This village near Tahoua, in southwestern Niger, shows typical Hausa architecture: cube like houses of banco (a mixture of earth and vegetal fibres), alongside imposing ovoid-shaped grain storehouses. The Hausa people, who make up 53 percent of the country’s population, are farmers, but they are most renowned for their craftwork and trade. The Hausa city-states in northern Nigeria have had commerce with numerous African countries for several centuries. Today the region of Tahoua is crossed by a road that leads northward, commonly called the “uranium route.” A vein of uranium was discovered in 1965 in the ground below the Air Massif, and mines in the northern town of Arlit yield nearly 3,000 tons of uranium each year, or about 10 percent of the world output, making Niger the third world producer.

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