Diffa | |
|---|---|
 Location within Niger | |
| Coordinates: 14°N13°E / 14°N 13°E | |
| Country |  Niger |
| Capital | Diffa |
| Area | |
| • Total | 156,906 km2 (60,582 sq mi) |
| Population (2020 estimate [1] ) | |
| • Total | 762,700 |
| • Density | 4.9/km2 (13/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (West Africa Time) |
| HDI (2021) | 0.381 [2] low · 3rd of 7 |
Diffa is one of the seven Regions of Niger, located in the southeast of the country. The capital of the region is Diffa.
Diffa Region is situated in the extreme southeast of Niger between 10° 30’ and 15° 35’ longitude East and 13° 04’ and 18° 00’ latitude North. It covers 156 906 km², and it borders Agadez Region to the north, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, and Zinder Region to the west. The landscape is primarily Sahelian in the south, merging into the Sahara desert in the north of the region. In the far southeast can be found Niger's portion of Lake Chad; formerly extending as far west as N'guigmi, the lake has shrunk drastically in recent decades. [3] In the southeast the Komadougou Yobe river forms part of the border with Nigeria. [3]
Diffa is the regional capital; other major settlements include Bosso, Chetimari, Dungass, Gueskerou, Goudoumaria, Kablewa, Mainé-Soroa, N'Gourti, N'Guelbély, N'guigmi and Toumour. [4]
Diffa Region is divided into six Departments:
The Region also includes three Urban Communes, a number of Rural Communes, four Cantons, and over twenty Groupments (administrative councils of nomadic communities). The Urban Communes are Diffa, Maïné-Soroa, N'guigmi; while the Rural Communes include Bosso, Chétimari, Goudoumaria, N'Gourti, Kabléwa, Nguel beyli, and Gueskérou.
The main ethnolinguistic groups in the region are Arabs, Fula, Hausa, Kanuri, Buduma, and Toubou. [5] [6]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 167,382 | — |
| 1985 | 189,091 | +13.0% |
| 2001 | 346,595 | +83.3% |
| 2012 | 593,821 | +71.3% |
| source: [7] | ||
Refugees from Nigeria fleeing violence from Boko Haram are living with local populations in the Diffa Region. As of 11 June 11, 2014, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) estimated that as many as 1,000 refugees a week were crossing the border into Diffa region; four out of five are women and girls. [8] By October 2015 the number of Nigerian refugees in the region had risen to at least 150,000. [9] After a lull in the fighting in 2017-18, violence increased in 2019, further worsening an already fragile security situation. [10]
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The economy of Diffa Region is primarily agricultural, based upon pastoralism and farming. The major crop, grown both for subsistence and sale, is millet, especially drought-tolerant varieties. One third of arable land is devoted to farming: almost 105,000 hectares farmed of the 299,500 hectares of arable land. Areas of the east and south also grow rice and maize. Irrigation in the valleys around Maïné-Soroa make this possible, as does the edge of Lake Chad (3,000 km² in the far east) and the seasonal Komadougou Yobe river valley in the south, which forms around 150 km of the border with Nigeria. Despite this the Diffa Region is among the most unproductive agricultural areas in Niger, and all of West Africa, making it especially vulnerable to drought and famine.
Diffa is a city and Urban Commune in the extreme southeast of Niger, near the border with Nigeria. It is the administrative seat of both Diffa Region, and the smaller Diffa Department. As of 2012, the commune had a total population of 56,437 people.
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 (regions) had, before 2002-2005 been styled departments. Prior to a revision in 2011, there had been 36 departments. 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 or Arrondissement level with elected councils, first elected in 1999. These were the first local elections held in the history of Niger. Officials elected at commune level are then selected as representatives at Departmental, regional, and National level councils and administration. The Ministry of Decentralisation was created to oversee this task, and to create a national consultative council of local officials.
N'guigmi is a city and Commune of fifteen thousand in the easternmost part of Niger, very near to Lake Chad – lying on its shore until the lake retreated. It is a crossroads for the traditional camel caravans of the Toureg and for traders plying North and South across the Sahara.
Dosso is one of the eight Regions of Niger. The region has an area of 31,002 square kilometres (11,970 sq mi), with a population of 2,754,500 as of 2020.
