Agadez
Agadez
(äg'ädĕz`) orAgadès
(ägädĕs`), town (1988 pop. 50,164), W central Niger, in the Aïr Massif. Agadez is a trade center visited by TuaregTuaregor Touareg
, Berbers of the Sahara, numbering c.2 million. They have preserved their ancient alphabet, which is related to that used by ancient Libyans.
..... Click the link for more information. pastoral nomads. Leather and silver handicrafts are made. Tin, tungsten, uranium, and salt are mined nearby. Founded by the 11th cent., Agadez developed because of its location on trans-Saharan caravan routes linking Egypt and Libya with the Lake Chad area. Agadez was held by the MaliMali
, officially Republic of Mali, independent republic (2015 est. pop. 17,468,000), 478,764 sq mi (1,240,000 sq km), the largest country in W Africa. Mali is bordered on the north by Algeria, on the east and southeast by Niger, on the south by Burkina Faso and Côte
..... Click the link for more information. empire during part of the 14th cent., captured by the SonghaiSonghai
or Songhay
, largest of the former empires in the western Sudan region of N Africa. The state was founded (c.700) by Berbers on the Middle Niger, in what is now central Mali. The rulers accepted Islam c.1000.
..... Click the link for more information. empire in 1515, and controlled by BornuBornu
, former Muslim state, mostly in NE Nigeria, extending S and W of Lake Chad. It began its existence as a separate state in the late 14th cent. From the 14th to the 18th cent. Bornu exported slaves, eunuchs, fabrics dyed with saffron, and other goods to N Africa.
..... Click the link for more information. in the 17th cent. It remained a trade center until the late 19th cent. During much of this time it was a center of Islamic learning. The French occupied the town in the early 20th cent. Agadez has a 16th-century mosque and a school of mines.
Agadez
city in the Republic of Niger in the Air oasis on the Algiers-Zinder highway. Center of Agadez District. Population in 1962 was 6,900. Airfield.
Agadez is a center of commerce and distribution. There is a ceramic factory. It has a sultan’s palace and mosque of the 16th century. North of Agadez there is mining of tin, tungsten, and rock salt; there are commercial deposits of uranium ore.