Djado

Djado is a ghost town located in the department of Bilma in Niger.

The former Djado is located in an oasis, in the northeastern part of Ténéré Desert.

Neighboing communes in Niger are Dirkou to the south, Fachi to the southeast, and Iférouane to the west.

At the bottom of these cliffs are subterranean ponds, which also serve as an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.

These two characteristics seem to point to a people that was sessile, but the current population of the region is mostly nomadic.

Djado was part of the kingdom of Sayfema of Kanem-Bornu at least since the reign of Dunama Dibalemi (1203–1243).

Idris Alauma moved through the desert, from Fachi to Bilma, 260 kilometres (160 mi) south of Djado.

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.

Another reason might be that cattle herding in the region also introduced mosquitoes that spread malaria.

[5] In 2014, gold was discovered, which attracted up to 20.000 people from Niger, Chad, Libya and Sudan.