Geography and Natural Resources
Niger is Mostly desert, which means it is mostly a hot, dry, and dusty colony. The terrain is mainly desert plains with sand dunes, in the south there are flat plains and in the north there are hills. all together, Niger is approximately 1.267 million sq km in area. Natural resources include; uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, molybdenum, gypsum, salt, petroleum. All of which the French processed/extracted from the land. This colony happens to be one of the hottest countries in the world. 4/5 parts of the northern area is desert and in the southern parts, 1/5 is savanna (suitable for livestock and very limited agriculture). There are re-occurring droughts, overgrazing (with livestock), soil erosion, and deforestation. The land is practically barren, but not what was beneath the ground. Niger is in Western Africa, and is southeast of Algeria. This is one of the poorest countries in the world. It has minimal government services and has insufficient funds to develop a resource base. The economy of Niger is dependent upon agriculture, but these plan are frequently destroyed by the long droughts. This country, to me, didn't sound like it would be too successful of a colony.
Map: Niger
Daily Life
The three most dominant ethnic groups are the Hausa, Yoruba, and the Igbo. These and the rest of the groups previously belonged to their own "countries" before The Berlin Conference. This caused great tension between the tries in the new territories because of their religious differences. This wasn't necessarily bad for the Europeans though, since they wouldn't have to fight as many Africans when the time for imperilization was around. English...that's right, not french....is the main language for Niger. Since the British came over to Africa and introduced missionaries and schools, English has become the national language and many people have lost their connection to their own heritage. Every tribe and ethnic group ha a tale as to how they got where they are. These stories include descending from the gods of thunder, and even migrating from other places. Archeaologists have found evidence that Neolithic humans have inhabited Niger every since 12,000 B.C.E. regular civilians started to become worried about imperialization and assimilation, so they began movements to promote foods, dress, languages, and religions so they didn't lose their culture. In Niger, there is more face paint and warrior type clothing for both the women and the men. feathers and furs adorn the clothing so it provides more protection. pictures of the normal traditional dress will be below.
Imperialism Strikes
The french invaded Nigeria and immediately started forcing them to assimilate with their culture. One of the few good things that France brought over with them was technology. They brought the wheel, and plenty of other production machines. the next is completely rerunning the system of society (function wise). They brought plenty of ideas to improve on public safety, sanitation, formal education, hospitals, and clean water. France helped improve world economies. By having so many colonies and different markets, France was able to have a bigger better global market where they will have more connection and interactions. Slavery was one of the many bad things about the Imperialistic era. The Africans were forced to be shipped off, never to see their families again. The next is boundaries. Nobody was allowed to leave the country unless you asked France so that prevented people from migrating somewhere else. If this was allowed, people would move out of the country so that they can live with their religion in peace.