In-Gall

In-Gall ("Also: In Gall, I-n-Gall, In-Gal, Ingal, Ingall") is a town in the Agadez Department of northeast Niger, with a year-round population of less than 500.

Known for its oasis and salt flats, In-Gall is the gathering point for the Cure Salee festival of Tuareg and Wodaabe pastoralists to celebrate the end of the rainy season each September. During the festival, InGall's population grows to several thousand nomads, officials, and tourists.

InGall had been a stop on the main roads between the capital of Niger, Niamey (600 km to the southwest), and the mining town of Arlit (200 km to the northeast, 150 km from the Algerian border) or the provincial capital Agadez (100 km to the east). In the 1970s, the main road was repaved to transport uranium from the French-owned mines in Arlit, but the new road bypassed InGall, ending its use as a waystation. Since then, its population has dropped from almost 5,000 to less than 500.

During the Tuareg insurgency of the 1990s, InGall was a prime fortification of the Niger armed forces, and when peace was concluded in 2000 the old fort was reportedly abandoned. [ [http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/AD_Issues/amdipl_17/letters/nigerltr1.html http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/AD_Issues/amdipl_17/letters/nigerltr1.html] ]

Location:

Latitude 16.7861 Longitude 6.9336 Altitude (feet) 1499 Lat (DMS) 16° 47' 10N Long (DMS) 6° 56' 1E Altitude (meters) 456 Time zone (est) UTC+1Approximate population for 7 km radius from this point: 159 [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/NG/1/Ingal.html http://www.fallingrain.com/world/NG/1/Ingal.html] ]

Description

"InGall, an oasis town in a semi-desert zone that forms the gateway to the Sahara. InGall is a conglomeration of mud houses, whose gardens, in contrast to the barren landscape in which the town is set, are filled with fruit trees and vegetable patches."

[ [http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,10325-1168679,00.html Iain Gately, "Sunday Times", 2004.] ]

Dinosaurs

In-Gall is also famous to outsiders for its paleontological digs, most notably the Jobaria tiguidensis, and the remains of petrified forests dating back 135 million years. [See The Dinosaurs of InGall [http://www.projectexploration.org/niger2000/feature_12_03_2000_e.htm http://www.projectexploration.org/niger2000/feature_12_03_2000_e.htm] ]

Urainium Mining

In 2004, a Canadian corporation was granted a government license to mine for uranium in the area. Northwestern Mineral Ventures was awarded the Irhazer and Ingall concessions, each 2,000 km². (772 square miles) in size. Mines will reportedly be "open pit" strip mines. [ [http://www.stockinterview.com/nwt.html http://www.stockinterview.com/nwt.html] ]

References

*Samuel Decalo. Historical Dictionary of Niger. Scarecrow Press, London and New Jersey (1979). ISBN 0810812290
* Jolijn Geels. Niger. Bradt London and Globe Pequot New York (2006). ISBN 1841621528.
* [http://www.palinstravels.co.uk/book-2141 Michael Palin's Travel entry for Ingall]
* [http://www.projectexploration.org/niger2000/9_26_2000.htm description of the town during the Cure Salee festival of 2000.]
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/NG/1/Ingal.html http://www.fallingrain.com/world/NG/1/Ingal.html] for rainfall charts and local area maps.

Other Links

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Ingall+Niger&num=10&ie=UTF8&hl=en&near=&f=l&om=1&z=14&ll=16.781616,6.932888&spn=0.032788,0.054846&t=h&iwloc=A Google Earth Location ]
* [http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Africa/Niger/East/Agadez/ trekearth.com Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.4cornersclub.com/local/image.php?ID=2863&Country=128 Photo of Tuareg men at Ingal Market]
* [http://www.bourlingueurs.com/niger/index.htm photographs of the InGall market taken by members of a French aid convoy in 2003.]