The Azawagh (alias ''Azaouagh'' or ''Azawak'') is a dry basin covering what is today the northwestern

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesMali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

and southern

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. The Azawagh is mainly made up of Sahelian and Saharan flatlands and has a population that is predominantly

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 Alg ...

, with some

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

-speaking, Bouzou and

Wodaabe The Wodaabe ( ff, Woɗaaɓe, Adlam: ), also known as the Mbororo or Bororo (Adlam: , ), or Pullo, have a name that is designated to those of the Fula ethnic group who are traditionally nomadic and considered to be "ignorant of Islam." For this ...

minorities and a recent influx of

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 ...

and Zarma.

Name

The

word ''azawaɣ'' means "savannah".

Azawad Azawad, or Azawagh (Tuareg: Azawaɣ, or Azawad; ar, أزواد) was a short-lived unrecognised state from 2012 to 2013. Azawagh (''Azawaɣ'') is the generic Tuareg Berber name of all Tuareg Berber areas, especially the northern half of Mali ...

, a term used for the portion of northern Mali claimed by the Tuareg rebel movement

National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad or the Azawad National Liberation Movement (Tamasheq: '; ar, الحركة الوطنية لتحرير أزواد ''al-Ḥarakat al-Waṭaniyat Litaḥrīr ʾĀzawād''; french: Mouvement nati ...

, is believed to be an Arabic corruption of "Azawagh".

Geography

The Azawagh refers to the dry structural basin, which once carried a northern tributary of the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

, the Azawagh river, known as

Dallol Bosso The Dallol Bosso ( Zarma: Boboye) is one of two major seasonal river valleys in southwest Niger. The Dallol Bosso valley runs from the Azawagh area in the Sahara west and south through the Dosso Region where it reaches the Niger River valley. H ...

further south. The river, which ran some in prehistoric times, dried up after the

Neolithic Subpluvial The African humid period (AHP) (also known by other names) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today. The covering of much of the Sahara desert by grasses, ...

and created a basin of some . Its valley, which geologists call the Iullemmeden Basin, is bordered by the

Hoggar Mountains The Hoggar Mountains ( ar, جبال هقار, Berber: ''idurar n Ahaggar'') are a highland region in the central Sahara in southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. The mountains cover an area of approximately 550,000 km. Geography This ...

and their foothills in the north, the

Aïr Mountains The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, the ...

in the east, and the Adrar des Ifoghas in the west.Paris (1995), p. 228. The bedrock of the region is

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pal ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, which was cut by erosion and covered by

aeolian sand Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit materials ...

in the

Upper Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch within ...

. In ecological terms, the Azawagh basin is divided into, from north to south, a Saharian, a Sahelian and a northern Sudanese (referring to the geographic region) zone. In Niger, Azawagh generally includes the towns of Abalagh (Abalak), In Tibaraden ( Tchin-Tabaraden), Tiliya, In Gal and Tabalaq, a village where the sole lake of the region is located.

History

Human occupation of the Azawagh has been dated back to 4500 BCE, with evidence of cattle-raising beginning 3200 BCE. From this period until roughly 1500 BCE, the region also supported large fauna, including

waterbuck The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus '' Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. Its 13 subspecies ar ...

hippopotami The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

, and elephants. Evidence of copper-working has been found at Tekebrine dating to 1600 BCE. At around this time, climatic conditions worsened, and the Sudanese peoples of the region were replaced by Berbers who constructed

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

. Islam reached the Western Aïr Mountains via southwest Libya in the eighth century. The region was invaded and colonized by the French in the early twentieth century.Popenoe (2003), p. 15. Following the independence movements of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

, and the

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesrebellion by the region's Tuareg population, with groups such as

Front for the Liberation of Aïr and Azaouak Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * The Front (1943 film), ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music *The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and acti ...

and the

Front for the Liberation of Tamoust Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

rebelling against the Nigerien government, while the

Arab Islamic Front of Azawad Arab Islamic Front of Azawad (in French: ''Front Islamique Arabe de l'Azawad'' or FIAA) was a militant rebel group in northern Mali. It was headed by Ahmed Ould Sidi Mohamed. Alone among Mali's many northern rebel groups, the FIAA drew its members ...

Popular Movement for the Liberation of Azawad People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (in French: ''Mouvement Populaire de Libération de l'Azawad'', MPLA) was a Tuareg militant rebel group in northern Mali (Azawad). Initially based amongst exiles in Algeria and, especially, Libya, M ...

Revolutionary Liberation Army of Azawad The Revolutionary Liberation Army of Azawad (french: Armée révolutionnaire de libération de l'Azawad, abbreviated ARLA) is a Tuareg militant rebel group in northern Mali. The ARLA surged as a dissident group opposing the Tamanrasset Accords. In ...

, and the

Popular Liberation Front of Azawad The Popular Liberation Front of Azawad (in French language, French: ''Front Populaire de Libération de l'Azawad'') was one of several militant rebel groups active during the Tuareg Rebellion (1990–1995), Tuareg Rebellion in northern Mali from 19 ...

opposed the government of Mali.

Population

Despite being the size of Austria, the Nigerien portion of the Azawagh had a population of only 85,000 as of 2003. The area is dominated by the Kel Tamashek peoples, as well as some nomadic Arab-ancestry tribes including Hassaniyya-speakers (also called

Azawagh Arabs The Azawagh Arabs ( ar, عرب أزواغ) (also known as nomadic Moors) are nomadic ethnic Arab-ancestry tribes who are settling mainly in the area of Azawagh which is a dry basin covering what is today northwestern Niger, as well as parts of ...

, not to be confused with Niger's

Diffa Arabs Diffa Arabs ( ar, عرب الديفا) (also known as Mahamid Arabs) is the Nigerien name given to Arabicized nomadic tribespeople living in eastern Niger, mostly in the Diffa Region. In 2006, approximately 150,000 and accounting for less than 1.5% ...

).Popenoe (2003), p. 16-17. The Azawagh is the centre for the Iwellemeden Kel Denneg Federation. The region also has a nomadic population of

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. ...

and a substantial minority of Bouzou, formerly a Tuareg slave caste. In recent years, a number of

and Zarma have settled in the region, primarily as government officials and traders.

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * {{Coord missing, Niger Landforms of Mali Landforms of Niger Prehistoric Africa Irredentism Tuareg Cultural regions Basins of Africa Regions of Africa