarma people. These numbers are similar to the percentages of slavery in other ethnic groups that prevailed in pre-colonial West Africa. The slaves were an asset, and they were used for farming, herding. The slave communities remain a part of memories of the Zarma people, the French colonial rulers came to regions inhabited by the Zarma people at the end of the 1890s, when the chiefs and warlords within the Zarma society were in an intra-ethnic conflict. The French picked the Zarmakoy Aouta of Dosso as their partner, the period that followed brought several natural disasters such as famines and locust attacks from 1901 to 1903
19.
Sultan
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Sultan is a noble title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning strength, authority, rulership, derived from the verbal noun سلطة sulṭah, the dynasty and lands ruled by a sultan are referred to as a sultanate. A feminine form of sultan, used by Westerners, is Sultana or Sultanah, but Turkish and Ottoman Turkish also uses sultan for imperial lady, because Turkish grammar uses the same words for women and men. However, this styling misconstrues the roles of wives of sultans, in a similar usage, the wife of a German field marshal might be styled Frau Feldmarschall. The female leaders in Muslim history are known as sultanas. Special case in Brunei, the Queen Consort is known as Raja Isteri with suffix Pengiran Anak if the queen consort is a royal princess. Among those modern hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law and these are generally secondary titles, either lofty poetry or with a message, e. g. g. Sultan ul-Mujahidin as champion of jihad, ghaznavid Sultanate Sultans of Great Seljuk Seljuk Sultanate of Rum Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, the Osmanli Elisu Sultanate and a few others. A Sultan ranked below a Khan and this usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative. Western tradition knows the Ottoman ruler as sultan, but Ottomans themselves used padişah or hünkar to refer to their ruler, the emperors formal title consisted of sultan together with khan. In formal address, the children were also entitled sultan, with imperial princes carrying the title before their given name. Example, Şehzade Sultan Mehmed and Mihrimah Sultan, son and daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent, henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non imperial blood to carry the title sultan. In Kazakh Khanate a Sultan was a lord from the ruling dynasty elected by clans, the best of sultans was elected as khan by people at Kurultai. See ru, Казахские султаны In a number of states under Mongol or Turkic rule. These administrations were often decimal, using originally princely titles such as khan, malik, in the Persian empire, the rank of sultan was roughly equivalent to that of a modern-day captain in the West, socially in the fifth-rank class, styled Ali Jah
20.
Celtel
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Celtel was a telecommunications company that operated in several African countries. It was founded by Sudanese-born Mo Ibrahim, originally known as MSI Cellular Investments, the company began operating in 1998. In January 2004, the name was changed to Celtel International. In April 2005 the company was acquired by and became a subsidiary of Zain, at the time it was purchased by Zain in April 2005, Celtel had about 24 million subscribers in 14 African countries. On 8, June 2010 the company was purchased by Bharti Airtel from Zain, on 22 November 2010, it was rebranded as Airtel. In September 2006 Celtel launched One Network, the worlds first borderless network across East Africa, KDN provided Celtel with a cross border link to Uganda and with trunk capacity to Belgacom. With these links Celtel was no longer required to pass its traffic through the gateway of the monopoly in Kenya, in June 2007 Celtels One Network was extended to Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Congo. The One Network automatically activated upon crossing the border into one of the six countries with no prior registration or sign-up fee. In June 2007, Celtel International announced plans to add three more Celtel country networks to its One Network, the additional countries were Malawi, Sudan, and Zambia. This further expansion brought the coverage of One Network to nine of the 15 African countries in which Celtel operated, on September 2007 Celtels Parent Company MTC Group adopted a new name Zain unifying its different brands in 22 Countries. On October 2007 Celtel International Acquired a 75% stake in Western Telesystems LTD from the Ghanaian Government for $120 million US Dollars. On 22 November 2007 Celtel doubled its One Network countries from 6 to 12 countries by adding Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, in April 2008, Zain planned to expand its One Network across its 22 Operations by end of June 2008. The One Network is still operated in Africa today by Bharti Airtel in association with Zain and this acquisition dampened the thought that the Pan-African mobile communications group would list its stock on the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges through an IPO. August 1,2008 saw the entire African operations of Celtel being rebranded from Celtel to Zain and this marked the end of the Celtel Brand. Mobile telephony in Africa Bharti Airtel Airtel Africa Zain Celtel Africa Challenge Zain Home Page Airtel Homepage
21.
