Birni-N'Konni

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Birni-N'Konni
other_name =Konni


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pushpin_label_position =bottom
pushpin_mapsize = 300
pushpin_map_caption =Location in Niger
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name =‎ flag|Niger
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name1 = Tahoua Region
subdivision_type2 = Department
subdivision_name2 = Bkonni Department
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population_as_of=2008
population_footnotes = [ [http://www.bevoelkerungsstatistik.de/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=de&des=wg&geo=-2655&srt=npan&col=adhoq&msz=1500 www.bevoelkerungsstatistik.de] ]
population_total =57,000
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latd=13|latm=47|lats=|latNS=N
longd=5|longm=15|longs=|longEW=E
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Birni-N'Konni (also Birnin-Konni or shortened to Konni/Bkonni), is a town in Niger, lying on the border of Nigeria and the Kori River. It is an important market town and transport hub and had a population of 44,663 at the 2001 census. The town is the historic center of the small pre-colonial Hausa state of Konni. The name is Hausa language for "Walled Town of Konni", and many Hausa towns (such as Zinder) designate the old citadel neighborhood the "Birni". [E. P. Stebbing. The Encroaching Sahara: The Threat to the West African Colonies. The Geographical Journal, Vol. 85, No. 6 (Jun., 1935), pp. 506-519 ]

Konni is known for its vernacular architecture including traditional granaries and is regarded as a centre for smuggling between Niger and Nigeria, in which some suburbs of the town are officially located. Birni-N'Konni's contemporary importance rests on the surrounding agricultural lands and its place on the main east-west highway linking Niger's capitol Niamey and the nation's main eastern cities of Maradi and Zinder. It also sits astride one of several main routes between the Hausa populated territories of southern Niger and northern Nigeria, with the Nigerian transport and trade center of Illela, Sokoto State just 18 km to the south.

The town was also the site of a major on May 8 1899 when the French Voulet-Chanoine Mission attacked the region.

References

* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/NG/6/Birnin_Konni.html Falling Rain.com entry] .
* Samuel Decalo. Historical Dictionary of Niger (3rd ed.). Scarecrow Press, Boston & Folkestone, (1997) ISBN 0810831368
* Finn Fuglestad. A History of Niger: 1850-1960. Cambridge University Press (1983) ISBN 0521252687
* Jolijn Geels. Niger. Bradt UK/ Globe Pequot Press USA (2006) ISBN 9781841621524