Niger River

Niger River Fleuve Niger  (French) Joliba (Maninka) Jeliba  (Bambara) Maayo Ɓaleewo 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤴𞤮 𞤄𞤢𞤤𞤫𞤮  (Fula) Egerew ⴻⴳⴻⵔⴻⵡ  (Tamasheq) Issa Beri (Zarma) Kwara  (Hausa) Toru Beni  (Ijo languages) Ọya  (Yoruba) Óshimiri  (Igbo)
The Pont Kennedy across the Niger at Niamey in February 2019
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	Benin Guinea Mali Niger Nigeria
Cities	Tembakounda Bamako Timbuktu Niamey Lokoja Onitsha
Physical characteristics
Source
- location	Guinea Highlands, Guinea
- coordinates	9°36′1.6848″N 10°51′52.3872″W / 9.600468000°N 10.864552000°W / 9.600468000; -10.864552000
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 / 5.3223333; 6.4691639
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.

1. ↑ "niger | Origin and meaning of the name niger by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com.
2. ↑ "WWD Continents". www.geol.lsu.edu. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Prabhu TL (2021). "Agricultural Engineering: An Introduction To Agricultural Engineering". NestFame Creations Pvt. Ltd.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "Rivers Network". 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-08-09. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
5. ↑ Castano, Ing. Antonio. "A STUDY ON THE HYDROLOGICAL SERIES OF THE NIGER RIVER AT KOULIKORO, NIAMEY AND LOKOJA STATIONS". webcache.googleusercontent.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
6. ↑ "Rivers Network". 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-08-17. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
7. ↑ "Rivers Network". 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
8. ↑ /ˈnaɪdʒər/ NY-jər; French: (le) fleuve Niger, pronounced [(lə) flœv niʒɛʁ]