Agadez is an administrative Region in Niger

Niger

Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...

. Agadez covers 634209 square kilometre. The capital of the department is Agadez

Agadez

-Sources:* Aboubacar Adamou. "Agadez et sa région. Contribution à l'étude du Sahel et du Sahara nigériens", Études nigériennes, n°44, , 358 p.* Julien Brachet. Migrations transsahariennes. Vers un désert cosmopolite et morcelé . Paris: Le Croquant, , 324 p. ISBN : 978-2-91496865-2.*. Saudi Aaramco...

.

Description and people

The Agadez Region represents 52% of the total area of Niger, the largest of its seven regions. Despite its size, Agadez is sparsely populated; its 321,639 inhabitants account for only 2.9% of the total population of Niger with a population density of 0.5 PD/sqmi. The region includes the vast Ténéré

Ténéré

The Ténéré is a desert region in the south central Sahara. It comprises a vast plain of sand stretching from northeastern Niger into western Chad, occupying an area of over...

 portion of the Sahara

Sahara

The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...

 desert, dune seas like the Erg of Bilma

Erg of Bilma

The Erg of Bilma is a Dune Sea in the Ténéré desert region of the south central Sahara. The Erg of Bilma stretches from Fachi, east of the Aïr Mountains in north central Niger, east past the town of Bilma, on to the Chadian border...

, and the mountains of the Aïr. Much of its population comprises nomadic or semi-nomadic

Nomad

Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...

 peoples including the Tuareg, Toubou

Toubou

The Tubu are an ethnic group that live mainly in northern Chad, but also in Libya, Niger and Sudan....

, Wadoobe Fula

Fula people

Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...

. There are populations of settled Kanuri (in the east), Hausa

Hausa people

The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...

, and Songhay in the towns and oasies.

Economy

Traversed for centuries by the Trans Saharan trade, the oasis towns of the Aïr and the eastern Kaouar Cliffs

Kaouar

The Kaouar, or Kaouar Cliffs is a north-south escarpment running some 150 km in north east Niger. Surrounded by the Ténéré desert and the dunes of the Erg of Bilma, easterly winds striking the 100 meter high escarpment of Kaouar provide easy access to groundwater for ten oases on the leeward side...

 are known for their garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

s, salt

Salt

In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

 manufacture, and date

Date Palm

The date palm is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around the Persian Gulf. It is a medium-sized plant, 15–25 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with...

 cultivation. In the late 1990s, tourism became a large industry here, and the uranium town

Uranium mining

Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. The worldwide production of uranium in 2009 amounted to 50,572 tonnes, of which 27% was mined in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia are the top three producers and together account for 63% of world uranium...

 of Arlit

Arlit

Arlit is an industrial town and capital of the Arlit Department of the Agadez Region of northern-central Niger, built between the Sahara desert and the eastern edge of the Aïr mountains. It is 200 km south by road from the border with Algeria...

 provides some 20% of the foreign exchange for the country. Tuareg insurgencies against the Niger government in the 1990s and mid 2000s and drought in the 1970s, 80s, and 2002 have led to humanitarian crises and damaged the region's economy.

Subdivisions

Agadez is divided into three Departments

Departments of Niger

||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 had, before 2002-2005 been styled Departments. Prior to a revision in 2011, there had been 36 Departments. A draft...

 and one Commune.

Administrative Subdivisions

Commune	Size	Population
Agadez Agadez -Sources:* Aboubacar Adamou. "Agadez et sa région. Contribution à l'étude du Sahel et du Sahara nigériens", Études nigériennes, n°44, , 358 p.* Julien Brachet. Migrations transsahariennes. Vers un désert cosmopolite et morcelé . Paris: Le Croquant, , 324 p. ISBN : 978-2-91496865-2.*. Saudi Aaramco...	.......	78 289 inhabitants
Department	Size	Population	Chief Town	Cantons
Arlit Arlit Department Arlit is a department of the Agadez Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Arlit.-Communes:It is divided administratively into the following communes:*Afassa*Aguelal*Arlit*Assarara*Elok*Gougaram*Iferouane*Imourarene*I-n-Azaoua*Inignaouei...	216 774 km²	98 170 inhabitants	Arlit Arlit Arlit is an industrial town and capital of the Arlit Department of the Agadez Region of northern-central Niger, built between the Sahara desert and the eastern edge of the Aïr mountains. It is 200 km south by road from the border with Algeria...
Bilma Bilma Department Bilma is a department of the Agadez Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Bilma....	296 279 km²	17 080 inhabitants	Bilma Bilma Bilma is an oasis town in north east Niger with a population of around 2,500 people. It lies protected from the desert dunes under the Kaouar Cliffs and is the largest town along the Kaouar escarpment...	Bilma, Djado, Fachi, Kawar
Tchirozérine Tchirozerine Department Tchirozerine is a department of the Agadez Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Tchirozerine....	154 746 km²	118 068 inhabitants	Tchirozérine

Borders

Agadez has the following foreign borders, including Niger's only borders with Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

 and Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

:

• Kidal Region, Mali
  Kidal Region
  Kidal is the eighth administrative region of Mali, covering 151,430 km². Its capital is the city of Kidal.-Geography:The region is bordered on the west by Tomboctou Region, to the south by Gao Region, to the east by Niger and to the north by Algeria....
  
   - west
• Tamanghasset Wilayah, Algeria
  Tamanghasset Province
  Tamanrasset or Tamanghasset is the largest province in Algeria. It was named after its province seat: Tamanrasset. The Province has two national parks, more than any other in Algeria. They are: Tassili n'Ajjer National Park and Ahaggar National Park...
  
   - northwest
• Ghat Sha'biyah, Libya
  Ghat Municipality
  Ghat is one of the districts of Libya. Its capital is Ghat.To the west, Ghat borders two provinces of Algeria: Tamanghasset in the far southwest, and Illizi Province otherwise. It also has a short border with the Agadez Department of Niger in the far south...
  
   - north
• Murzuq Sha'biyah, Libya
  Murzuq
  Murzuq is one of the districts of Libya. It is in the south of the country. Its capital is Murzuk. The city was occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 1578 and served as the capital of Fezzan off and on until the Ottomans ceded Libya to Italy in 1912...
  
   - northeast
• Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region, Chad
  Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region
  The Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti was until 2008 one of the then 18 regions of Chad, its capital being Faya-Largeau. It comprised the former Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Prefecture...
  
   - east

Domestically, it borders the following departments:

• Diffa Region - southeast
• Zinder Region - south, east of Maradi
• Maradi Region - south, west of Maradi
• Tahoua Region - southwest