Their combined population in these territories exceeds 2.5 million, with an estimated population in Niger of around 2 million (11% of inhabitants) and in Mali of another 0.5 million (3% of inhabitants). The Tuareg today inhabit a vast area in the Sahara, stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and the far north of Nigeria. Demography and languages The traditional distribution of the Tuareg in the Sahara Another term for the Tuareg is Imuhagh or Imushagh, a cognate to the northern Berber self-name Imazighen. The English exonym "Blue People" is similarly derived from the indigo color of the tagelmust veils and other clothing, which sometimes stains the skin underneath giving it a blueish tint. Two other Tuareg self-designations are Kel Tamasheq ( Neo-Tifinagh: Kel Tamasheq), meaning "speakers of Tamasheq", and Kel Tagelmust, meaning "veiled people" in allusion to the tagelmust garment that is traditionally worn by Tuareg men. As such, the endonym strictly refers only to the Tuareg nobility, not the artisanal client castes and the slaves. However, they all reflect the same linguistic root, expressing the notion of "freemen". Spellings of the appellation vary by Tuareg dialect. The term for a Tuareg man is Amajagh (variants: Amashegh, Amahagh), the term for a woman Tamajaq (variants: Tamasheq, Tamahaq, Timajaghen). Another theory is that Tuareg is derived from Tuwariq, the plural of the Arabic exonym Tariqi. Targa in Berber means "(drainage) channel". It would appear that Twārəg is derived from the broken plural of Tārgi, a name whose former meaning was "inhabitant of Targa", the Tuareg name of the Libyan region commonly known as Fezzan. The origins and meanings of the name Tuareg have long been debated. Some researchers have tied the ethnogenesis of the Tuareg with the fall of the Garamantes who inhabited the Fezzan (Libya) from the 1st millennium BC to 5th century AD. The Tuareg have controlled several trans-Saharan trade routes and have been an important party to the conflicts in the Saharan region during the colonial and post-colonial era. Tuareg society has traditionally featured clan membership, social status and caste hierarchies within each political confederation. Tuareg people are credited with the spreading of Islam in North Africa and the adjacent Sahel region. They are a semi-nomadic people who practice Islam, and are descended from the indigenous Berber communities of Northern Africa, which have been described as a mosaic of local Northern African ( Taforalt), Middle Eastern, European ( Early European Farmers), and Sub-Saharan African-related ancestries, prior to the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. The Tuareg speak languages of the same name (also known as Tamasheq), which belong to the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. Traditionally nomadic pastoralists, small groups of Tuareg are also found in northern Nigeria. The Tuareg people ( / ˈ t w ɑːr ɛ ɡ/ also spelled Twareg or Touareg endonym: Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn ) are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Other Berbers, Arab-Berbers and Arabized Berbers, Songhay people, Hausa people Tuareg languages ( Tamahaq, Tamasheq/Tafaghist, Tamajeq, Tawellemmet), Maghrebi Arabic, French (those resident in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso), Hassaniya Arabic, English (those resident in Nigeria), Saharan Arabic
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