Zinder Region is one of the seven regions of Niger; the capital of the region is Zinder. The region covers 145,430 km². It is the most populous province of Niger.
The Region of Maradi is one of seven regions of Niger. It is located in south-central Niger, east of the Region of Tahoua, west of Zinder, and north of the Nigerian city of Katsina. The administrative centre is at Maradi. The population of the Region is predominantly Hausa.
Madaoua is a town and urban commune located in the Tahoua Region of Niger. It has a population of 127,254. It is seat of the Madaoua Department, forming the southwest corner of the Region, and is an Urban Commune.
The Departments of Niger are subdivided into communes. As of 2005, in the seven Regions and one Capital Area, 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 elected councils and mayors. Additional semi-autonomous sub-divisions include Sultanates, Provinces and Tribes (tribus). The Nigerien government estimates there are an additional 17000 Villages administered by Rural Communes, while there are over 100 Quartiers administered by Urban Communes.
Goure is a Commune and town in southeastern Niger, Zinder Region, Goure Department, of which it is the seat. As of 2012, it had a population of 73,732.
Goudoumaria, Niger is a Commune and town in the southeast of the country, in Diffa Region, northwest of Diffa. Goudoumaria is an administrative post in the Maine-Soroa Department, and is approximately 50 km north of the Nigerian border and approximately 50 km east of the small city Soubdou.
The Termit Massif is a mountainous region in south-eastern Niger. Just to the south of the dunes of Ténéré desert and the Erg of Bilma, the northern areas of the Termit, called the Gossololom, consist of black volcanic peaks rising from the surrounding seas of sand. The southern Termit is a roughly east-west ridge of heavily eroded black sandstone. Its foothills to the southwest are the Koutous hills.
Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, is an Islamist jihadist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group split, resulting in the emergence of a hostile faction known as the Islamic State's West Africa Province.
Timeline of the Boko Haram insurgency is the chronology of the Boko Haram insurgency, an ongoing armed conflict between Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram and the Nigerian government. Boko Haram have carried out many attacks against the military, police and civilians since 2009, mostly in Nigeria. The low-intensity conflict is centred on Borno State. It peaked in the mid 2010s, when Boko Haram extended their insurgency into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Nigerian refugees are persons originating from the country of Nigeria, but seeking refuge outside the borders of their native country. Nigeria has a refugee crisis which has extended for almost a decade, mainly due to the insurgency in Northern Nigeria by the Boko Haram.
The 2015 Niger raid was an unsuccessful assault on the Nigerien towns Bosso and Diffa, perpetrated by Boko Haram. The incident occurred on 6 February 2015, marking the first major Boko Haram incursion into Niger.
The Chad Basin campaign of 2018–2020 was a series of battles and offensives in the southern Chad Basin, particularly northeastern Nigeria, which took place amid the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency. The Chad Basin witnessed an upsurge of insurgent activity from early November 2018, as rebels belonging to the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram launched offensives and several raids to regain military strength and seize territory in a renewed attempt to establish an Islamic state in the region. These attacks, especially those by ISWAP, met with considerable success and resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The member states of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), namely Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon responded to the increased insurgent activity with counter-offensives. These operations repulsed the rebels in many areas but failed to fully contain the insurgency.
The Chad–Niger border is 1,196 km in length and runs from the tripoint with Libya in the north, to the tripoint with Nigeria in the south.
The Niger–Nigeria border is 1,608 kilometres in length and runs from the tripoint with Benin in the west to the tripoint with Chad in the east.
Since 2015, the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger has been a hotbed for jihadist forces originating from Mali. The insurgency has taken place in two distinct regions of Niger. In southwest, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and the Nusrat al-Islam have carried out attacks in the tri-border area with Burkina Faso and Mali. Meanwhile, in the southeast, the Islamic State in the West African Province has established control in parts of southern Niger.
Bilabrin is a village located in the commune of N'guigmi, Diffa Region, in southeast Niger. The village is approximately six kilometers west of the Chad–Niger border.
Capital: Niamey in Niamey Capital District | |
| Agadez Region | |
| Diffa Region | |
| Dosso Region | |
| Maradi Region | |
| Tahoua Region | |
| Tillabéri Region | |
| Zinder Region | |
| Authority control databases: National |
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