Niamey was probably founded during the 18th century. It was of little importance until the French created a colonial post there in the 1890s. The city grew quickly after that happened. In 1926, it became the capital of Niger. The number of people grew slowly from about 3,000 people in 1930 to around 30,000 in 1960, 250,000 in 1980 and 675,000 in 2002. The major cause of the increase has been immigration during droughts.