The Igdalen are closely related to Idaksahak people of eastern Mali and the Sawaq of Ingal in Niger, with whom they share a very similar language.
[2] There are an estimated 27,000 Igdalen,[1] and are centered on Tanout and Tchin Tabaraden in northern Niger, although seasonal transhumance with livestock take them well north and south.
[2] The Igdalen do not form a single political or tribal group, but factions are through recent history attached to at least two aristocratic Tuareg tribes.
[2] The Igdalen are believed to have been among the first Berber people to move into the area, before large Tuareg groups migrated from the 11th to the 16th centuries CE.
It is believed that Igdalen came to the Niger river valley from Morocco by the 11th century, moving up towards the Aïr Mountains.