Dosso is a city in the south-west corner of

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. It lies south-east of the capital

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...

at the junction of the main routes to

Zinder Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 235,605 as by the 2012 census. It is situated east of the capital Niamey and north of the Nigerian city of Kano. History ...

and

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. The eighth-most populous town in Niger and the largest in

Dosso Region Dosso is one of the seven regions of Niger. The region has an area of , with a population of 2,754,500 as of 2020. History The region of Dosso is the historic centre of the Dosso Kingdom, which had its capital at Dosso. Today the palace of t ...

, it had an official population during the 2001 census of 43,561. The population grew to 58,671 in the 2012 census. It is the capital of its region - which covers five departments in the southwestern corner of the nation - as well as of its own department,

Dosso Department Dosso is a Departments of Niger, department of the Dosso Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Dosso, Niger, Dosso. As of 2012, the department had a total population of 492,560 people. Communes Urban * Dosso, Niger, Dosso Rural ...

. The city itself lies at the centre of its own Urban Commune.

History

Dosso is the seat of the

Dosso kingdom The Dosso Kingdom is a precolonial state in what is now southwest Niger which has survived in a ceremonial role to the modern day. Early history The Djerma people of Niger are believed to have migrated from what is now the Fula region around La ...

, a Zarma chieftaincy which rose to dominate the entire Zarma region in Niger in pre-colonial Niger. The traditional ruler is called '' Zarmakoy'' or ''Djermakoy'' of Dosso, an autochthonous title meaning literally "King of Djermas" where ''koy'' means "king" in Zarma (or Djerma) language.

Sites

Attractions in the town include the Djermakoy's palace and museum, nominated as a UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2006.

Transport

Road: The city of Dosso is a commercial hub for trade between Niamey and the towns of eastern Niger, as well as Benin.
Rail: between 2014 and 2016 a rail link was built between Dosso and

by the French

Bolloré Bolloré SE () is a French conglomerate headquartered in Puteaux, on the western outskirts of Paris, France. Founded in 1822, the company has interests in Vivendi, international freight forwarding, oil storage and pipelines in France, solid state ...

conglomerate. The objective was to connect Niamey to the rail network in

and thus to the coast. But competing commercial interests by several parties resulted in endless litigation and the connection to Benin never materialized. So the 145 km Niamey-Dosso stretch now lies orphaned and unused, with the tracks ending in the middle of nowhere some 6 km south of Dosso. After 5 years of neglect the tracks are already damaged to such an extent in some places, that they have become unusable.
Customs: There is a plan for the construction of a dry commercial port.
Air: Dosso has a small airport with a single non-tarmacked airstrip. The runway has a length of 1189 m. Its ICAO code is DRRD. There are no regular flights.

Climatic Condition

There is a hot dry season in Dosso, and there is a wet season as well. The dry season is characterised by somewhat cloudy skies.

Notable residents

* Rabiou Guero Gao – Olympic long-distance runner for Niger *

Zakari Gourouza Zakari Gourouza (born 8 June 1982) is a Nigerien judoka from Dosso. He competes in the men's 60 kg category. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was defeated in the second round by Russian Arsen Galstyan, who would win gold in the event, havin ...

– first Nigerien Olympic judoka

References

Sources

* James Decalo. ''Historical Dictionary of Niger''. Scarecrow Press, Metuchen. NJ – London (1979)

External links

WorldStatesmen – Niger

pbase.com:Images of Dosso city
{{Communes of Niger Communes of Niger Dosso Region Capitals of former nations