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Niger is a landlocked nation in West Africa located along the border between the Sahara and Sub-Saharan regions. Its geographic coordinates are longitude 16°N and latitude 8°E. Its area is 1.267 million square kilometers, of which 1 266 700 km2 is land and 300 km2 water, making Niger slightly less than twice the size of France.
The Tuareg people are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Traditionally nomadic pastoralists, small groups of Tuareg are also found in northern Nigeria.
Tinariwen is a collective of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara region of northern Mali. Considered pioneers of desert blues, the group's guitar-driven style combines traditional Tuareg and African music with Western rock music. They have released nine albums since their formation and have toured internationally.
Agadez, formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also the capital of Aïr, one of the traditional Tuareg–Berber federations. The historic centre of the town has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
From 1990 to 1995, a rebellion by various Tuareg groups took place in Niger and Mali, with the aim of achieving autonomy or forming their own nation-state. The insurgency occurred in a period following the regional famine of the 1980s and subsequent refugee crisis, and a time of generalised political repression and crisis in both nations. The conflict is one in a series of Tuareg-based insurgencies in the colonial and post-colonial history of these nations. In Niger, it is also referred to as the Second or Third Tuareg Rebellion, a reference to the pre-independence rebellions of Ag Mohammed Wau Teguidda Kaocen of the Aïr Mountains in 1914 and the rising of Firhoun of Ikazkazan in 1911, who reappeared in Mali in 1916. In fact the nomadic Tuareg confederations have come into sporadic conflict with the sedentary communities of the region ever since they migrated from the Maghreb into the Sahel region between the 7th and 14th centuries CE. Some Tuareg wanted an independent Tuareg nation to be formed when French colonialism ended. This, combined with dissatisfaction over the new governments, led some Tuareg in Northern Mali to rebel in 1963.
Mamar Kassey is a jazz-pop-ethnic band from Niger. It is named after Askia Muhammad I, a legendary warrior who extended the Songhai Empire into the Sahara.
Zerzura is a mythical city or oasis located in the Sahara Desert.
The Wodaabe is a name that is used to designate a subgroup of the Fula ethnic group who are traditionally nomadic found primarily in Niger and Chad. All Woodabe people should not be mistaken as Mbororo as these are two separate subgroups of the Fulani people. It is translated into English as "Cattle Fulani", and meaning "those who dwell in cattle camps". The Wodaabe culture is one of the 186 cultures of the standard cross-cultural sample used by anthropologists to compare cultural traits. A Wodaabe woman, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, was also chosen to represent civil society of the world on the signing of Paris Protocol on 22 April 2016.
The 2007-2009 Tuareg rebellion was an insurgency that began in February 2007 amongst elements of the Tuareg people living in the Sahara desert regions of northern Mali and Niger. It is one of a series of insurgencies by formerly nomadic Tuareg populations, which had last appeared in the mid-1990s, and date back at least to 1916. Populations dispersed to Algeria and Libya, as well as to the south of Niger and Mali in the 1990s returned only in the late 1990s. Former fighters were to be integrated into national militaries, but the process has been slow and caused increased resentment. Malian Tuaregs had conducted some raids in 2005–2006, which ended in a renewed peace agreement. Fighting in both nations was carried on largely in parallel, but not in concert. While fighting was mostly confined to guerrilla attacks and army counterattacks, large portions of the desert north of each nation were no-go zones for the military and civilians fled to regional capitals like Kidal, Mali and Agadez, Niger. Fighting was largely contained within Mali's Kidal Region and Niger's Agadez Region. Algeria helped negotiate an August 2008 Malian peace deal, which was broken by a rebel faction in December, crushed by the Malian military and wholescale defections of rebels to the government. Niger saw heavy fighting and disruption of uranium production in the mountainous north, before a Libyan backed peace deal, aided by a factional split among the rebels, brought a negotiated ceasefire and amnesty in May 2009.
