Kennedy Bridge (Niamey)

Last updated
The Niger River, Kennedy Bridge and some of Niamey City Centre (right), taken from the roof of the UNV building, looking northwest. May 2006 Niamey river bridge roof sunset 2006.jpg
The Niger River, Kennedy Bridge and some of Niamey City Centre (right), taken from the roof of the UNV building, looking northwest. May 2006

The Kennedy Bridge is the main crossing for the Niger River in Niamey, Niger. It was built in 1970, and named for United States President John F. Kennedy. Its construction enabled Niamey to expand onto the right bank of the river to the west. On 9 February 1990, a confrontation between students of the University of Niamey and police on the bridge left 20 civilians dead, and hastened the end of the military regime led by General Ali Saibou. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niamey</span> Capital and the largest city of Niger

Niamey is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital district growing at a slower rate than the country as a whole, which has the world's highest fertility rate. The city is located in a pearl millet growing region, while manufacturing industries include bricks, ceramic goods, cement, and weaving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dosso, Niger</span> Place in Dosso Region, Niger

Dosso is a city in the south-west corner of Niger. It lies 130–140 kilometres (81–87 mi) south-east of the capital Niamey at the junction of the main routes to Zinder and Benin. The eighth-most populous town in Niger and the largest in Dosso Region, it had an official population during the 2001 census of 43,561. The population grew to 58,671 in the 2012 census. 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.

Birni-N'Konni is a town in the Tahoua Region of Niger, lying immediately north of the border of Nigeria and west of seasonal Maggia River. It is an important market town and transport hub and as of the 2012 census had a population of 63,169. The town is the historic centre of the small pre-colonial Hausa state of Konni. The name comes from the Hausa for "Walled Town of Konni", and many Hausa towns designate the old citadel neighbourhood the "Birni".

Tillabéri is a town in northwest Niger. It is situated 113 km northwest of the capital Niamey on the River Niger. It is an important market town and administrative center, being the capital of department of Tillabéri and Tillabéri Region. The town had a population of over 22,774 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maradi, Niger</span> Place in Maradi Region, Niger

Maradi is the second largest city in Niger and the administrative centre of Maradi Region. It is also the seat of the Maradi Department and an Urban Commune.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abalak</span> Place in Tahoua Region, Niger

Abalak is a town located in the Tahoua Region, Abalak Department of northern Niger. It is both a town and Commune: a local administrative division. It is the seat (Chef-lieu) of Abalak Department, one of eight subdivisions of Tahoua Region. The town had a population of less than 13,000 at the 2001 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Niger</span> Religion in Niger

Islam in Niger accounts for the vast majority of the nation's religious adherents. The faith is practiced by more than 99.3% of the population, although this figure varies by source and percentage of the population who are classified as Animist. The vast majority of Muslims in Niger are Malikite Sunni with Salafi influences. Many of the communities who continue to practice elements of traditional religions do so within a framework of syncretic Islamic belief, making agreed statistics difficult. Islam in Niger, although dating back more than a millennium, gained dominance over traditional religions only in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and has been marked by influences from neighboring societies. Sufi brotherhoods have become the dominant Muslim organization, like much of West Africa. Despite this, a variety of interpretations of Islam coexist—largely in peace—with one another as well as with minorities of other faiths. The government of Niger is secular in law while recognising the importance of Islam to the vast majority of its citizens.

In-Gall is a town in the Agadez Region, Tchirozerine Department of northeast Niger, with a year-round population of less than 500. Known for its oasis and salt flats, In-Gall is the gathering point for the Cure Salee festival of Tuareg and Wodaabe pastoralists to celebrate the end of the rainy season each September. During the festival, In-Gall's population grows to several thousand nomads, officials, and tourists. As of 2011, the commune had a total population of 47,170 people.

Say (Saayi) is a town in southwest Niger, situated on the Niger River. It is the capital of the Say Department in the Tillabéri Region. Say was a small Songhai town prior to the arrival of the Fulani marabout Alfa Mohamed Diobo in the nineteenth century who converted the town to a center for Islamic learning and established the Emirate of Say. The municipality has 70,234 inhabitants, and its economy is dominated by agriculture, herding and small trade. Today, the inhabitants of Say are mostly Peulh, Songhai and Zarma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdou Sidikou</span>

Abdou Sidikou was a Nigerien politician and diplomat. Sidikou was the Foreign Minister of Niger from 1967 to 1970 under Hamani Diori.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdou Moumouni University</span>

Abdou Moumouni University, formerly the University of Niamey from 1974 to 1994, is a public university based in Niamey, the capital of Niger. The main campus is situated on the right bank of the Niger River. Historically, its students and faculty have been involved in protest movements in the capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Say Department</span> Department in Tillabéri Region, Niger