Vernacular architecture
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Vernacular architecture is an architectural style that is designed based on local needs, availability of construction materials and reflecting local traditions. At least originally, vernacular architecture did not use formally-schooled architects, however, since the late 19th century many professional architects have worked in versions of this style. It tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural, technological, economic and this article also covers the term traditional architecture, which exists somewhere between the two extremes yet still is based upon authentic themes. The term vernacular is derived from the Latin vernaculus, meaning domestic, native, indigenous, from verna, the word probably derives from an older Etruscan word. In linguistics, vernacular refers to use particular to a time. In architecture, it refers to type of architecture which is indigenous to a specific time or place. It is most often applied to residential buildings, the terms vernacular, folk, traditional, and popular architecture are sometimes used synonymously. Traditional architecture is architecture is passed down from person to person, generation to generation, particularly orally, noble discourages use of the term primitive architecture as having a negative connotation. The term popular architecture is used more in eastern Europe and is synonymous with folk or vernacular architecture, ronald Brunskill has defined the ultimate in vernacular architecture as. The function of the building would be the dominant factor, aesthetic considerations, though present to some small degree, local materials would be used as a matter of course, other materials being chosen and imported quite exceptionally. The vernacular architecture is not to be confused with so-called traditional architecture, Traditional architecture also includes buildings which bear elements of polite design, temples and palaces, for example, which normally would not be included under the rubric of vernacular. The Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World defines vernacular architecture as. comprising the dwellings, related to their environmental contexts and available resources they are customarily owner- or community-built, utilizing traditional technologies. All forms of architecture are built to meet specific needs, accommodating the values, economies. Architecture designed by professional architects is not considered to be vernacular. Indeed, it can be argued that the process of consciously designing a building makes it not vernacular. Oliver also offers the simple definition of vernacular architecture, the architecture of the people, and by the people. Frank Lloyd Wright described vernacular architecture as Folk building growing in response to actual needs, since at least the Arts and Crafts Movement, many modern architects have studied vernacular buildings and claimed to draw inspiration from them, including aspects of the vernacular in their designs. In 1946, the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy was appointed to design the town of New Gourna near Luxor, having studied traditional Nubian settlements and technologies, he incorporated the traditional mud brick vaults of the Nubian settlements in his designs
22.
Sabon Gari
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A Sabon Gari is a section of cities and town in Northern Nigeria south central Niger and northern Cameroon whose residents are not indigenous to Hausa lands. Permanent communities of strangers segregated from the population had existed in Northern Nigeria. The establishment of British colonial rule under Frederick Lugard and the construction of new railway led to a large influx of laboreres. The immigrants, which were mostly Igbo and Yoruba people, settled in new towns or Sabon Garuruwa, the Cantonments Proclamation of 1914 institutionalized this system of residential segregation. The Sabon Garuruwa became Native Reservations, officially reserved for employees of the government and commercial firms, British colonial rule in Northern Nigeria was indirect, leaving the emirs in power, albeit as part of the colonial administration. In the beginning the Sabon Garuruwa were administrated by the emirs and this changed with the Township Ordinance of 1917, which placed the Sabon Garuruwa and their residents under direct British rule. Sabon Gari residents were granted more rights than those under the administration of the local emir, for example, residents of a Sabon Gari could send representatives to the advisory board responsible for a township, or could choose between courts administering Muslim law or British law. Sabon Garuruwa were established in all cities of Northern Nigeria, most notably in Kano, Kaduna. One exception was Maiduguri, which never had a Sabon Gari, a typical city or town in Northern Nigeria would consist of the old city within fortified walls and inhabited by indigenous Hausa or Fulani people. The Sabon Gari would house immigrants mostly from Southern Nigeria, the Tudun Wada would house people from Northern Nigeria that were not indigenous to the local area. Europeans would live in the European Reservation Areas, over time the initially strict residential segregation would partially break down. Eventually a typical Sabon Gari would house a diversity of people from all parts of Nigeria and to a lesser extent from other parts of West Africa. For example, in 1939 various ethnic groups were represented in the Sabon Gari of Kaduna as follows, 27% were Hausa, 11% were Igbo, 19% were Yoruba, 15% were Nupe, even today Sabon Garuruwa are predominantly inhabited by people from Southern Nigeria. Ethnic tensions between groups from southern and northern Nigeria lead to frequent riots in the Sabon Garuruwa of northern cities, zinder and Maradi, the two largest Hausa cities in Nigers Hausa speaking southeast retain Sabon Gari districts
23.
