Zinder, locally called Damagaram, is the second largest city in Niger. With a population of about 200,000, the city is situated 535 miles east of the capital Niamey and 149 miles north of the Nigerian city of Kano. It is the trade center where grains, manioc, and peanuts are grown. Cattle and sheep are raised here too. Manufactures include millet flour, beverages, and tanned goods. The city was situated on an old trans-Saharan caravan route that connected N. Nigeria with the African coast as early as the 11th cent.

Originally, the city was inhabited by a subset of the Kanuri (an African ethnic group living in Bornu state) called Beriberi. The town was the capital of a Muslim state controlled by Bornu from the 16th to the mid 19th cent. In 1899, Zinder was conquered by the French and during World War I there was the scene of an unsuccessful Tuareg uprising against French control. The town grew after 1920, when nomads began settling there in large numbers, and from 1922 to 1926 it served as the capital of the French Niger colony. Parts of the old city wall and the 19th-century palace of the ruler of Zinder still stand.

Zinder today has three main areas: Birni, the old town which is home to Zinder Great Mosque and the Zinder Sultan's Palace; the old Hausa settlement, which is known for its architecture and Sabon Gari (the new town), between Birni and Zengou, which is the commercial centre, known for its large market. The city now sprawls to the north and west, extending to the Karkada section, in the north. Other neighborhoods include Garin Mallam and Gawon Kollia.

The city has many distinctive granite rocks. The city has a long history of water shortages; however recently water was piped by a Chinese-owned company from the north to provide water to most of the city.

Some of the major tourist attractions at Zinder are the Zinder Great Mosque, the old Hausa settlement and the Zinder Sultan's Palace. The city is served by Zinder Airport. It also has a crossroads of tarmac roads from Nigeria to Libya/Algeria and a road from east to west. There is regular bus service between Zinder and other major cities.