Tahoua began as a pair of small villages called Bilbis and Fakoua and began growing from the 17th century on as various groups began migrating to the area, such as the
Fulani and Tuareg. Various animist (or
Azna) peoples began fleeing to the area to escape persecution from Muslim rulers further north. In 1990, Tahoua was reported to have the lowest
HDI score in history, at 0.172. == Demographics ==