Niger Departments

Under the eight regions of Niger sit 67 departments, from the city of Maradi, which fits in 74 square kilometres, to Bilma, in the Ténéré desert, which is larger than the United Kingdom. This is the full list, grouped by the region each one belongs to.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: Region: all 8
In the game: 67 departments

Start

What you are looking at

The departments of Niger, the second tier of the country. Most are named for their chief town, which is also how people name them, so Tahoua, Dosso and Gaya are each a town and a department at once.

Niger has 63 departments, and the file also draws the four cities with a special status (Niamey, Maradi, Tahoua and Zinder) as areas of their own, cut out of the territory round them. All 67 are in the game, and the four cities are named with "(city)" after them so that Tahoua the department and Tahoua (city) can be told apart. They are the smallest answers on the map, and the game gives them tap areas.

The map is very uneven. The south is carved into small departments side by side, and the north is three huge ones in Agadez: Bilma, Iferouane and Arlit hold most of the Sahara, each many times the size of a southern department.

The groups are the regions, so the game lets you drill them one at a time. Each region answers under the same name in Niger Regions.

How to place one

Pick one region and learn it. Diffa and Agadez, with six departments each, are the shortest.
Find the four cities. They sit inside Tillabéri, Tahoua, Maradi and Zinder, as tap areas.
Follow the border with Nigeria. The southern departments of Dosso, Tahoua, Maradi and Zinder run in a row from west to east.
Treat the north as the empty half. Its departments are huge, so they are the quickest to place.

Every department, by region

Tillabéri13 departments: Abala, Ayerou, Balleyara, Banibangou, Bankilaré, Filingué, Gothèye, Kollo, Ouallam, Say, Téra, Tillabéri, Torodi
Agadez6 departments: Aderbissinat, Arlit, Bilma, Iferouane, Ingall, Tchirozerine
Tahoua13 departments: Abalak, Bagaroua, Birni N'Konni, Bouza, Illéla, Keita, Madaoua, Malbaza, Tahoua, Tahoua (city), Tassara, Tchintabaraden, Tillia
Dosso8 departments: Boboye, Dioundiou, Dogondoutchi, Dosso, Falmey, Gaya, Loga, Tibiri
Zinder11 departments: Belbedji, Damagaram Takaya, Dungass, Gouré, Kantché, Magaria, Mirriah, Takeita, Tanout, Tesker, Zinder (city)
Maradi9 departments: Aguié, Bermo, Dakoro, Gazaoua, Guidan Roumdji, Madarounfa, Maradi (city), Mayahi, Tessaoua
Diffa6 departments: Bosso, Diffa, Goudoumaria, Maïné Soroa, N'Gourti, N'Guigmi
Niamey1 department: Niamey (city)

Worked examples

Bilma

The biggest of them

Bilma is the largest answer on the map, nearly 280,000 square kilometres of the Ténéré desert in the east of Agadez region, with an oasis town of salt works at its centre.

Maradi (city)

The smallest of them

The city of Maradi is about 74 square kilometres inside Maradi region, small enough to need a tap area on the map.

Niamey (city)

The capital

Niamey is both a region and a city on the map, a few hundred square kilometres on the river inside Tillabéri.

Frequently asked questions

How many departments does Niger have?

63 departments, and 67 areas on this map, which adds the four cities with a special status: Niamey, Maradi, Tahoua and Zinder.

Why are the cities their own areas?

Niamey, Maradi, Tahoua and Zinder are communes with a special status, and the boundary file draws each as its own area cut out of the surrounding territory.