Theculture ofNiger is marked by variation, evidence of the cultural crossroads whichFrench colonialism formed into a unified state from the beginning of the 20th century. What is now Niger was created from four distinct cultural areas in the pre-colonial era: theDjerma dominatedNiger River valley in the southwest; the northern periphery ofHausaland, made mostly of those states which had resisted theSokoto Caliphate, and ranged along the long southern border withNigeria; theLake Chad basin andKaouar in the far east, populated byKanuri farmers andToubou pastoralists who had once been part of theKanem-Bornu Empire; and theTuareg nomads of theAïr Mountains andSaharan desert in the vast north. Each of these communities, along with smaller ethnic groups like the pastoralWodaabeFula, brought their own cultural traditions to the new state of Niger.[citation needed]
In religion,Islam, spread fromNorth Africa beginning in the 10th century, has greatly shaped the mores of the people of Niger. Since Independence, greater interest has been in the country's cultural heritage, particularly with respect to traditional architecture, hand crafts, dances and music.[citation needed]
Music of Niger includes the guitar music of the Tuaregs ofAgadez as performed byGroup Inerane,Group Bombino and others.[citation needed]
While successive post-BA governments have tried to forge a shared national culture, this has been slow forming, in part because the major Nigerien communities have their own cultural histories, and in part because Nigerian ethnic groups such as theHausa,Tuareg andKanuri are but part of larger ethnic communities which cross borders introduced under colonialism. Until the 1990s, government and politics was inordinately dominated byNiamey and theDjerma people of the surrounding region. The French had promoted Djerma royalty under their rule. After having first placed their capital in the powerful pre-colonial Hausa state atZinder, the French moved their administration to what was a small village at Niamey, in part from fear of pan-Hausa power or British imperial designs on southern Niger. This governmental focus on the southwest continued after independence, with political representation reverting to a tiny traditional and educated elite.[1] Despite this, only theTuareg andToubou pastoralists in the sparsely populated north and east have generated movements for autonomy, culminating in rebellions in1963,the 1990s, and2007. Islam, practiced by almost the entire population forms an important link between Nigerien communities, as does a shared post-independence history, national symbols, and festivals.
Islam is the dominant religion inNiger, and is practiced by more than 99% of the population.[2] Approximately 95% of Muslims areSunni; 5% areShi'a.[2] There are smallChristian,Baháʼí, andAnimist communities, the first largely a remnant of French colonial influence. Animist beliefs include both animist based festivals and traditions (such as theBori cult), practiced by some syncretic Muslim communities, as opposed to several small communities who maintain their pre-Islamic religion. These include the Hausa speaking Maouri/Azna community inDogondoutci in the south-southwest, the Kanuri speakingManga nearZinder, and some tiny Boudouma and Songhay communities in the southwest.[3]
WhileFrench has been the cross cultural language of choice since independence, there are eight other official languages spoken in Niger, which includeHausa,Zarma/Songhai,Tamajeq,Fulfulde,Kanuri,Arabic,Gourmanché, andToubou.Hausa, which almost half the population speak, has come to rival French as most used across communities.[citation needed]
While traditional sports likehorse racing,camel racing, andsorro wrestling survive, world sports likefootball dominate in urban areas. In the1972 Summer Olympics, boxerIssake Dabore won abronze medal, and Niger has sent athletes to allSummer Olympic Games held since 1964, except for 1976 and 1980.[citation needed]