Dirkou

Dirkou
Dirki
Commune
Dirkou

Location in Niger

Coordinates: 19°2′0″N 12°54′12″E / 19.03333°N 12.90333°E / 19.03333; 12.90333Coordinates: 19°2′0″N 12°54′12″E / 19.03333°N 12.90333°E / 19.03333; 12.90333
Country  Niger
Region Agadez Region
Department Bilma Department
Commune Dirkou
Elevation 1,601 ft (487 m)
Population (2011)
  Total 14,998
Time zone WAT (UTC+1)

Dirkou is a town in the Bilma Department, Agadez Region of north-eastern Niger. It lies in the northern Kaouar escarpment, a north-south line of cliffs which form an isolated oasis in the Sahara desert. As of 2011, the commune had a total population of 14,998 people.[1]

The town is just south of Séguédine, and around 90 km north of Departmental capital Bilma. While isolated in modern Niger, it once lay on the important central soudan route of the Trans-Saharan trade which linked coastal Libya and the Fezzan to the Kanem-Bornu Empire near Lake Chad. Its population is made up primarily of traditionally sedentary Kanuri people, as well as semi-nomadic Tuareg and Tubu people.[2][3]

Transport

The town is served by Dirkou Airport.

References

  1. "Annuaires_Statistiques" (PDF). Institut National de la Statistique. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  2. Decalo, Samuel (1997). Historical Dictionary of the Niger (3rd ed.). Boston & Folkestone: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-3136-8.
  3. Geels, Jolijn (2006). Niger. Chalfont St Peter, Bucks / Guilford, Connecticut: Bradt UK / Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978-1-84162-152-4.
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