Dirkou

Dirkou Dirki
—  Commune  —
Dirkou Location in Niger
Coordinates: 19°2′N 12°54′E / 19.033°N 12.9°E / 19.033; 12.9Coordinates: 19°2′N 12°54′E / 19.033°N 12.9°E / 19.033; 12.9
Country	Niger
Region	Agadez Region
Department	Bilma Department
Commune	Dirkou
Elevation	1,601 ft (487 m)
Time zone	WAT (UTC+1)
[1]

Dirkou is a town in the Bilma Department, Agadez Region of north-eastern Niger. It lies in the northern Kaouar escarpment, a north-south line of cliffs which form an isolated oasis in the Sahara desert.

The town is just south of Séguédine, and around 90 km north of Departmental capital Bilma. While isolated in modern Niger, it once lay on the important central soudan route of the Trans-Saharan trade which linked coastal Libya and the Fezzan to the Kanem-Bornu Empire near Lake Chad. Its population is made up primarily of traditionally sedentary Kanuri people, as well as semi-nomadic Tuareg and Tubu people.^[2][3]

Transport

The town is served by Dirkou Airport.

References

1. ^ Dirkou, Niger Page. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. 1996-2004
2. ^ Decalo, Samuel (1997). Historical Dictionary of the Niger (3rd ed.). Boston & Folkestone: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810831368. 
3. ^ Geels, Jolijn (2006). Niger. Chalfont St Peter, Bucks / Guilford, CT: Bradt UK / Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 9781841621524.