Tamou is a village and "Rural commune" in

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 ...

. The town is capital of its Rural Commune in the Say Department of

Tillabéri Region Tillabéri (var. ''Tillabéry'') is one of the seven regions of Niger. The capital of the region is Tillabéri. Tillabéri Region was created in 1992, when Niamey Region was split, with Niamey and its immediate hinterland becoming a new ''capital ...

, in the far southwest of the nation. It is southwest of

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 ...

, on the right (western) bank of the Niger River, between the departmental capital Say and the border of

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

. Tamou Commune is home to the Tamou Total Reserve, a wildlife reserve which is part of the larger

W National Park The W National Park () or W Regional Park () is a major national park in West Africa around a meander in the Niger River shaped like the letter W (). The park includes areas of the three countries Niger, Benin and Burkina Faso, and is governed b ...

and Transborder Reserve. The Tamou Reserve, in which local people also live, is primarily dedicated to the protection of

African Elephant African elephants are members of the genus ''Loxodonta'' comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant (''L. africana'') and the smaller African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''). Both are social herbivores with grey skin. ...

populations which migrate through the region. As of 2012, it had a population of 89,782.

Notable people

* Diouldé Laya, sociologist

References

Communes of Tillabéri Region {{Niger-geo-stub