Two features dominate this landscape: the Sahara(2) desert and the Niger River(3). The Niger River enters Timbuktu Region from the south and bends in a bow to cross Gao Region and western Niger southeastward, forming part of the Niger/ Benin border before exiting into Nigeria. Southwest of the city of Timbuktu is the north end of the inland delta, formed in the Macina Depression, where the river becomes multi-channeled and there are marshes and lakes. The biggest of these is Lake Faguibine. Otherwise, north of the Niger is the desert, featureless except for the dry valleys of former rivers.
Over three million people live here and probably over half of them speak a dialect of Songhay. Perhaps more than two in ten speak Hausa, more than one in ten a dialect of Tamasheq(4) and just under one in ten Fulfulde(5).
The majority are Sunni Moslems, but a substantial minority--perhaps more than three in 20--follow local traditional religions.
Niamey, the national capital of Niger, has about three quarters of a million inhabitants and is the terminus of a railroad line running south to the Gulf of Guinea.
The Songhay and other Nilo-Saharans have been in the southern part of this area for at least ten millenia; they were part of Africa's 'aquatic tradition.' Songhay became the majority language as the Songhay Empire expanded from Gao in Mali southeastward in the 15th and 16th centuries. Hausa became important as the more common language of the Fulani Empire, which extended northwestward in the 19th century from Sokoto in Nigeria. Fulfulde arrived with the Fulani from the west by the 16th century. The Berber languages like Tamasheq are also quite old--at least a few thousand years; they arrived from the east. A clue to who was there earlier than some of these groups is given by a persistent minority language: Gourmanchema, a Gur(6) language spoken near the Burkino Faso border. That said, the current linguistic pattern is quite ancient.
Religion, on the other hand, has changed more recently. I do not know when the Tamasheq converted; perhaps it was quite early given their nomadism and resultant contacts with Arabs in the north. The Songhay converted to Islam in the 11th century, the Hausa, especially this far north, later. The Fulani were Moslems before they arrived.
west and north of Timbuktu Region
northeast of Timbuktu Region
east of northern Timbuktu Region, and north of Gao Region
east of Gao Region and Niamey and Dosso Departments
southeast
south
southwest of Niamey and Dosso Departments and of Gao Region
south of Timbuktu Region
(1) Tombouctou in French.
(2) Translates from Arabic as wilderness. It is the world's largest desert.
(3) Africa's third longest.
(4) The language of the Tuareg. Also called Tamazight.
(5) The language of the Fulani.
(6) Also called the Voltaic group. Sepakers of Gur are the Gurma.