Zermou is a town 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 ...
.
Geography
Zermou is located in the
Sahel region. The average annual rainfall is around 350 millimeters. Zermou's neighbouring municipalities are
Mazamni to the north,
Guidimouni to the east,
Hamdara to the south-east,
Mirriah
Mirriah is a town and urban Communes of Niger, commune in Niger.
Geography
Mirriah is located in the Sahel region, around 20 kilometres from the regional capital of Zinder. Mirriah's neighbouring municipalities are Gaffati to the north-west, Zer ...
to the south-west and
Gaffati
Gaffati is a village and rural commune in the Mirriah Department of the Zinder Region 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 ...
to the west. The settlements in the municipality include 85 villages, 27 hamlets and 4 camps. The main town of the rural municipality is the village of Zermou.
History
Sultan Ibrahim dan Sélimane of
Zinder, who ruled from 1822 to 1841 and from 1843 to 1850, encouraged
Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...
from the
Aïr to settle in his sultanate. He made land available to their enslaved farmers, the
Ikelan, near the villages of Zermou, Baban Tapki, Dogo, Droum and Gouna. At the end of the 19th century, the markets of Zermou and other villages in the region provided the important Zinder-based trader Malan Yaroh with the handicrafts, furs, animal skins and henna he needed for the
trans-Saharan trade. The Zermou market was one of the small markets in the region that were authorised by the French administration at the beginning of the 20th century. The British travel writer
A. Henry Savage Landor visited the village in 1906 during his twelve-month crossing of Africa.
The rural municipality of Zermou emerged from the canton of Zermou in 2002 as part of a nationwide administrative reform.
Demographics
In the 2012 census, the municipality had 32,486 inhabitants. The village of Zermou had 3,212 inhabitants.
In ethnic terms, the municipality is a settlement area of
Damagarawa and
Ikelan. Most inhabitants speak the
Hausa language
Hausa (; / ; Hausa Ajami, Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken primarily by the Hausa people in the northern parts of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern parts of Niger, and Chad, with significant minorities in Ivory Coas ...
. In addition,
Fulbe, who practise
nomadism
Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, Nomadic pastoralism, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and Merchant, trader nomads. In the twentieth century, ...
and
transhumance
Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or Nomad, nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and low ...
, move through the municipality with their herds of cattle.
Economy
The majority of the rural community consists of sandy soils on which millet is grown. The rockier parts of Zermous are used for grazing. The unfavourable soil conditions, combined with low rainfall, have led to recurring famines for generations.
References
{{Authority control
Communes of Niger