Thus, our limited outsider observations are that most Nigeriens, including Zarma and Dendi speakers, refer to the dialect in the region around Tera, which is called Kaado in the linguistic literature, simply
as Songhay. All Southern Songhay dialects spoken in Mali are also called Songhay, but the Eastern dialect with which Nigeriens have the most contact is usually distinguished by Nigeriens as
the speech of Gao, while they use the term Songhay to refer to the dialect spoken in Niger.
1.2 Population
All population figures are estimates, and the estimates from different sources vary. The Recensement Général de la Population 1988 RGP 88 reports that 22.9 of the total population of Niger speak
principally the national language Djerma-sonraï. As of May, 1988 this would amount to about 1,660,000 people. Vanderaa 1991 breaks this category down by ethnic group. Applying Vanderaas
proportions to the 1996 World Almanacs total population estimate for Niger of 9,280,208 yields the figures in Table 1.2 which total to 2,042,000 native speakers of Southern Songhay dialects in Niger.
Estimates for numbers of speakers of these dialects in neighboring countries are taken from the Ethnologue 1996.
Table 1.2 Populations of speakers of Southern Songhay dialects Mali
Niger Burkina Faso
Benin Nigeria
Songhay W, E, C, K
600,000 W, E, C
489,000 K, E
122,700 C, K
Kurtey 44,100
Wogo
28,800
Zarma 1,427,000
600 some
50,000
Dendi 53,100
30,000 a few
Western, Eastern, Central, Kaado as listed in Section 1.1
1.3 Accessibility and transport 1.3.1 Roads: quality and availability
Paved roads offer year-round access to the larger cities throughout Niger see Map 2. National Route 1 N1 is very smooth from Niamey northwest all the way to Ayorou. Reliable access to Tera is via a
ferry just off of N1 61 km north of Niamey. The ferry crosses the river westward on the hour and eastward on the half-hour from 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. From the ferry, its a 2-hour drive to Tera on N4
which was paved in 1997. The laterite road from Tillaberi east to Ouallam was in good condition when we used it. N24, between Niamey and Ouallam was rough. N25, between Niamey and Filingue,
is well-paved. N1 from Niamey to Dosso is paved and is probably the most heavily traveled stretch of road in the country as it carries all of the traffic to and from eastern Niger, Nigeria and Benin. N14 is
another laterite road, typically washboarded, going north from Dosso. N7 is well paved from Dosso south to Gaya. A good bridge crosses the Niger River into Benin just south of Gaya, and there is
constant traffic to and from the coast on a paved road. Access to the extreme southwestern part of Niger is via the Kennedy Bridge in Niamey, by which one can access N6, a paved road which
continues on to Burkina Faso and, eventually, Abidjan.
Reaching villages off of the paved roads in the Songhay, Zarma, and Dendi regions did not pose any major difficulties during the dry season. Since donkey carts are commonly used to carry goods to and
from market, there are paths to every village we tried to visit which are easily accessible to 4-wheel- drive vehicles. It appears that much of the region north of Tera would not be regularly accessible to
light vehicles during the rainy season.
1.3.2 Public transport systems
From the Ecco Gare, near Wadata in Niamey, one can take a bush taxi to any destination on a paved road. Each taxi leaves when it is full. There are also some taxis which make weekly trips from the
larger towns to some villages off of improved roads. A heavy truck travels from Tera to Dolbel every Thursday.
Map 2 Major population centers, roads, etc.
Source: Institut Géographique National du Niger and Institut Géographique National - France. 1993. NIGER : Carte Générale 1 : 2 000 000. Niamey.
1.4 Religious situation