Rhissa Ag Boula is a Nigerien Tuareg politician and former leader of rebel factions in both the 1990–1995 and the 2007–2009 Tuareg based Insurgencies. He was Nigerien Minister of Tourism from 1996–1999, and again from 1999–2004. His arrest on murder charges in 2004 precipitated armed conflict between his supporters and the Nigerien government. A political leader following the 1995 peace, he again joined a rebel faction from abroad in 2007, creating his own faction from abroad in 2008, and joining the peace process in 2009. In 2010 he was again arrested after returning to Niger. In 2023 he announced the creation of the Council of Resistance for the Republic which aimed to topple the junta and restore Bazoum to office. He also said that it supported international intervention by ECOWAS and other actors in doing so.
Mahamadou Souleymane, known professionally as Mdou Moctar, is a Tuareg songwriter and musician based in Agadez, Niger, who performs modern rock music inspired by Tuareg guitar music. His music first gained attention through a trading network of mobile phones and memory cards in West Africa. He sings in the Tamasheq language. Moctar's fourth album, Ilana: The Creator, released in 2019, was the first to feature a full band. He plays guitar in the takamba and assouf styles.
"Symphony" is a song by British classical crossover band Clean Bandit featuring Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It is the second single from Clean Bandit's second studio album, What Is Love? (2018). The song was released on 17 March 2017, the same day as Larsson's second studio album, So Good, where it was also included as a bonus track. The single peaked at the top of the UK Singles Chart, becoming Larsson's first number one on the chart and Clean Bandit's third. Outside the United Kingdom, the single also topped the chart in Larsson's native Sweden, as well as in neighbouring Norway, in addition to being certified Diamond in France and Poland.
The Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISSP), formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), is an Islamist militant group adhering to the ideology of Salafi Jihadism. IS-GS was formed on 15 May 2015 as the result of a split within the militant group Al-Mourabitoun. The rift was a reaction to the adherence of one of its leaders, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, to the Islamic State. From March 2019 to 2022, IS-GS was formally part of the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP); when it was also called "ISWAP-Greater Sahara". In March 2022, IS declared the province autonomous, separating it from its West Africa Province and naming it Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISSP).
Lehbib Ould Ali Ould Said Ould Yumani, known as Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, was a Sahrawi Islamist militant and leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
Ibrahim Doundou Chefou is a Nigerien militant and a commander in the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
Les Filles de Illighadad are a Tuareg band founded by Fatou Seidi Ghali in Illighadad, a village in the Sahara Desert in Niger. Ghali, it is claimed, is the first Tuareg woman to play guitar professionally.
Sahel Sounds is an American record label, based in Portland, Oregon which specializes in music from the southern part of the Sahara desert.
Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai,, is a 2015 Niger drama musical film directed by Christopher Kirkley and co–produced by Sahel Sounds, L'Improbable and Tenere Films. It is the world's first Tuareg-language fiction film. The film is based on the real life incidents of famous musician Mdou Moctar.
This article lists events from the year 2021 in Niger.
Music from Saharan Cellphones is a compilation album released by Sahel Sounds of different songs by various musicians from Western and Sub-Saharan Africa.
References
- ↑ "Zerzura" . Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ↑ Radio, N. T. S. "Zerzura by Christopher Kirkley". NTS Radio. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ↑ "Zerzura DVD from Sahel Sounds". Sahel Sounds. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ↑ "Zerzura: African Film Festival, Inc" . Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ↑ "Zerzura (2017)" . Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ↑ "Acid Western 'Zerzura' Brings its Search for a Mythical Oasis". kqed.org. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ↑ "Zerzura - A Psychedelic Journey into the Sahara". FilmRoot. 2019-04-07. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ↑ "Zerzura". Festival International du Film sur l'Art (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ↑ "Zerzura, Spielfilm, 2016-2017 - Crew United" (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ↑ "Playlist: Zerzura". Film Comment. 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