Say is a department of the Tillabéri Region in Niger. Its capital city is Say, and includes the towns of Guéladjo, Tamou, and Torodi. It abuts the urban Region of Niamey, and lies across the Niger River to the southwest of the capital. It extends to the Burkina Faso border over 60 km to the west, and the northernmost border with Benin in the south. The Say area is today divided between the riverine valley in the east of the Department, and the more sparsely populated areas to the west, which are intercut with a series of eastward flowing tributaries. The Niger river, a broad shallow channel at Niamey and at Say, passes through a series of gorges and cataracts, called the "W" bend for the shape the river takes, in the south of the Say Department. To the west of these rapids lies what is now the W Regional Park, a sparsely populated area historically plagued by insect borne diseases of both humans and cattle. Now a park and tourist attraction, its history as a "no mans land" has made it a refuge for remaining wild animals, as well as several undisturbed archeological sites. From at least the 16th century CE, the Songhai proper moved south into this area from the north around what is now Tera. The inhabitants at the time were related to the Gourma people, who form most of the population of the northwestern part of the Department today. In the 18th and 19th century, the town of Say was founded by Fulani migrants from the Gao region of modern Mali, with others expanding from what is now northeast Burkina Faso. Between 1810 and the arrival of European writer Heinrich Barth in 1854, Fulani Muslims led by Alfa Mohamed Diobo of Djenné had established the Emirate of Say. The reputation for piety and learning of Mohamed Diobo and his followers helped turn Say from a small river village into a town of 30,000, famed across West Africa as a center of learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Mountains (Niger)</span>

The Blue Mountains are an outcrop off the northeastern section of the Aïr Massif in Niger, about 100 km ENE of the town of Iférouane and 30 km NE of the Tezerik oasis. Isolated from the main massif by dunes of the Erg Temet and a flat gravelly desert pavement plain, the rocky outcrop from the desert rises to a height of 924m, almost 300m over the surrounding topography. The area is in Aïr and Ténéré National Nature Reserve, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mountains themselves are also within the smaller Aïr and Ténéré Addax Sanctuary. They are characterised by cipollino marble outcroppings, which give the hills a bluish tint. Despite their relative remoteness, they became a tourist destination during the upsurge of desert tourism in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">France–Niger relations</span> Bilateral relations

France–Niger relations are the foreign relations between France and Niger. Their relations are based on a long shared history and the more than sixty year rule of Niger by the French colonial empire, beginning with the French conquest in 1898. Niger obtained independence from France in 1960, and a history of French influenced culture and French language have been a point of commonality in the creation of a distinctive Nigerien culture from the diverse pre-colonial nationalities which make up modern Niger. France benefited economically from their time as a colonial power, and still relies on imports from Niger for elements of their economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Route nationale 1 (Niger)</span>

The Route Nationale No. 1 is an important highway in Niger. It connects the east part of the country to the west. RN1 runs approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) from Koutogou in the west to N'Guigmi in the east, via Dosso, Maradi, Zinder, and Diffa. The first large paved section, between Gouré and N'Guigmi, was surfaced in 1971–72. This section, in the distant and sparsely populated east, is now the most degraded section and in part completely eroded. It was named the "Route de l'Unité" in the 1970s. By 1980, it was joined by the second long all-weather road in Niger, the "Uranium Highway," running from Niamey to Arlit in the far north.

Tamou is a village and "Rural commune" in Niger. The town is capital of its Rural Commune in the Say Department of Tillabéri Region, in the far southwest of the nation. It is southwest of Niamey, on the right (western) bank of the Niger River, between the departmental capital Say and the border of Burkina Faso. Tamou Commune is home to the Tamou Total Reserve, a wildlife reserve which is part of the larger W National Park and Transborder Reserve. The Tamou Reserve, in which local people also live, is primarily dedicated to the protection of African Elephant populations which migrate through the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Songhoyboro Ciine</span> Songhay language

Songhoyboro Ciine or Songhay Ciiné is an upriver dialect of the southern Songhay dialect of Niger. It is spoken mostly in the northwestern corner of Niger's Tillaberi region, an area known as Songhay: from Gorouol, a border town with Mali, down to the towns of Tera, Anzourou, Namari Goungou and Say.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aissa Diori</span>

Aissa Diori also known as Aïchatou Diori was the wife of Hamani Diori and the First Lady of Niger. She amassed a large wealth through corruption, including high-priced real estate. She was killed in the 1974 Nigerien coup d'état.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Niamey, Niger.

References

  1. Decalo p. 265, 266, 295

13°30′17″N2°6′14″E / 13.50472°N 2.10389°E / 13.50472; 2.10389