Bilma Oasis

Bilma is best known for salt production and date cultivation in the middle of the Sahara. Its salt, harvested from evaporation basins and cut into standardized slabs or loaves, has been a cornerstone of trans-Saharan trade for centuries.

It is an oasis town in northeastern Niger, in the Kawar region on the edge of the Ténéré Desert. This position made it a critical stopping point for caravans crossing the central Sahara between the Sahel and Libya.

Camel caravans, known as azalai, traditionally traveled between Bilma and towns such as Agadez hundreds of kilometers to the west, exchanging salt and dates for millet and other goods. These caravans, which still operate in reduced numbers today, were immortalized in National Geographic photographer Carol Beckwith's documentation of the trans-Saharan trade.

Salt is obtained by allowing saline spring water to evaporate in prepared pits and basins, leaving salt that is then cut into compact bars or cones for transport. The salt slabs were light enough for camels to carry in quantity yet valuable enough to serve as a trade currency across the Sahara.