Non-timber forest product
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They include game animals, fur-bearers, nuts, seeds, berries, mushrooms, oils, foliage, medicinal plants, peat, fuelwood, fish, spices and forage. All research promote forest products as valuable commodities and tools that can promote the conservation of forests and these definitions include wild and managed game, fish and insects. NTFPs are commonly grouped into such as floral greens, decoratives, medicinal plants, foods, flavors and fragrances, fibers. Other terms similar to NTFPs include special, non-wood, minor, alternative, NTFPs in particular highlight forest products which are of value to local people and communities but have been overlooked in the wake of forest management priorities. In recent decades, interest has grown in using NTFPs as alternatives or supplements to forest management practices, black truffle cultivation in the mediterranean area is a good example of a high profitability when well managed. The harvest of NTFPs remains widespread throughout the world, Other terms synonymous with harvesting include wild-crafting, gathering, collecting and foraging. NTFPs also serve as raw materials for industries ranging from large-scale floral greens suppliers, one exception to this is the maple syrup industry, which in 2002 in the US alone yielded 1.4 million US gallons worth USD$38.3 million. In temperate forests such as in the US, wild edible mushrooms such as matsutake, medicinal plants such as ginseng, while these high-value species may attract the most attention, a diversity of NTFPs can be found in most forests of the world. In tropical forests, for example, NTFPs can be an important source of income that can supplement farming and/or other activities, gums & resin exuding plants 5. Dyes & colour yielding plants 6, fiber & floss yielding plants 7. Leaves for plates Minority people in Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos are living away from the mainstream settlements, the hill tribes and many other minority groups are closely associated with forests for centuries. Much of their subsistence and part of the income is generated from the sale of a variety of NTFP products. In the Highlands of Vietnam, NTFPs calendar is spread almost throughout the year that provides an income for the ethnic minority people. From June to August is the wild berry called Uoi collection that provides the bulk of household income, every family sends several people into the forest on a regular basis during this period where they stay for 2–3 days during which 5–6 kg of berries is collected. A kilogram of dried berries is sold for $1.50, the next comes bamboo shoots, mushrooms and vegetable collection that goes through to February. The minority people in Sa Pa area depends mainly on a variety of NTFPs for their livelihoods, among the products collected are fruits, berries, leaves, mushrooms, fish, bees honey, bamboo shoots, wild orchids and the list goes on. The Friday market is full of orchids and other wild plants put forward by people for the tourists. Between 10-15% of the household income is derived from the sale of NTFPs
24.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
25.
Communes of Niger
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The Departments of Niger are subdivided into communes. As of 2005, in the seven Regions and one Capital Area, there were 36 départements, the latter two categories cover all areas not covered by Urban Communes or Rural Communes, and are governed by the Department, whereas Communes have elected councils and mayors. Additional semi-autonomous sub-divisions include Sultanates, Provinces and Tribes, the Nigerien government estimates there are an additional 17000 Villages administered by Rural Communes, while there are over 100 Quartiers administered by Urban Communes. The territorial reorganisation of Nigers local administration, known informally as the Decentralisation process, was carried out through a series of laws from 1998 -2005, while often translated as town, Nigerien communes are simply the third level administrative subdivision of the nation. These can be classified Urban or Rural communes, and while often identical in territory to the unit of a town or city. The communes are listed below, by Department, Commune de Niamey I,20 quarters, Commune de Niamey II,17 quarters, Commune de Niamey III,17 quarters, Commune de Niamey IV,17 quarters, Commune de Niamey V,28 quarters
26.
Abalak
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Abalak is a town located in the Tahoua Region, Abalak Department of northern Niger. It is both a town and Commune, an administrative division. It is the seat of Abalak Department, one of eight subdivisions of Tahoua Region, the town had a population of less than 13,000 at the 2001 census. Abalak lies near the extremity of the Sahel, bordering the Sahara desert. It also lies along the edge of the dry plains. The town itself lies in a seasonal wash — a Kori or Wadi — which retains underground water even during the dry season. Abalak lies along a highway, connected to the main Niamey–Tahoua–Agadez–Arlit paved highway just to the northeast of the town, to the south, the local road connects the town of Keita, Niger to the main road network. Abalak is a market town, especially for animals raised by pastoral. The town is a center for the Bororo Wodaabe–Fula people, the town is unusual in this dry region for its fishing industry, dependent upon an artificial lake created by damming the ancient seasonal river valley near the town. Abalak, Niger Page, Falling Rain Genomics, Inc, the road from Abalak, heat, wind, dust, fear. In The best American travel writing,2003, les touristes ne vont pas à Abalak. LABC de lédition, 2nd edition ISBN 978-2-922952-23-0 Abalak
27.
