2697 NIGER - Cultural itineraries of the Sahara Desert: Salt Road (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

2697 A Caravan in Fachi Oasis

Located in eastern Niger, in Ténéré desert, between the dunes of the Erg of Bilma, on the western edge of the small Agram mountain outcropping, Fachi Oasis is a stopping point of the Agadez to Kaouar caravans of the Azalay,. Apart from water, dates, and salt, Fachi produces no provisions, so its 2000 inhabitants depend entirely upon trade in these products with passing caravans.

1760 NIGER - Niger River, the islands and the valley (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

The Niger River, the third-longest river in Africa (after Nile and Congo), takes one of the most unusual routes of any major river, a boomerang shape that baffled European geographers for two millennia. Its source is just 240km inland from the Atlantic Ocean,  in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea, but the river runs directly away from the sea into the Sahara Desert, through Mali, then takes a sharp right turn near the ancient city of Timbuktu and descends towards southeast through Niger, then on the border with Benin and ultimately through Nigeria, discharging through a massive delta into the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, after it crossed about 4,180 km.

1631 NIGER - Dunes of Adrar Chiriet

Niger is divided roughly into three geographic regions: the desert zone in the north, a semi-arid zone in the middle and a small fertile area in the southwest, where flows the Niger River. Its middle region forms part of the Sahel, a semi-arid band of land which runs across Africa, from coast to coast, below the Sahara Desert. The desert landscape is made up of endless stretches of sand dunes that shift in the hot winds and broad plains covered with gravel and stones. Within the Sahara, north of the 17th parallel, the Aïr Mountains rise sharply above the desert floor, at an average altitude between 500 and 900m. They form an island of Sahel climate which supports a wide variety of life, many pastoral and farming communities, and dramatic geological and archaeological sites.

1511 NIGER - The Djado Plateau and its forts (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

The Djado Plateau lies in northeastern Niger, and it is known for its cave art (often of large mammals long since absent from the area), but is now largely uninhabited, with abandoned towns and forts still standing and visible. The forts are the first architectural elements made from stone and clay in this area, found also in Tichitt Walata in Mauritania, and symbolize the first civilizations organized on the period of desiccation of the Sahara. There is no certainty about who were the founders of the settlement, but at some point the Kanouri people occupied it, they being the last inhabitants of the oasis. The reasons for the abandon aren't clear; it could be frequent raids in the area or the sickly amount of mosquitoes. Today the area is dominated by the Toubou people, who take care of the palm gardens.