The population of the town of Massakory was 11,344 in 1993, and had increased to 16,237 by 2008.[7] In recent years the town and region has been "invaded" from the north by Libyan importers, as have other arid and semi-arid parts of northern Chad.[8] The cattle market, once important, has steadily declined due to the advance of the desert and political instability in the area around the shrinking Lake Chad.[9]