Azawagh

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Azawad in northern Mali or the Azawakh dog breed.
For the Moroccan-born German footballer, see Mimoun Azaouagh.
The Azawagh Basin and surrounding geographical features, as seen from space. The yellow lines indicate international borders
The Azawagh forms the northeastern sections of the Niger River Basin, although today the Azawagh River is long dry and the area is fed by seasonal underground rivers at best

The Azawagh (alias Azaouagh or Azawak) is a dry basin covering what is today the northwestern Niger, as well as parts of northeastern Mali and southern Algeria.[1] The Azawagh is mainly made up of Sahelian and Saharan flatlands and has a population that is predominantly Tuareg, with some Arabic-speaking and Wodaabe minorities and a recent influx of Hausa and Zarma.

Name

The Tuareg word azawaɣ means "savannah".[2] Azawad, a term used for the portion of northern Mali claimed by the Tuareg rebel movement National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, is believed to be an Arabic corruption of "Azawagh".[3]

Geography

The Azawagh refers to the dry

Upper Pleistocene.[5]

In ecological terms, the Azawagh basin is divided into, from north to south, a Saharian, a Sahelian and a northern Sudanese (referring to the geographic region) zone.[4]

In Niger, Azawagh generally includes the towns of

Tchin-Tabaraden), Tiliya, In Gal and Tabalaq
, a village where the sole lake of the region is located.

History

Human occupation of the Azawagh has been dated back to 4500 BCE, with evidence of cattle-raising beginning 3200 BCE.

elephants.[6]

Evidence of copper-working has been found at

tumuli.[4]

Islam reached the Western Aïr Mountains via southwest Libya in the eighth century.[7] The region was invaded and colonized by the French in the early twentieth century.[8] Following the independence movements of Algeria, Mali, and the Niger, and the corresponding departure of the French, the region became divided between these three nations.

During the 1970s and 1980s, a series of droughts forced increasing numbers of the region's nomadic population into villages and towns.

Popular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, Revolutionary Liberation Army of Azawad, and the Popular Liberation Front of Azawad opposed the government of Mali.[8]

Population

Despite being the size of Austria, the Nigerien portion of the Azawagh had a population of only 85,000 as of 2003.[10]

The area is dominated by the

Bouzou, formerly a Tuareg slave caste. In recent years, a number of Hausa and Zarma have settled in the region, primarily as government officials and traders.[8]

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. ^ Paris (1995): p. 250.
  2. ^ Ritter, Hans (2009). "Wörterbuch zur Sprache und Kultur der Twareg" (Document). Harassowitz Verlag. p. 227.
  3. ^ Robert Brown (1896). Annotations to The history and description of Africa, by Leo Africanus. The Hakulyt Society. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d Paris (1995), p. 228.
  5. ^ Paris (1995), p. 229-30.
  6. ^ Paris (1995), p. 247.
  7. ^ Paris (1995), p. 238.
  8. ^ a b c Popenoe (2003), p. 15.
  9. ^ Popenoe (2003), p. 17.
  10. ^ Popenoe (2003), p. 13.
  11. ^ Popenoe (2003), p. 16-17.
  12. ISBN 0810831368
    .
Bibliography

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