The Ethnic Diversity of the Self-Declared State of Azawad

www.geocurrents.info /news-map/war-and-strife-news/the-ethnic-diversity-of-the-self-declared-state-ofazawad
By Martin W. Lewis

On April 6, 2012, the Tuareg rebels declared the independence of

the territory under their control in northern Mali, deeming the
country Azawad. Within hours, the Wikipedia had posted an
article on The Independent State of Azawad, which it describes as
an unrecognised state that was unilaterally declared in 2012 after
a conict in which the National Movement for the Liberation of
Azawad (MNLA) and other groups drove the Malian Army out of
the territory claimed by Tuareg-led separatists. Maps of Azawad
immediately began to appear in numerous internet sites. On April
7, the New York Times ran an informative article by Lydia
Polgreen on the break-way state, noting parallels with other
unrecognized states and separatist movements in Africa. Without
a doubt, Tuareg Rebellion and its self-declared state of Azawad
have gained the attention of the global media.
Unmentioned in most reports, however, is the fact that the
relatively densely inhabited southern part of Azawad is occupied
largely by non-Tuareg peoples, which complicates the political
situation considerably. As in-depth reporting, such as that of National Public Radios Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, shows, the
Songhai, Fulfulde, and other indigenous residents of the middle Niger region are not happy with the self-declared country.
As she reports:
[W] e think of the north and the Sahara Desert as being Tuareg country, but there are many, many other
tribes who live there, the biggest being the Songhai, but there are also the Bella who used to be the slaves
of the Tuaregs, and other smaller ethnic groups also live in the north. They held a meeting, those living in
Bamako, the capital, yesterday to say, no. We are we dont want independence. We are part of Mali. We
want to remain part of Mali.
To illustrate the situation on the ground, I have taken a Wikipedia map of Azawad and added the main non-Tuareg
linguistic groups, based on the language maps found in Muturzikin.com. Muturzikin also shows northwestern Mali as
Arabic- rather than Tuareg-speaking (Tamasheq), but sources vary considerably on this score. Also of note is the fact that
most of the Tuareg-speaking region lies outside of the boundaries of Azawad, as can be seen on the inset map. Finally, it
is also signicant that the declared capital of Azawad is the city of Gao, which was historically the capital of the Songhai
Empire.

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