Niger

Sahelian republic independent from France in 1960.

☾ The Coming of Islam

Trans-Saharan trade and the Sahelian states

Islam entered the territory of Niger along the trans-Saharan trade routes and through the influence of neighbouring states — Kanem-Bornu to the east and the Hausa cities to the south — with the Sokoto jihad of the early 19th century consolidating Islam among the Hausa and Fulani.

☾ Religious Composition

An overwhelmingly Sunni-Muslim country

Nigeriens are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, mostly of the Mālikī school, with the Tijāniyya and Qādiriyya Sufi orders widespread and small Christian and traditional-religion minorities.

Demographic shares are approximate.

At a glance