N'guigmi is a military centre for the region, a centre for the salt trade from
Kaourar and is the last stop on the road to
Chad. It is "the end of the road" and marks the end of the paved section of the Nigerien
Route Nationale 1, although the sections past
Diffa are notorious for their poor condition. Two unpaved highways or caravan routes connect to N'guigmi from the north, providing the main road route between Chad and Niger, and one of two land routes to the
Kaourar Oasis town of
Bilma. The town lies at the mouth of the
Dilia Bosso, an ancient river valley and seasonal wash that runs from the
Termit Massif over 200 km to the northwest to what was the shore of
Lake Chad as recently as the mid 20th century. The town was then a centre of Kanuri fishing communities. By the 2000s, even during the rainy season, the nearest access to water was at the village of Doro (a
Beri-beri name for "
Fishing port") 45 km southwest of N'guigmi. During the
Sahel drought of the mid-1970s the shore was 85 km away from N'guigmi in Chad. The town is the seat of the
Department of N'guigmi, one of three in
Diffa Region, which includes the entire north of the Region. N'guigmi is home to a large settlement of
Kanuri people, as well as settled members of the traditionally pastoral
Wodaabe-
Fulani and
Daza/
Toubou ethnic groups. ==Climate==