Azawagh

The Azawagh (alias Azaouagh or Azawak) is a dry basin covering what is today the northwestern Niger, as well as parts of northeastern Mali and southern Algeria.

[1] The Azawagh is mainly made up of Sahelian and Saharan flatlands and has a population that is predominantly Tuareg, with some Arabic-speaking and Wodaabe minorities and a recent influx of Hausa and Zarma.

[4] The bedrock of the region is Cretaceous/Paleocene limestone and clay, which was cut by erosion and covered by aeolian sand in the Upper Pleistocene.

[5] In ecological terms, the Azawagh basin is divided into, from north to south, a Saharian, a Sahelian and a northern Sudanese (referring to the geographic region) zone.

[4] In Niger, Azawagh generally includes the towns of Abalagh (Abalak), In Tibaraden (Tchin-Tabaraden), Tiliya, In Gal and Tabalaq, a village where the sole lake of the region is located.

The Azawagh Basin and surrounding geographical features, as seen from space. The yellow lines indicate international borders
The Azawagh forms the northeastern sections of the Niger River Basin , although today the Azawagh River is long dry, and the area is fed by seasonal underground rivers at best