View source for Ténéré

{{for|the motorcycles|List of Yamaha motorcycles}}
{{distinguish|Tenerife}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Ténéré
| native_name             = ''Tiniri''
| native_name_lang        = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| settlement_type         = [[Desert]]
| image_skyline           =Fachi-Bilma-Dünen.jpg
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| image_caption           =A dune sea ([[Erg (landform)|Erg]]) between [[Fachi]] and [[Bilma]].
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| image_map               =Tenere Air park map.png
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| map_caption             =Map of the [[Ténéré - Aïr Natural Reserve]] area.
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| subdivision_type        = Countries
| subdivision_name        = [[Niger]] and [[Chad]]
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| area_total_km2          = 400000
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| elevation_m             = 430
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The '''Ténéré''' ([[Tuareg languages|Tuareg]]: '''Tenere''', literally: "desert") is a [[desert]] region in south central [[Sahara]]. It comprises a vast plain of [[sand]] stretching from northeastern [[Niger]] to western [[Chad]], occupying an area of over {{convert|400,000|km2|sqmi}}. The Ténéré's boundaries are said to be the [[Aïr Mountains]] in the west, the [[Hoggar Mountains]] in the north, the [[Djado Plateau]] in the northeast, the [[Tibesti Mountains]] in the east, and the basin of [[Lake Chad]] in the south. The central part of the desert, the [[Erg du Bilma]], is centred at approximately {{Coord|17|35|N|10|55|E}}. It is the locus of the [[Neolithic]] [[Tenerian culture]].
==Name==
The name ''Ténéré'' comes from the [[Tuareg languages|Tuareg]] language, meaning "desert", in much the same way as the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word for "desert", ''[[Sahara]]'', came to be applied to the region as a whole.<ref>Decalo, p.222. Geels and other sources give the [[Tamasheq]] meaning as "''Desert beyond the  desert''".</ref>
==Climate==
The Ténéré has a [[hot desert climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''BWh''), typical of the large [[Sahara Desert]]. The climate is hyper-arid, extremely hot, sunny and dry year-round and there is virtually no plant life. The average high temperatures are above 40 °C (104 °F) for about 5 months and more in the hottest regions, and record high temperatures as high as 50 °C (122 °F) are highly possible during summer. The annual average high temperature is around 35 °C (95 °F). During "winter" months, the average high temperatures stay above 25 °C (77 °F) and generally hover around 30 °C (86 °F).
The annual precipitation amount is extremely low—one of the lowest annual rainfall amounts found on Earth—around 10 mm (0.39 in) to 15 mm (0.59 in), and frequently several years may pass without seeing any rainfall at all. Water is notoriously difficult to find, even underground, and wells may be hundreds of miles apart.
The sunshine duration is also one of the highest results on the planet at around 4,000 hours, that is about 91% of the daylight hours between sunrise and sunset. This part of the Sahara Desert has one of the harshest climates in the world. According to a [[NASA]] study, the sunniest spot in the world would be a ruined fort in [[Agadem]] in the southeastern Ténéré, and has even clearer skies than the polar deserts overall. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-dec-17-ft-climate17-story.html|title=Mapping a path to solar power|first=Alister|last=Doyle|date=17 December 2007|access-date=18 April 2018|via=LA Times}}</ref> The Ténéré, as well as the rest of the [[Great Desert]], are amongst the most extreme environments on [[Earth]].
==Topography==
[[File:Arakao1.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Arakao]]
[[Image:Tenere NASA.jpg|left|thumb|Fragment of Ténéré's dune seas seen from space]]
Most of the Ténéré is a flat basin, once the bed of the prehistoric [[Lake Chad]]. In the north, the Ténéré is a vast sand sheet - the true, featureless 'Ténéré' of legend reaching up to the low hills of the Tassili du Hoggar along the Algerian border. In the centre, the [[Erg of Bilma|Bilma Erg]] forms rows of easily navigable low dunes whose corridors make regular byways for the [[azalai]] or salt caravans. To the west, the [[Aïr Mountains]] rise up. To the southeast, the Ténéré is bordered by the [[Kaouar]] cliffs running 100 km north to south. At the base, lies a string of oases including the famous [[Bilma Oasis|Bilma]]. Periodic outcrops, such as the unusual marble [[Blue Mountains (Niger)|Blue Mountains]] in the northwest near Adrar Chiriet, or the Agram hills near the oasis of [[Fachi]] and Adrar Madet to the north, are rare but notable landmarks.
==History==
During the [[Carboniferous]] period, the region was beneath the sea; later it was a tropical forest. A major [[dinosaur]] cemetery lies southeast of Agadez at [[Gadoufaoua]]; many [[fossil]]s have been found there, having eroded out from the ground. An almost complete specimen of the [[crocodile]]-like [[reptile]] ''[[Sarcosuchus imperator]]'', nicknamed the ''[[SuperCroc]]'', was discovered there by [[paleontologist]]s.
During early human history, this was a fertile land much more congenial to human life than it is now. The region was inhabited by modern humans as long ago as the [[Paleolithic]] period some 60,000 years ago. They hunted wild animals and left evidence of their presence in the form of stone tools including tiny, finely carved arrow heads. During the [[Neolithic]] period about 10,000 years ago, ancient hunters, the early [[Holocene]] [[Kiffian culture|Kiffian]] people, created [[Petroglyphs|rock engravings]] and [[cave painting]]s that can still be found across the region.
