{{Short description|Ghost town in Niger}} {{For|the plateau|Djado Plateau}} '''Djado''' is a commune and ghost town located in the department of Bilma in Niger. The settlement lies on the plateau with the same name. The local name of the abandoned city is '''Brao'''.<ref name = Lewicki/> thumb|right|The ruined city of Djado, with nomadic women gathered in the foreground. October 1989.
== Geography == The former Djado is located in an oasis, in the northeastern part of Ténéré Desert. The Ténéré Desert is considered part of the Sahara Desert. It is located on the southeastern end of the Djado plateau. For the administration, there's also a modern-day commune called Djado. The modern-day commune also comprises the Menfueni plateau and the Thchigai plateau. Modern-day Djado is the northernmost and easternmost commune in Niger. To the north, it borders Algeria and Libya, to the east, it lies on the border to Chad. Neighboing communes in Niger are Dirkou to the south, Fachi to the southeast, and Iférouane to the west.<ref name = Lewicki>{{cite web|title=Carte de référence: Niger – Région de Agadez|periodical=|publisher=REACH|url=https://www.impact-repository.org/document/reach/3d334d45/reach_ner_map_agadez_region_ref_mars2018_a0_0.pdf|url-status=|format=PDF|access-date=2021-03-28|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=2018-03-21|year=|language=fr|pages=|quote=}}</ref>
There are three villages in the commune: Chirfa, Séguédine, and Yaba. In addition, there are the nomad camps of Djado and Tchounouk, as well as military camps.<ref name="ReNaLoc">{{cite web|title=Répertoire National des Localités (ReNaLoc)|periodical=|publisher=Institut National de la Statistique de la République du Niger|url=http://www.stat-niger.org/statistique/file/RENACOM/RENALOC_Niger_733.rar|url-status=|format=RAR|access-date=2015-08-07|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=July 2014|year=|language=fr|pages=8|quote=}}</ref> The main settlement is the village Chirfa.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Loi n° 2002-014 du 11 JUIN 2002 portant création des communes et fixant le nom de leurs chefs-lieux |date=2002-06-11 |publisher=République du Niger}}</ref>
The ruins of Djado are on top of rocky cliffs. At the bottom of these cliffs are subterranean ponds, which also serve as an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. Depending on the season, some of these ponds almost dry up completely. From the cliffs, the Kaouar valley can be reached. There is a desert made of pebbles to the west. Beyond them lie the Aïr Mountains.
== History == left|thumb|Ruins of buildings built of mud. According to the tradition of the local Kanuri, the Sao people founded Djado.{{cn|date=August 2025}} It may also have been founded by Ibadi merchants from Jadu, an important trade down in Jabal Nafusa, southwest of Tripoli, and given the name of their hometown.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lewicki |first1=Tadeusz |title=The Ibádites in Arabia and Africa: Part II. The Ibádites in North Africa and the Sudan to the Fourteenth Century |journal=Journal of World History |date=1971 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=127-8 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1298903297/fulltextPDF/B127054A7BA2430FPQ/1?accountid=13050&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals |access-date=4 August 2025}}</ref>
Djado was part of the kingdom of Sayfema of Kanem-Bornu at least since the reign of Dunama Dibalemi (1203–1243). For part of the time, they were independent, but they re-joined the empire of Idris Alauma (1564–1596). Idris Alauma moved through the desert, from Fachi to Bilma, {{Convert|260|km}} south of Djado.{{cn|date=August 2025}}
As the power of the Bomu empire decreased, the people of the oasis were exposed to several raids of the Touareg, in the 18th and 19th century. They started to leave the place, and settled in Kaouar. Another reason might be that cattle herding in the region also introduced mosquitoes that spread malaria. In 1860, about 1000 Kanuri are said to have been left. In the middle of the 20th century, only a few Kanuri and Toubou were left. They mostly lived from growing dates, and harvesting salt.<ref>{{Cite book |last=S. |first=Vikør, Knut |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1101266162 |title=The oasis of salt : the history of Kawar, a Saharan centre of salt production |date=1999 |publisher=Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies |isbn=1-85065-308-9 |oclc=1101266162}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/518562-Old-Djado-Ruins-of-Niger |title=Old Djado Ruins of Niger |access-date=27 June 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
In 1988 the Dakar Rally passed through Djado.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dakar Retrospective 1979–2007|periodical=|publisher=Amaury Sport Organisation|url=http://www.dakar.com/2009/DAK/presentation/docs/histo_1979_2007_us.pdf|url-status=|format=PDF|access-date=2018-02-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708222829/http://www.dakar.com/2009/DAK/presentation/docs/histo_1979_2007_us.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-08|last=|date=|year=|language=en|pages=|quote=}}</ref>
