![]() The Pont Kennedy across the Niger at Niamey in February 2019 | |
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Etymology | Unknown (possibly from Berber for River Gher or local Tuareg word n-igereouen meaning "big rivers"[1]) Or it may be a direct translation by Leo Africanus from Arabic bilād as-sūdān (بلاد السودان) "Land of the Blacks", into Latin (Niger "black").[source?] |
Location | |
Countries | |
Cities | |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
- location | Guinea Highlands, Guinea |
- coordinates | 9°36′1.6848″N 10°51′52.3872″W / 9.600468000°N 10.864552000°W |
Mouth | Atlantic Ocean |
- location | Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria |
- coordinates | 5°19′20.40″N 6°28′8.99″E / 5.3223333°N 6.4691639°E |
Length | 4,184 km (2,600 mi) |
Basin size | 2,117,700 km2 (817,600 sq mi) |
Discharge | |
- location | Niger Delta[2][3] |
- average | 6,925 m3/s (244,600 cu ft/s)[3] 6,858.671 m3/s (242,211.7 cu ft/s)[4] |
- minimum | 500 m3/s (18,000 cu ft/s) |
- maximum | 27,600 m3/s (970,000 cu ft/s)[5] |
Discharge | |
- location | Lokoja |
- average | 5,754.664 m3/s (203,224.0 cu ft/s)[4] |
Discharge | |
- location | Niamey |
- average | 737.717 m3/s (26,052.2 cu ft/s)[6] |
Discharge | |
- location | Bamako |
- average | 1,091.692 m3/s (38,552.7 cu ft/s)[7] |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
- left | Sokoto River, Kaduna River, Benue River, Anambra River |
- right | Bani River, Mékrou River |
The Niger River [8] is the main river of western Africa. It is over 4180 km (2500 miles) long.
The river has a crescent shape and it goes through Guinea, Mali, Niger, on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria. Finally, it reaches the sea at a large delta, called the Niger Delta. This part of the Atlantic Ocean is called the Gulf of Guinea. The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa. Only the Nile and the Congo are longer. Its main tributary is the Benue River.