Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by 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. It covers a land area of almost , making it the sixth-largest country in Africa and the second-largest landlocked nation in Africa behind Chad. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara. Its predominantly Muslim population of about lives mostly in clusters in the south and west of the country. The capital Niamey is located in the southwest corner along the namesake Niger River.
Following the spread of Islam to the region, Niger was on the fringes of some states, including the Kanem–Bornu Empire and the Mali Empire before more significant parts of its territory became included in states such as the Sultanate of Agadez and the Songhai Empire. It was colonized by France during the Scramble for Africa as part of French West Africa, becoming a distinct colony in 1922. Since obtaining independence in 1960, Niger has experienced five coups d'état and four periods of military rule. Niger's seventh and most recent constitution was enacted in 2010, establishing a multiparty, unitary semi-presidential system. Following the most recent coup in 2023, the country has been ruled by National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, a military junta, led by President Abdourahamane Tiani.
The Hausa are the largest ethnic group, making up around 56% of the population. Hausa is the official and national language; English and French serve as the working languages as per the 2025 transitional charter under President Tiani. According to the UN's Multidimensional Poverty Index report of 2023, Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. Some non-desert portions of the country undergo periodic drought and desertification. Its economy is concentrated around subsistence agriculture, with some export agriculture in the less arid south, and the export of raw materials, including uranium ore. It faces challenges to development due to its landlocked position, desert terrain, low literacy rate, an Islamist insurgency, and high fertility rates due to birth control not being used and the resulting rapid population growth.
Etymology The name comes from the Niger River which flows through the west of the country. The origin of the river's name is uncertain. Alexandrian geographer Ptolemy wrote descriptions of the wadi (in neighbouring modern Algeria) and the to the south, possibly referring to the Niger River. The modern spelling Niger was first recorded by Berber scholar Leo Africanus in 1550, possibly derived from the Tuareg phrase the meaning literally . There is broad consensus among linguists that it does not derive from the Latin as was first erroneously believed. The standard pronunciation in English is , while in some Anglophone media is also used.
History
Prehistory
Stone tools, some dating as far back as 280,000 years before present (BP), have been found in Adrar Bous, Bilma and Djado in the northern Agadez Region.Geels, Jolijn, (2006) Bradt Travel Guide – Niger, pgs. 15–22 Some of these finds have been linked with the Aterian and Mousterian tool cultures of the Middle Paleolithic period, which flourished in northern Africa circa 90,000 BP. It is thought that these humans lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. During the prehistoric African humid period, the climate of the Sahara was wetter and more fertile, a phenomenon archaeologists refer to as the "Green Sahara" which provided "favourable" conditions for hunting and later agriculture and livestock herding.Gwin, Peter. "Lost Tribes of the Green Sahara" , National Geographic, September 2008.Oliver, Roland (1999), The African Experience: From Olduvai Gorge to the 21st Century (Series: History of Civilization), London: Phoenix Press, revised edition, pg 39.
The Neolithic era, beginning circa 10,000 BP, saw a number of changes such as the introduction of pottery (as evidenced at Tagalagal, Temet and Tin Ouffadene), the spread of cattle husbandry, and the burying of the dead in stone tumuli. As the climate changed in the period 4000–2800 BC the Sahara gradually began drying out, forcing a change in settlement patterns to the south and east. Niger . Encyclopédie Larousse Agriculture spread, including the planting of millet and sorghum, and pottery production. Iron and copper items appear in this era, with finds including those at Azawagh, Takedda, Marendet and the Termit Massif.Duncan E. Miller and N.J. Van Der Merwe, 'Early Metal Working in Sub Saharan Africa' Journal of African History 35 (1994) 1–36; Minze Stuiver and N.J. Van Der Merwe, 'Radiocarbon Chronology of the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa' Current Anthropology 1968.Iron in Africa: Revisiting the History – Unesco (2002) The Kiffian (circa 8000–6000 BC) and Tenerian (circa 5000–2500 BC) cultures, centred on Adrar Bous and Gobero where skeletons have been uncovered, flourished during this period.Ancient cemetery found in 'green' Sahara Desert . By Randolph E. Schmid. Associated Press /ABC News.
Societies continued to grow with regional differentiation in agricultural and funerary practices. A culture of this period is the Bura culture (circa 200–1300 AD) named for the Bura archaeological site where a burial replete with iron and ceramic statuettes were discovered. The Neolithic era saw the flourishing of Saharan rock art, including in the Aïr Mountains, Termit Massif, Djado Plateau, Iwelene, Arakao, Tamakon, Tzerzait, Iferouane, Mammanet and Dabous; the art spans the period from 10,000 BC to 100 AD and depicts a range of subjects, from the varied fauna of the landscape to depictions of spear-carrying figures dubbed 'Libyan warriors'.Shillington, Kevin (1989, 1995). History of Africa, Second Edition. St. Martin's Press, New York. Page 32.