== World Heritage Status == This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on May 26, 2006, in the Cultural category due to its universal cultural significance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plateau et Fortin du Djado |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5044/ |website=UNESCO |access-date=4 August 2025}}</ref>
== Population == In 2012, 876 people lived in the commune, in 168 households.<ref name="ReNaLoc"/> In 2001, there were 936 people in 202 households.<ref name="RENACOM">{{cite web|title=Répertoire National des Communes (RENACOM)|periodical=|publisher=Institut National de la Statistique|url=http://www.stat-niger.org/statistique/file/RENACOM/RENACOM.rar|url-status=|format=RAR-Datei|access-date=2010-11-08|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=|year=|language=fr|pages=|quote=}}</ref><timeline> Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) ImageSize = width:500 height:auto barincrement:42 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:20 top:5 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1000 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:20 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:16 shift:(-100,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:2001 from:0 till:936 text:936 Residents bar:2012 from:0 till:876 text:876 Residents </timeline>In the main village, there were 208 people in 63 households, in the 2012 census;<ref name="RENACOM"/> In 2001, there were 208 people in 45 households, and in 1998, 260 people in 74 households.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.ceped.org/ireda/inventaire/ressources/ner-1988-rec-o6_repertoire_villages.pdf |title=Recensement Général de la Population 1988: Répertoire National des Villages du Niger |date=March 1991 |publisher=Bureau Central de Recensement, Ministère du Plan, République du Niger |pages=35 |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131200703/https://www.ceped.org/ireda/inventaire/ressources/ner-1988-rec-o6_repertoire_villages.pdf |archive-date=2018-01-31 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
When it comes to harvesting, there are Tubu the area near the ghost town. In the eastern part of the commune, Tedaga and Libyan Arabic are spoken. On the Algerian border, Tahaggart, a Tuareg language, is common.<ref>{{cite web|title=Niger map|periodical=Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Seventeenth edition|publisher=SIL International|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/map/NE|url-status=|format=|access-date=2013-07-18|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=2013|year=|language=en|pages=|quote=}}</ref> Historically the people were sessile, but the current population of the region is mostly nomadic.
== Books ==
* {{Cite book |title=Die geomorphologische Entwicklung des westlichen Murzuk-Beckens, des Djado-Plateaus und des nördlichen Kaouar (Zentrale Sahara) |date=1982 |publisher=Universität Würzburg}} * {{Cite book |title=Nomades noirs du Sahara |date=1957 |publisher=Plon |series=Recherches en sciences humaines}} * {{Cite book |title=Bonjour le Sahara du Niger: Aïr, Ténéré, Kawar, Djado. Guide pour voyageurs curieux |date=1994 |publisher=Les Créations du pélican |isbn=2-9036-9639-X}} * {{Cite book |title=Le Djado: carrefour de la préhistoire saharienne |date=1974 |publisher=Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne}} * {{Cite book |title=Die Zitadelle der vergessenen Christen |date=1992 |pages=157–182 |issue=9}} * {{Cite book |title=Etude de la flore à lycophytes du carbonifère inférieur du Djado (Sahara Oriental) |date=1966 |publisher=Université de Paris}} * {{Cite book |title=Das Djado-Plateau (Niger) und die Felsbilder seiner Enneris |date=2013 |publisher=Beier & Beran |isbn=978-3-941171-97-8}} * {{Cite book |title=Préhistoire du Djado. Le paléolithique moyen de Yat |date=1991 |publisher=Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Université de Niamey}} * {{Cite book |title=Contribution à la connaissance du Nord-Est nigérien: les aspects sociaux et politiques de l’histoire du Kawar, Jado et l'Agram au 19e siècle |date=1989 |publisher=Université de Niamey}} * {{Cite book |title=A Sudanic Chronicle: the Borno Expeditions of Idris Alauma (1564–1576) |date=1987 |publisher=Steiner |isbn=978-3-515-04926-9}} * {{Cite book |title=Le style de Tazina: définition, extension, signification de ses figurations les plus méridionales (Fezzan, Tassili, Djado, Aïr) |date=1988 |pages=179–201 |issue=43}} * {{Cite book |title=Une oasis au Niger. Le Djado |date=1999 |publisher=L’Harmattan |isbn=2-7384-7860-3}} * {{Cite book |url=https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/opus4-wuerzburg/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/4826/file/Sponholz_Sedimentologische_Untersuchungen.pdf|title=Sedimentologische Untersuchungen an Verfüllungen von Silikatkarstformen im Djado und an der Stufe von Bilma (NE-Niger) |date=1990 |volume=Bd. 24 |pages=6–9 |format=PDF |issue=1}}
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:Former populated places in Niger Category:Ghost towns in Africa Category:Archaeological sites in Niger Category:Agadez Region