Karma, Niger

Region

Karma is a rural municipality in the department of co-location in Niger.

Geography

Karma is located in the Sahel region and is situated in a plateau with wide valleys along the river Niger. The municipality is bordered on the southeast by the capital Niamey. The other neighboring municipalities are Kourteye the northwest, Simiri in the north, Hamdallaye in the east, the south and Bitinkodji Namaro in the southwest. The municipality is divided into 40 administrative villages, nine traditional villages, 58 hamlets, seven bearings and the river island Karma Goungou. The main town of the rural community is the administrative village karma.

History

The municipality is the village of Boubon, which was already founded in 1430 by a group of Songhai. After the fall of the Songhai Oak's 1591 Karma was one of those places in present-day Niger, at which Songhai refugees settled under a descendant of the former ruling dynasty Askia. In the 17th century Zarma populated the place. In the 19th century karma was affected by raids from the Zarma N'Dounga. The French colonial administration set up in 1906 a canton in a Karma. The rural community of Karma was founded in 2002 at a nationwide administrative reform from the dissolved Canton Karma forth. When the floods in West and Central Africa 2010 15.014 inhabitants of Karma were classified as disaster victims. Karma, making it the second-most affected by the disaster community Namaro of Niger.

Population

At the 2001 census, Karma had 51,449 inhabitants. For the year 2010 71.843 inhabitants were calculated. In karma of the Zarma dialect Kaado is spoken.

Economy and infrastructure

The municipality is located in a zone is operated in the rain-fed agriculture. By Karma the National Road 1, coming towards the state border runs from Niamey to Mali runs.