What Do You Call Someone From Niger? (Answered!)

Someone from Niger is called Nigerien, not to be confused with Nigerians from Nigeria. This is the standard demonym for a person from Niger or a person of Niger descent or nationality. The real picture, though, is a bit more complex as Niger is a complex and diverse ethnic melting pot of many groups.

There is, as always, a short answer and a long answer, then.

The short answer is that in our sense of the modern nation state, a person from Niger is called Nigerien.

On the other hand, any given person from Niger may prefer instead to identify with their ethnic group rather than with this nationality.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What is someone from Niger called?

Someone from Niger is called Nigerien.

This is the short answer, and it cannot be stressed enough how important it is that you don’t get this confused with Nigerian.

Niger and Nigeria are two different countries, though they are directly next to one another with considerable shared border.

But they are different countries with entirely different peoples living there. People from Niger are Nigerien with an E, not with an A.

To be Nigerien, though, simply means you are a citizen of Niger in one way or another.

This could mean very different things to different people.

Certainly, there is a unifying sense of Nigerien nationality, and this is not to ignore that by any means.

However, the true picture of the people who live in Niger is a good bit more complicated than this.

The majority ethnic group in Niger is the Hausa people, and they represent only around 53% of the population.

This is of course a considerable majority, but goes to show how many different groups there are in the country to make up the whole population.

The Hausa people represent around 13 million of Niger’s population, but this figure is dwarfed bythe almost 60 million Hausa people living next door in Nigeria.

A further 21% of Niger’s population is comprised of Zarma and Songhay people.

There are around 5 million Zarma people living in Niger. The Songhay or Songhai people live in Niger but in a region known as Songhai country, and constitute around 1.2 million people.

There are then many other minority ethnic groups, Tauregs making up about 11% of the population, you then have Fulani, Kanuri, Gurma, Toubou and Arab populations in decreasing numbers.

Clearly, then, Niger is a vast mix of different ethnic groups, and while all these people are legally Nigerien and citizens of Niger, for most of them their ethnic identity is likely much more important.

Where does the name “Niger” come from?

Parts of the west of Niger are dominated by the Niger River, and while we don’t know the precise origin of the name of this river, there are theories.

The most widely accepted theory is that the name comes from the Tuareg language, where n’eghirren means “flowing water”.

The country is simply named after the river, then, so if you accept this theory then the name of the country derives from a term meaning flowing water.

Crucially, though, this name is supposed to have been coined by a British colonist in the 19^th Century; Niger was not always called Niger and the borders imposed on it today are a modern invention.

The ethnic peoples of this land have lived there for a very long time, and have not always thought of it in this unified way.

Are you Nigerian if you’re from Niger?

You are not a Nigerian if you are from Niger; you are Nigerien.

The difference may be very subtle, but it’s not that difficult to remember.

Though it has been stressed that not all the inhabitants of Niger may feel this nationality to be the most important part of their identity, it does not mean that they are unbothered by mixing up Nigerian and Nigerien.

Indeed, there are of course many Nigerians living in Niger; in some sense we might say they are both Nigerian and Nigerien.

But this is largely beside the point.

Getting the nomenclature right is pretty crucial if you are visiting the country, even though there is only a subtle difference between the two in terms of pronunciation.

Where do Nigeriens live?

Taking the largest ethnic group of Niger, we can see that they are spread far and wide throughout Africa.

As mentioned around 57 million live in Nigeria, but there are also 3 million in Sudan, and 1 million in both the Ivory Coast and Cameroon; these countries represent the majority of the Hausa diaspora.

You’ll also find them in Chad, Ghana, Benin, Eritrea, Togo, and many other places.

The Zarma group, the next largest ethnic group in Niger, can also be found in many places though they number far fewer.

Around 113,000 can be found in Nigeria, with a further 38,000 in Benin and around 7,000 in Ghana.

The point being that a person’s identity may be all mixed up in all of the countries in which they play a part, from their local ethnic identity, to their nationality, and now the new places they live.

So, the most important thing to remember is not to get confused between Niger and Nigeria.

They are different countries though admittedly with very similar names and demonyms.

Crucially, though, Niger itself is home to many different ethnic groups, and depending on the individual could feel that Nigerien is something that has been imposed on them over their own true ethnic identity—it’s never a simple question!

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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