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| Camels in Niger |
They
are both nations in Africa, but Niger is a bit larger in size, much
smaller in population, poorer, and drier.
Niger is landlocked,
whereas Nigeria has coastal land and access to the Atlantic Ocean.
Niger is 80% Sahara Desert, with the rest of its lands in constant
danger of drought, but Nigeria has varied biomes that include tropical rainforests, plains, and mangrove swamps.
Why
are the two nations so similar in name? They are both named after the
Niger River, which runs through these and other African countries.
In
Niger, the official language is French, and people are called
Nigeriens.
In
Nigeria, the official language is English, and people are called
Nigerians.
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| Apparently, the Nigeriens made a bonfire out of guns! |
Concord
Day marks the anniversary of the 1995 signing of a peace agreement
between the Nigerien government and some rebel forces. When the final
peace agreement was signed and the Nigerien civil war was finally
over, people celebrated by burning weapons in a “Flame of Peace.”
What
will you be when you grow up?
Although
Niger has some resources, such as uranium, gold and perhaps oil, most
of its people are either subsistence farmers (people who grow their
own food but have almost no food left over to sell to others) or
nomadic livestock-raisers. I was shocked to read that close to 8% of
the population is enslaved people! Just like the enslaved
peoples of long ago, they are in forced-work situations, and they can
be bought or sold.
Niger
is not the only country that still struggles with slavery. A
horrifying number of African countries have “hereditary
servitude”—which is another way of saying slavery. It's
horrifying, isn't it?
Did
you know about the Green Sahara?
For
the past 70 THOUSAND years (a long time!), the Sahara Desert has
been...well, a giant desert, just about the way it is today. But about
12,000 years ago, a “wobble” in the Earth's axis caused a
different rainfall pattern. For thousands of years, seasonal monsoons
(rainstorms) came to an area of the Sahara that was roughly the size of
the U.S.—and a moist, lush region was created.
We
know about this period because we have found animal and human remains
that tell us about it. Herds of ostriches, giraffes, and
elephants, and perhaps even domesticated cattle, all lived alongside humans in this
not-desert Sahara, which scientists have dubbed “Green Sahara.”
Read about a discovery of scores of human skeletons here.
Also
on this date:
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