#niger #gerewol #africantribes #tuareg #hausa
1. Basic Facts about Niger.
The Republic of the Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state that shares borders with Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. Spanning an impressive 1,270,000 km2, Niger is the largest nation in West Africa. This vast, scorching hot country covers a wide range of terrain, from the Sahara Desert in the north to the savannahs of the south; thus, it is the convergence between the Sahara and Sub-Sahara regions. Niger is home to a diverse population of over 22 million people, 99 percent of whom are Muslims.
2. The people.
The main ethnic groups here include the Hausa people (53.1%), Tuareg people (11%), and Zarma & Songhay (21.2%). The Hausa of Niger are an Afro-Asiatic-speaking people who, in terms of overall ancestry, an autosomal DNA study by Tishkoff in 2009 found to be most closely related to Nilo-Saharan populations from Chad and South Sudan. This suggests that the Hausa originally spoke Nilo-Saharan languages before adopting languages from the Afroasiatic family after migration into that area thousands of years ago.
The Tuaregs are the result of Berbers and sub-Saharan black people intermixing. E1b1b is the most common paternal haplogroup among the Tuareg. E1b1b is associated with Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations and is thought to have arisen in the Horn of Africa.
The Zarma people are an ethnic group predominantly found in westernmost Niger. They are predominantly Muslims. The Zarma language is one of the southern Songhai languages, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family.
Apart from these, some other groups include Fulani, Kanuri, Gurma, and Toubou.
3. Matrilineal society.
Now this will shock you. The Tuareg of Niger are a matrilineal society. A matrilineal society is a group adhering to a kinship system in which ancestral descent is traced through maternal instead of paternal lines.
When you think of Islamic societies, the first thing that comes to mind is the veil and the burqa. But unlike them, most of the Tuareg women do not wear veils in public.
4. S3xually Liberal
Though Muslim, Tuareg women enjoy high status within their society, and their practices are progressive, giving women an equal, if not more important, status in their community. Starting with s3xual liberation, pre-marital s3x is not considered taboo, and women are permitted to have as many s3xual partners as they’d like, as long as it’s done in accordance with the guidelines or the tribe’s traditions.
5. Gerewol festival.
The Gerewol Festival, a Wodaabe Fulani nomad courtship festival, is one of the most well-known and vibrant festivals in Niger. Wodaabe tribe men put on a spectacular show to impress the tribe's women, who can take them as their husbands. I think Wodaabe are the world's vainest people, and they believe they are the best-looking. Men are rarely found without a mirror. They devote large amounts of time, money, and efforts to making themselves beautiful in the eyes of women.
Should he successfully consummate a relationship with the chosen woman without getting caught, she becomes his wife, and her previous marriage comes to an end.
6. Sights to see.
Niger is home to the highest mud-brick structure in the world. Located in the historic heart of Agadez, the Agadez Mosque) soars 27 meters or 88 feet) high, making it the tallest mud-structure minaret in the world. The Sultanate of Aïr established the city in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the mosque has been an important gathering place for prayers for centuries.
7.
The Sahara Desert covers nearly four-fifths of Niger, making it one of the hottest countries in the world. Drought and desertification threaten the non-desert portions of the country too. Niger is known as the “Frying Pan of the World." April and May are the hottest months.
8. Rich History.
The entire region of Niger is quite old, as archaeological evidence found that human settlements existed there in 10,000 BCE! Niger has a rich cultural history, having been the stomping ground of some of Africa’s most notable empires and kingdoms. The Songhai Empire, Kanem-Bornu, the Sultanate of Air, and the Mali Kingdom were domiciled in present-day Niger. Later on, Niger became a French colony in the 19th century. Finally, it gained independence in 1960 and became an independent nation.
9. Highest fertility rate.
Did you know that Niger has the highest fertility rate in the world? As per studies conducted in 2021, Niger has a fertility rate of 6.82 (around 7) children per woman.
10. Economy
The economy of Niger centers on subsistence crops and livestock. But Uranium mining is gaining dominance. Presently, Niger is one of the top suppliers of uranium. In 2021, Niger was the main supplier of uranium to the EU, followed by Kazakhstan and Russia.