Iferouane
Encyclopedia
Oasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
town in northern 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...
, in Agadez Department. It is located northeast 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...
in the northern Aïr
Aïr Mountains
The Aïr Mountains is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara desert...
,
in the Ighazar valley
near the Tamgak Range.
Iferouane is also the location of the headquarters of the Aïr
Aïr Mountains
The Aïr Mountains is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara desert...
and 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...
Natural Reserves, a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
covering more than 7700000 ha (19,027,097.6 acre).
The Project for the Conservation and Management of the Natural Resources of the Aïr-Ténéré, a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between the government of Niger, the World Conservation Union
World Conservation Union
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges." The organization publishes the IUCN Red List, compiling information from a network of...
(IUCN), and the World Wide Fund for Nature
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
(WWF), is also based in Iferouane.
The town has one airport: Iferouane Airport
Iferouane Airport
Iferouane Airport is an airport serving Iferouane in Niger....
.
History
The Foureau-Lamy Mission, a French military expeditionExploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
led by Fernand Foreau and Amédée-François Lamy
Amédée-François Lamy
Amédée-François Lamy was born at Mougins, in the French département of Alpes-Maritimes on February 7, 1858 and died in the battle of Kousséri on April 22, 1900....
, spent a number of months at Iferouane in 1899. The expedition stopped at Iferouane on February 24, 1899 to acquire additional pack animal
Pack animal
A pack animal or beast of burden is a working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back; the term may be applied to either an individual animal or a species so employed...
s, their number having dwindled from 1,004 to 585, and departed on June 10, 1899, heading for 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...
. During this time, the expeditionary force
Expeditionary warfare
Expeditionary warfare is used to describe the organization of a state's military to fight abroad, especially when deployed to fight away from its established bases at home or abroad. Expeditionary forces were in part the antecedent of the modern concept of Rapid Deployment Forces...
faced multiple attacks by Tuareg nomads and saw the size of its caravan
Camel train
A camel train is a series of camels carrying goods or passengers in a group as part of a regular or semi-regular service between two points. Although they rarely travelled faster than the walking speed of a man, camels' ability to handle harsh conditions made camel trains a vital part of...
dwindle from 585 camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
s to 75.
During Niger's colonial period
History of Niger
This is the history of Niger. See also the history of Africa and the history of West Africa.-Pre-historic Niger:Humans have lived in what is now Niger from the earliest times...
, Iferouane was the northernmost military outpost in the French colony. In 1964, a few years after independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
, the population of Iferouane cercle
Cercle (French colonial)
Cercle was the smallest unit of French political administration in French Colonial Africa that was headed by a European officer. A cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages, and was instituted in France's African colonies from 1895 to 1946.At the...
was approximately 10,000.
Second Tuareg Rebellion
Iferouane was the site of the first attack carried out by the Niger Movement for JusticeNiger Movement for Justice
The Nigerien's Movement for Justice is a largely Tuareg ethnic, northern Niger based militant group...
(MNJ),
which marked the beginning of the Second Tuareg Rebellion. Numerous clashes between rebel and government forces subsequently took place near the town, including an attack in early December 2007 against a supply convoy heading for Iferouane that resulted in the deaths of three soldiers and, according to the government, eight rebels.
In October 2007, the president of the SOS Iférouane Initiative, a local organisation involved with delivering supplies to the town, reported that – due to the insecurity caused by the rebellion – the residents of Iferouane had been without food for a number of weeks. He also reported an increase in the incidence of malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and diarrhea
Diarrhea
Diarrhea , also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day. It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and...
among the town's residents.
In November, Iferouane's deputy mayor
Deputy Mayor
Deputy mayor is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official in many local governments. Many elected deputy mayors are members of the city council who are given the title and serve as acting mayor in the mayor's absence...
reported that the town's entire population – approximately 5,000 residents – had left due to shortages of food, the Tuareg rebellion, and "harassment" by the army. The central government, based in Niamey
Niamey
-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...
, confirmed that supplies to the town were blocked due to the mining
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
of roads by rebels, but denied that the town had been emptied.
In November 2008, a Radio France International reporter visited the town and described it as "empty of inhabitants", with the entire population having fled to 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...
or 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...
. During 2009, the inhabitants started to return and by September, about 90% of the population had returned and agriculture had restarted, despite damaged infrastructure.
Climate
Iferouane receives, on average, in excess of 50 mm of rainfall per year, which falls in the course of a few heavy downpours during the summer months.Mean rainfall per annum was 58.2 mm (2.3 in) from 1940 to 1989, and 76.1 mm (3 in) between 1990 and 2004.
Temperatures as low as -1 °C and as high as 52 °C (125.6 °F) have been recorded.