Niamey was probably
founded
during the
18th century
. It was of little importance until the
French
created a
colonial post
there in the 1890s. The city grew quickly after that happened. In 1926, it became the capital of Niger. The number of people grew slowly from about 3,000 people in 1930 to around 30,000 in 1960, 250,000 in 1980 and 675,000 in 2002. The major cause of the increase has been
immigration
during
droughts
.
Media related to
Niamey
at Wikimedia Commons