Termite massif
| Termite massif | ||
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 Sand dunes and rock islands in the Termit massif |
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| location | Zinder , Niger | |
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| Coordinates | 16 ° 3 ' N , 11 ° 21' E | |
The Termit massif is a mountain range up to 710 m high southeast of the Aïr Mountains on the southern edge of the Sahara in Niger .
Location and characteristics
The Termit massif is located in the municipality of Tesker in the northeast of the Zinder region . Geographically , the Termite massif is located in the western part of the Chad Basin . Here the Sahel zone merges into the Sahara desert. In the north and north-east lie the large sandy deserts of the Ténéré and in the east behind the Tin-Toumma desert, the Grand Erg du Bilma . In the south of the mountains the valley of the Dilia de Lagané, which runs linearly over a length of 200 km, connects . The southern part of the mountains is characterized by rugged, black sandstone formations. In the Gossololom area in the north, individual rock islands of volcanic origin protrude from the ocher-colored sand desert. In the Termite massif, there is precipitation of less than 100 millimeters per year. The dry season lasts from November to May, the rainy season of the West African monsoons lasts from June to September.
In 1989 the Dakar Rally led over the Termit massif. In 2006, Niger proposed to UNESCO that the Termite massif be included in the World Heritage List .
Settlement and cultural history
In the mountains there are isolated settlements of the Tubu ethnic group . The Tubu live here from camel breeding and from the caravan trade , which leads them through the large sandy desert from Bilma to Dirkou .
Numerous archaeological finds have been made in the Termite massif that point to a settlement history going back to the Paleolithic . Among the finds are microliths , quartzite -Tools from the Acheulean and made of volcanic rock Axtrücken. Iron smelting furnaces, graves and rock carvings date from the post- Neolithic period.
Guy Le Rumeur described a voyage of discovery in the Termite massif in his short story L'explorateur n'est pas revenu , which he published in 1944 under the pseudonym Claude Filleux in the anthology L'âme de Sirré Somba and which, this time under his real name, again in 1961 appeared in the anthology L'imprévu dans les dunes .
fauna and Flora
Mendes antelopes and Dama gazelles live in the Termite massif, both of which are threatened with extinction. There are also Dorcas gazelles , fennecs , cheetahs , maned jumpers , jackals , birds and reptiles. In the 1970s, the animal world in the Termite massif was largely intact, but the populations have since declined sharply. The animals are particularly threatened by hunting parties from Dubai and Libya . The flora in the Termit massif includes umbrella acacias , toothbrush trees , panicle millets , grape oats , indigofera ( indigo ) and the shrub Leptadenia pyrotechnica .
literature
- Azizou Maman: Equilibre faune sauvage et élevage des petits ruminants dans la région du massif de Termit (Niger Oriental). Incidence de la prédation par le chacal, sur la productivité numérique des petits ruminants . Faculté d'Agronomie, Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey, Niamey 2006.
- François Paris, Alain Person, Gérard Quéchon, François Saliège: Les débuts de la métallurgie au Niger septentrional. Aïr, Azawagh, Ighazer, Termit . In: Journal des Africanistes . Vol. 62, No. 2 , 1992, ISSN 0399-0346 , pp. 55-68 ( persee.fr ).
Web links
- Massif de Termit . UNESCO Center du patrimoine mondial (French).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Jolijn Geels: Niger . Bradt, Chalfont St Peter 2006, ISBN 1-84162-152-8 , pp. 224-226.
- ↑ Dakar Retrospective 1979–2007. (PDF) Amaury Sport Organization, archived from the original on July 8, 2011 ; accessed on February 14, 2018 (English).
- ↑ a b c Entry in the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage in French , accessed on February 5, 2012.
- ^ A b Jean-Paul Labourdette, Dominique Auzias: Niger 2009 . Nouvelle édition de l'Université, Paris 2009, ISBN 2-7469-1640-1 , pp. 153 .
- ^ Daniel Mignot, Jean-Dominique Pénel: Le Niger dans la littérature française . In: Marie-Clotilde Jacquey (ed.): Littérature nigérienne (= Notre librairie . No. 107 ). CLEF, Paris 1991, p. 28 .