Ingal
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In-Gall In Gall, I-n-Gall, In-Gal, Ingal, Ingall |
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|---|---|
 In-Gall
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| Coordinates: 16°47′10″N 06°56′01″E / 16.78611°N 6.93361°ECoordinates: 16°47′10″N 06°56′01″E / 16.78611°N 6.93361°E | |
| Country |
 Niger
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| Region | Agadez Region |
| Department | Tchirozerine Department |
| Commune | In Gall |
| Elevation | 456 m (1,499 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 47,170 |
In-Gall (var. In Gall, I-n-Gall, In-Gal, Ingal, Ingall) is a town in the Agadez Region, Tchirozerine Department of northeast Niger, with a year-round population of less than 500. Known for its oasis and salt flats, In-Gall is the gathering point for the Cure Salee festival of Tuareg and Wodaabe pastoralists to celebrate the end of the rainy season each September. During the festival, InGall's population grows to several thousand nomads, officials, and tourists. As of 2011, the commune had a total population of 47,170 people.
InGall had been a stop on the main roads between the capital of Niger, Niamey (600 km to the southwest), and the mining town of Arlit (200 km to the northeast, 150 km from the Algerian border) or the provincial capital Agadez (100 km to the east). In the 1970s, the main road was repaved to transport uranium from the French-owned mines in Arlit, but the new road bypassed InGall, ending its use as a . Since then, its population has dropped from almost 5,000 to less than 500.
During the Tuareg insurgency of the 1990s, InGall was a prime fortification of the Niger armed forces, and when peace was concluded in 2000 the old fort was reportedly abandoned.
"InGall, an oasis town in a semi-desert zone that forms the gateway to the Sahara. InGall is a conglomeration of mud houses, whose gardens, in contrast to the barren landscape in which the town is set, are filled with fruit trees and vegetable patches."
The history, archaeology, and culture of the In-Gall area has been extensively studied, most notably by the French anthropologist and archaeologist couple, Suzanne and Edmond Bernus.
In-Gall is not only a prominent Tuareg seasonal centre, to which certain clans return each year, but it has a history as a stop in the Trans-Saharan trade, was a western outpost of the Songhay Empire in the 16th century, was an important centre of the Air Sultanate thereafter, and became a French colonial fort in an often hostile region in the early 20th century.
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Wikipedia