Tarka, Niger is a village and rural

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesLoi n° 2002-014 du 11 JUIN 2002 portant création des communes et fixant le nom de leurs chefs-lieux
Includes list of 213 communes rurales and seats, 52 Communes urbaines and seats It is located in the Belbédji Departement of the

Zinder Region Zinder Region is one of the seven regions of Niger; the capital of the region is Zinder. The region covers 145,430 km². It is the most populous province of Niger. History Numerous Palaeolithic and Neolithic remains, as well as cave painting ...

. As of 2010 the commune had a population of 86,695.

Geography

Tarka is in the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

biome. The neighboring municipalities are

Ingall Ingall is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Francis Ingall (1908–1998), British Indian Army officer * Lisa Ingall (born 1980), English snooker player * Marjorie Ingall (born 20th century), American non-fiction writer * Mic ...

in the northwest,

Aderbissinat Aderbissinat is a town and commune in central Niger. As of 2011, the commune had a total population of 27,523 people. It lies in the Sahel, the semi-arid, sparsely populated zone between the Sahara Desert to the north and the millet-growing sav ...

in the north,

Tenhya Tenhya is a village and rural commune in Niger. As of 2010, it had a total population of 20,533 people. Tenhya located in the northern Sahel. The neighboring municipalities are Aderbissinat in the northwest, the northeast Tabelot, Tesker to the ea ...

in the northeast,

Gangara ''Gangara'' is an Indomalayan genus of grass skippers in the family Hesperiidae. Species *''Gangara lebadea'' (Hewitson, 1886) - banded redeye *''Gangara thyrsis'' (Fabricius, 1775) - giant redeye *''Gangara sanguinocculus'' (Martin, 1895)Bu ...

in the east, Falenko in the southeast, El Allassane Maïreyrey in the south,

Tagriss Tagriss is a village and rural commune in Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages

in the southwest and

Gababedji Gababedji is a village and rural commune in Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages

in the west. The municipality is divided into 177 administrative villages, 54 traditional villages, 94 hamlets, 59 warehouses and 23 water points. The main town of the rural community is the administrative village Belbédji (also: Belbéji, Belbégi). Through the municipality the around 300 kilometer east-west Tarka Valley is situated.

History

The French colonial administration established a canton in Tarka in 1943. The Tarka valley formed its northern boundary to an area inhabited by nomads. In Belbédji in 1988 an administrative post ("poste administratif") was set up. The commune of Tarka decreased in size during a national administrative reform in 2002. In 2011, Tarka was no longer part of the

Tanout Department Tanout is a department of the Zinder Region in Niger. Its administrative seat is the city of Tanout. As of 2011, the department had a total population of 475,125 people. On 15 April 2010, the Council of Ministers announced that Amadou Seybou Dio ...

and was part of the newly formed Belbédji Department.

Demographics

In the 2001 census Tarka had 63 848 inhabitants. For the year 2010 86.695 inhabitants were counted. In Tarka live members of the primarily agriculture based

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...

subgroup Gobirawa, the remote pasture

Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

subgroups Katchinanko'en, Oudah'en and Wodaabe, and the

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...

subgroups Ichiriffen, Ikanawan, Imouzgou, Imouzwagan, Imuzzurag, Inesseliman, Kel Gariss, Kel Gress, Kel Iferwane and Tegama.

Economy and infrastructure

The north of the municipality is within a zone in which grazing is the predominant source of income. The South is in the field of

agropastoralism Pastoral farming (also known in some regions as ranching, livestock farming or grazing) is aimed at producing livestock, rather than growing crops. Examples include dairy farming, raising beef cattle, and raising sheep for wool. In contrast, ara ...

. Since 22 May 2000 there has been a local citizen radio in Tarka.

Notable people

Prime minister

Hamid Algabid Hamid Algabid (born 1941) is a Nigerien politician and the President of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP-Jama'a) party. A lawyer, banker, and technocrat, Algabid was an important figure in the regime of Seyni Kountché, serving as Prime ...

was born in the village of Belbedji in 1941.Cherif Ouazani
"Six candidats pour un fauteuil"
''Jeune Afrique'', 7 November 2004 .

References

{{Communes of Niger Communes of Niger Zinder Region