Agadez
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Agadez, formerly spelled Agades, is the largest city in central Niger, with a population of 118,244. It lies in the Sahara and is the capital of Aïr, the city is also the capital of the Agadez Region. As of 2011, the commune had a total population of 124,324 people. The city was founded before the century and gradually became the most important Tuareg city, supplanting Assodé. The city still sees the arrival of caravans, bringing salt from Bilma, in 1449, Agadez became a sultanate, while around 1500 it was conquered by the Songhai Empire. Decline set in after the Moroccan invasion, and the population sank to less than 10,000, Agadez was the farthermost point of the Ottoman Empire in the African continent until the 19th century before being occupied by the French colonial empire. The city was ruled by the French from 1900, a rebellion by Kaocen Ag Mohammed occurred in 1916, but was defeated by French forces. Later, Agadez became an important location in the Tuareg Rebellion of the 1990s in central, today, Agadez flourishes as a market town and as a centre for the transportation of the uranium mined in the surrounding area. Notable buildings in the city include the Agadez Grand Mosque, originally dating from 1515 but rebuilt in the style in 1844, the Kaocen Palace. The city is known for its camel market and its silver. Some popular local musicians have found recognition in the west, like Tuareg guitar player Bombino and his band Group Bombino, Group Inerane, mdou Moctars film, Akounak Teggdalit Taha Tazoughai, is set and filmed on location in Agadez. Agadez Airport was named after Mano Dayak, the Tuareg leader who is native to the region, see, Second Tuareg Rebellion As a result of the Second Tuareg Rebellion, sporadic violence and the displacement of numerous people affected the Agadez area from late 2007 into 2009. All of northern Niger was placed on the United States State Department list of areas which are unsafe for travel by United States citizens, tourist flights were also suspended to Agadez from European airlines for the 2007–2008 tourist season. The burgeoning tourist industry, which prior to 2007 had surpassed that of the Niamey, the entire region was placed under a Niger government State of Exception in October 2007, renewed through early 2009. Roads to and from Agadez were reported to have been mined, an unknown number of internally displaced people converged on the city as a result of the unrest. Agadez travel guide from Wikivoyage Audio interview with Agadez resident about life in Agadez, great place http, //www. agadez. org Site covering Northern Niger. Photo Gallery by Michel Batlle portraits de femmes touarègues interactive Map of the Agadez region, http, //www. agadez-niger. com/ Site covering Agadez and Touareg culture. Agadez, the capital of the nigerien region of Air
28.
Arlit
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Arlit is an industrial town and capital of the Arlit Department of the Agadez Region of northern-central Niger, built between the Sahara Desert and the eastern edge of the Aïr Mountains. It is 200 km south by road from the border with Algeria, as of 2011, the commune had a total population of 112,432 people. Founded in 1969 following the discovery of uranium, it has grown around the mining industry, two large uranium mines, at Arlit and nearby Akouta, are exploited by open top strip mining. One open pit mine was built in 1971 by the National Mining Company of Niger, the Second open pit mine, as well as a third underground mine, was built by the French Compagnie Minière dAkouta. All the ore from both is now processed and transported by a French company Areva NC, a holding of the Areva group, the system of French nuclear power generation, as well as the French nuclear weapons program, is dependent on uranium mined at Arlit. Areva alone employs 1600 foreign nationals on the site, in 2006,3,434 tonnes of uranium were extracted from the Arlit mines and exported to France via truck to the seaport at Cotonou, Bénin. At its peak in the 1980s, 40% of Nigers uranium production came from Arlit, a major modern road, known as the Uranium Highway, has been built to transport uranium south, but it has bypassed many towns along the way and has radically changed Nigers transportation system. The value of Nigers uranium boom has never recovered its 1980s level, causing dislocation, anger at the results of uranium bust, along with a belief that the best jobs were going to those from southern Niger, contributed to the Tuareg Rebellion of the 1990s. As late as 2007, Tuareg nationalists have made a division of profits. In the build-up to the war in Iraq there was controversy over allegations in 2003 that Saddam Hussein was seeking to purchase uranium from Arlit. In 2005 the Benin filmmaker, Idrissou Mora-Kpaï, produced and directed the film Arlit, in 2007 Andersen Press published The Yellowcake Conspiracy, a novel by British childrens author Stephen Davies. The novel is a thriller set in and around the Arlit mine. More than 25 uranium deposits occur with Mississippian to Cretaceous age sandstones, key structural features are the Arlit Fault, and intrusions and ring dikes from 480 to 145 Ma in age. Arlit has a hot climate in Köppen-Geiger system. Economy of Niger Battle of Agadez and Arlit Website and photos of the town Rejets de la mine duranium dArlit, massif de lAïr, mines duranium au Niger, Un scandale nommé COGEMA, Le nucléaire, luranium et l indépendance énergétique française. La production dUranium au service du développement durable, on the site of the Areva mining company
29.