Archaeological evidence has indicated that the megalithic monuments in the Saharan region of Niger and the eastern Sahara which developed, as early as 4700 BCE, may have served as antecedents for the mastabas and pyramids of ancient Egypt. p.17 - "During Predynastic Egypt, tumuli were present at various locations (e.g., Naqada, Helwan). The appearance of megalithic monumental tombs and tumuli in the Nigerian Sahara as early as 4700 BC, and presumably much earlier in the Eastern Sahara (Wendorf et al., 1992/3), clearly predates the construction of Egyptian mastabas and pyramids by a very long time. Such structures might have been the precursors of Egyptian pyramids and monumental architecture. It is noteworthy that tumuli appear in Egypt in several localities, such as at Nagada and Helwan, during Predynastic times (Hassan, 1988)."
Empires and kingdoms in pre-colonial Niger By at least the 5th century BC the territory had become an area of trans-Saharan trade. Led by Tuareg tribes from the north, camels were used as a means of transportation through what became desert.Lewicki, T. (1994). "The Role of the Sahara and Saharians in Relationships between North and South". In UNESCO General History of Africa: Volume 3. University of California Press, .Masonen, P: "Trans-Saharan Trade and the West African Discovery of the Mediterranean World. " This mobility, which would continue in waves for centuries, was accompanied with migration to the south and intermixing between sub-Saharan African and North African populations, and the spread of Islam. It was aided by the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th century, the result of three Arab invasions, which resulted in population movements to the south. Empires and kingdoms existed in the Sahel during this era.
Mali Empire (13th to 17th century) The Mali Empire was a Mandinka empire founded by Sundiata Keita in and existed until the 17th century. As detailed in the Epic of Sundiata, Mali emerged as a breakaway region of the Sosso Empire which had split from the earlier Ghana Empire. Thereafter Mali defeated the Sosso at the Battle of Kirina in 1235 and then Ghana in 1240. From its heartland around the later Guinea-Mali border region, the empire expanded under successive kings and came to dominate the trans-Saharan trade routes, reaching its greatest extent during the rule of Mansa Musa in the 14th century. Parts of the Tillabéri Region fell under Malian rule.
A Muslim, Mansa Musa performed the hajj in 1324–25 and encouraged the spread of Islam in the empire, and it "appears that most ordinary citizens continued to maintain their traditional animist beliefs instead of or alongside the new religion". The empire began "declining" in the 15th century due to a combination of internecine strife over the royal succession, weak kings, the shift of European trade routes to the coast, and rebellions in the empire's periphery by Mossi, Wolof, Tuareg and Songhai peoples. A rump Mali kingdom continued to exist until the 17th century.
Songhai Empire (11th century–1591)
The Songhai Empire was named for its main ethnic group, the Songhai or Sonrai, and was centred on the northernmost bend of the Niger River. Songhai began settling this region from the 7th to 9th centuries; by the 11th century Gao (capital of the former Kingdom of Gao) had become the empire's capital.Boubou Hama and M Guilhem, "L'histoire du Niger, de l'Afrique et du Monde"; Edicef, Les royaumes Haoussa, pp. 104–112 From 1000 to 1325, the Songhai Empire managed to maintain peace with the Mali Empire, its neighbour to the west. In 1325 Songhai was conquered by Mali until regaining its independence in 1375. Under king Sonni Ali (r. 1464–1492) Songhai adopted an expansionist policy which reached its apogee during the reign of Askia Mohammad I (r. 1493–1528); at this point the empire had expanded from its Niger-bend heartland, including to the east where most of later western Niger fell under its rule, including Agadez which was conquered in 1496.African Kingdoms African kingdoms – The Songhai Empire The empire was unable to withstand repeated attacks from the Saadi dynasty and was decisively defeated at the Battle of Tondibi in 1591; it then collapsed into several smaller kingdoms.
Sultanate of Aïr (15th century–1906) In in the north of what is now Niger, the Sultanate of Aïr was founded by Sultan Ilisawan, based in Agadez. Formerly a trading post inhabited by a mixture of Hausa and Tuaregs, it grew as a strategic position on the trans-Saharan trade routes. In 1515, Aïr was conquered by Songhai, remaining a part of that empire until its collapse in 1591. In the following centuries, it "seems that the sultanate entered a decline" marked by internecine wars and clan conflicts. When Europeans began exploring the region in the 19th century, most of Agadez lay in ruins and was taken over by the French.
Kanem–Bornu Empire (8th–19th century)