The [[Neolithic Subpluvial]] was an extended meteorological period, from about 7,500-7,000 BC to about 3,500-3,000 BC, of relatively wet and rainy conditions in the [[climate]] history of northern Africa. It was both preceded and followed by much drier periods{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}. Several archaeological sites that date from this time, often identified as part of the [[Tenerian culture]], are dotted across the deserts along the borders of [[Niger]], [[Algeria]] and [[Libya]].<ref>Garcea, E.A.A. (ed.) 2013. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fUy8gejsmSIC Gobero: The No-Return Frontier. Archaeology and Landscape at the Saharo-Sahelian Borderland'.] Frankfurt, Africa Magna Verlag.</ref> The human population dwindled as the Sahara dried out, and by 2500 BC, it had largely become as dry as it is today.
In recent times, Ténéré has been a crossing route for African migrants looking to immigrate to Europe.<ref name="ny">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/10/the-desperate-journey-of-a-trafficked-girl |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=April 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403090127/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/10/the-desperate-journey-of-a-trafficked-girl |archive-date=April 3, 2017 |title=The Desperate Journey of a Trafficked Girl |first=Ben |last=Taub}}</ref>
=== UTA Flight 772 ===
{{Main|UTA Flight 772}}
[[File:Mémorial du Vol 772 de l UTA.jpg|thumb|UTA Flight 772 Memorial]]
[[File:Père-Lachaise - Division 77 - Vol UTA 772 01.jpg|thumb|Memorial at the [[Père Lachaise Cemetery|Père-Lachaise cemetery]], Paris, France.]]
On September 19, 1989, a [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10]] took off from [[N'Djamena International Airport]] and forty-six minutes later a suitcase bomb exploded in the hold. The jet crashed into the desert near [[Bilma]], [[Niger]], killing all 156 passengers and 14 crew members on board, making it the deadliest aviation disaster in Niger.
==Population==
[[Image:Kaouartal-bei-Bilma.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Kaouar]] cliffs, near [[Bilma]], which forms a chain of [[oases]] in the eastern Ténéré.]]
The Ténéré is very sparsely populated. Fachi and Bilma are the only settlements that are not on the edge of the Tenéré.
While the well-known [[Tuareg people|Tuareg]] occupy the [[Aïr Mountains]] and [[Agadez]] to the west, and still operate the salt caravans for [[Hausa people|Hausa]] [[merchant]]s, other inhabitants of the Ténéré, found from oases like [[Fachi]] eastwards, are the non-Berber [[Kanuri people|Kanuri]] and [[Toubou]].
==Governance==
In 1960, the Tuareg territory became part of the independent republic of Niger. It has been divided into seven ''départments''. The central part of the Ténéré is a protected area, under the auspices of the [[Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserve]].
==Cities==
The administrative centre of the Ténéré is the town of [[Agadez]], south of the Aïr Mountains and west of the Tenere. There are also various [[oasis]] settlements, some like Bilma and Séguedine based on salt production.
Settlements and villages of Ténéré:
*[[Fachi]]
*{{ill|Achegour|de}}
*[[Bilma]]
*[[Dirkou]]
*{{ill|Chirfa|de}}
*{{ill|Agadem|de}}
*[[Séguedine]]
==Landmarks==
[[Image:Arbre-neu1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The [[Arbre du Ténéré]] (tree of Ténéré)]]
The desert is also known for the celebrated [[Arbre du Ténéré|Tree of Ténéré]], once thought to be among the most remote in the world.  Situated by the last well before entering the Grand Erg du Bilma on the way to Fachi, salt caravans relied on the tree as a landmark until it was allegedly knocked down by a truck driver in 1973.
It was replaced by a metal sculpture and the remains are enshrined at the museum in Niamey (capital of Niger). New trees were planted but, because of the very low water table (the adjacent well is some 40m deep), irregular watering by passing travellers saw them fail to survive. Despite this unfortunate mishap, the tree is still often indicated on maps of the region as a notable landmark, as is the less well-known [[Lost Tree|Arbre Perdu]] (Lost Tree) situated in the true Tenere to the north, west of Chirfa.
A monument to [[UTA Flight 772]], a 200-foot diameter circle of dark stones and 170 broken mirrors which represent each victim of the 1989 terrorist attack which brought down the aircraft, was built in May and June 2007 at 16°51′53″N 11°57′13″E.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.viralnova.com/i-noticed-this-tiny-thing-on-google-maps-and-when-i-zoomed-in-well-nothing-could-prepare-me/ |title=UTA Flight 772 Crash Information and Memorial Construction Photos |website=www.viralnova.com |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104071945/http://www.viralnova.com/i-noticed-this-tiny-thing-on-google-maps-and-when-i-zoomed-in-well-nothing-could-prepare-me/ |archive-date=4 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==View==
[[File:Airmountains tmo 2013145.jpg|thumb|center|500px|Annotated view]]
[[File:Airmountains oli 2013146 lrg.jpg|thumb|500px|center|Inset of the above image]]
{{-}}
==See also==
*[[Aïr and Ténéré National Nature Reserve]]
*[[Germa]]
*[[Green Sahara]]
*[[Yamaha XTZ 750|The Ténéré motorbike]]
*[[Missions Berliet-Ténéré]]
==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}
* Samuel Decalo. Historical Dictionary of Niger.  Scarecrow Press, London and New Jersey (1979). {{ISBN|0-8108-1229-0}}
* Jolijn Geels. Niger. Bradt London and Globe Pequot New York (2006). {{ISBN|1-84162-152-8}}.
* Chris Scott. Sahara Overland. Trailblazer (2004). {{ISBN|1-873756-76-3}}.
{{coord|17|35|N|10|55|E|display=title}}
{{Deserts}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenere}}
[[Category:Natural regions of Africa]]
[[Category:Deserts of Niger]]
[[Category:Ergs of Africa]]
[[Category:Tuareg]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Niger]]