Bilma
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Bilma is an oasis town and commune in north east Niger with a population of around 2,500 people. As of 2011, the commune had a population of 6,481 people. It lies protected from the dunes under the Kaouar Cliffs and is the largest town along the Kaouar escarpment. It is known for its gardens, for salt and natron production through evaporation ponds, date cultivation, and as the destination of one of the last Saharan caravan routes. Its population is mostly Kanuri, with smaller Toubou, Tuareg, and Hausa populations, Bilma is the administrative seat of the Bilma Department, covering some 670,000 km2 of north eastern Niger. While it continues to produce salt in large natron salt pans, Bilma features a hot desert climate.7 mm of measurable precipitation annually. Bilma is also hot during the months and extremely hot during the summer months. Averages high temperatures in winter months surpass 27 °C and exceed 40 °C from April to September inclusively, the sunshine duration is extremely high year-round with some 4,000 h of bright sunshine annually. The region excels at hot, sunny and dry weather, the isolation of Bilma made it the destination for disgraced officials under the authoritarian regime of Seyni Kountché, and a prison was built there by the government. Political leaders were there in the 1980s, such as Sanoussi Tambari Djakou, today president of the PNA-AL. During French Colonial rule, Bilma was the site of a major—if isolated—military post at Fort Dromard, in 1989, UTA Flight 772 crashed into the desert near the town after a bomb exploded on board. Scarecrow Press, London and New Jersey, bradt London and Globe Pequot New York
30.
Diffa
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Diffa is a city and Urban Commune in the extreme southeast of Niger, near that countrys border with Nigeria. It is the seat of both Diffa Region, and the smaller Diffa Department. As of 2011, the commune had a population of 48,005 people. Diffa marks the end of the paved section of Route Nationale 1. RN1 continues north to Nguigmi more than 100 km, maïné-Soroa, the other major town of the Region, lies less than 100 km to the west of Diffa. The border with Nigeria, at the Nigerian town of Duji, is 5.5 km to the south of Diffa, Diffa Airport lies to the north of the town. In 2002, it was the centre of the first military uprising in the country since President Tandja Mamadou instituted civilian rule, refugees from Nigeria fleeing violence from Boko Haram have crossed the border, and are living with local populations in Diffa and surrounding areas. As of 11 June 2014, the village of Guesseres population has doubled. Its new residents all come from a Nigerian village located 3 kilometers from the border, in early October,2,200 more people arrived from the Nigerian village of Gueshkar. In the first ten months of 2014, over 62,000 people fled to the Diffa region to escape fighting in Nigeria
31.
Dosso, Niger
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Dosso is a city in the south-west corner of Niger. It lies 130–140 kilometres south-east of the capital Niamey at the junction of the routes to Zinder. The seventh-most populous town in Niger and the largest in Dosso Region and it is the capital of its region—which covers five departments in the southwestern corner of the nation, as well as of its own department, Dosso Department. The city itself lies at the centre of its own Urban Commune, Dosso is the seat of the Dosso kingdom, a Zarma chieftaincy which rose to dominate the entire Zarma region in Niger in pre-colonial Niger. The traditional ruler is called Zarmakoy or Djermakoy of Dosso, a title meaning literally King of Djermas where koy means king in Zarma language. Attractions in the include the Djermakoys palace and museum, nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. The city of Dosso is a commercial hub through which transit import-export products from the Cotonou port. Due to this and its proximity to Niamey, Dosso is transportation hub, Dosso has an interim terminus of the Niamey–Cotonou railway presently under construction. An extension to the capital, Niamey, would be a later stage, in addition, there is a plan for the construction of a dry commercial port. Rabiou Guero Gao – Olympic long-distance runner for Niger Zakari Gourouza – first Nigerien Olympic judoka James Decalo, NJ – London ISBN 0-8108-1229-0 WorldStatesmen – Niger pbase. com, Images of Dosso city
Niger
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Zinder". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 985.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
Zinder travel guide from Wikivoyage
