Keita (Niger)

Region

Keita (also: Keïta ) is a town and the capital of the eponymous department Keita in Niger.

Geography

Keita is located in the Sahel region east of the regional capital of Tahoua. The neighboring municipalities are Tabalak Keita in the north, Ibohamane in the east, the south and Garhanga Kalfou and Tamaské in the West. The municipality is divided into three districts, 47 administrative villages, a traditional village and hamlet nine. The Neighborhoods hot Idewaran, Lissawan and Moulela. Lissawan is named after that Tuareg clan, who held the traditional rule in Keita. Moulela is a word of the Tuareg language and means " self-reliance ". Moulela was the residential area of ​​former subordinates of the Tuareg.

History

The French colonial administration made ​​the dominated by the Tuareg place in 1904 as the seat of a canton of the same name, from 1913, the Hausa - dominated cantons Garhanga and Tamaské were removed. 1917 attacked rebel Tuareg, who operated from the Italian-occupied Libya, Keita. The canton chief Afadandan Ichawa Keita was killed and looted. The attack led to a successful counter-offensive of the French.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Keita developed by rising population figures from a village to a small town. In 1964, the independent Niger, Keita became the capital of a sub-prefecture, later Department Keita and beat off by neighboring Tamaské, who owned a large regional importance mainly as a market town. The territory of Keita has been extended to parts of the dissolved canton Keita 2002.

Population

In the 1977 census, Keita had 3,572 inhabitants in the census in 1988 6,644 inhabitants in the 2001 census 8,306 inhabitants. For the year 2010 56.002 inhabitants were, after the enlargement of the municipal area is calculated. Besides Tuareg and Fulani Hausa also live in the city.

Economy and infrastructure

The city is located at the junction of the zone of Agropastoralismus of the North to the zone of rain -fed agriculture of the South. By Keita National Road 16, which connects the village with the towns Bouza, Madaoua and Tahoua runs. Keita is the seat of the Tribunal d' Instance, one of the nation's 30 civil courts, which is below the ten civil courts of first instance (Tribunal de Grande Instance ) are. In the city there is a local citizen radio (radio communautaire). One of the biggest infrastructural problems in the city include the extremely poor medical care. In addition, 46 % of the population have no access to drinking water.

Sister City

With Pesaro in Italy is twinned since 1987.

Personalities

• Aïchatou Boulama Kané (* 1955), politician, Governor of Niamey