The earliest use of the name "Niger" for the river is by Leo Africanus[20] in his Description of Africa, published in Italian in 1550. Nevertheless, "Nigris" was already the name of a river in West Africa, as mentioned by Pliny the Elder and Solinus, among others.[21] Whether this river was the same as the actual Niger, or rather the river also known as Ger (currently known as Oued Guir, in Morocco), is a matter of discussion. This Nigris was said to divide "Africa proper" from the land of the (Western) Ethiopians to the south, and its name (as well as that of the river Ger) might well come from the Berber phrase gr-n-grwn meaning "river of rivers", as the current Tuareg name for the river Niger.[22] As Timbuktu was the southern end of the principal Trans-Saharan trade route to the western Mediterranean, it was the source of most European knowledge of the region.
Medieval European maps applied the name Niger to the middle reaches of the river in modern Mali, but Quorra (Kworra) to the lower reaches in modern Nigeria, as these were not recognized at the time as being the same river.[20] When European colonial powers began to send ships along the west coast of Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Senegal River was often postulated to be the seaward end of the Niger. The Niger Delta, pouring into the Atlantic through mangrove swamps, and thousands of distributaries along more than 160 kilometres (100mi), was thought to be coastal wetlands. It was only with the 18th-century visits of Mungo Park, who travelled down the Niger River and visited the great Sahelian empires of his day, that Europeans correctly identified the course of the Niger and extended the name to its entire course.
The modern nations of Nigeria, and Niger take their names from the river, marking contesting national claims by colonial powers of the "upper", "lower", and "middle" Niger river basin during the Scramble for Africa at the end of the 19th century.
Climate
As part of the West Africa Sahel region, the Niger River has a hot climate characterized by very high temperatures year-round; a long intense dry season from October to May; and a brief, irregular rainy season linked to the West African monsoon.[23]
Geography
The great bend of the Niger River, seen from space, creates a green arc through the brown of the Sahel and Savanna. The green mass on the left is the Inner Niger Delta, and on the far left are tributaries of the Senegal River.Mud houses on the center island at Lake Debo, a wide section of the Niger River
The Niger River is a relatively clear river, carrying only a tenth as much sediment as the Nile because the Niger's headwaters lie in ancient rocks that provide little silt.[24] Like the Nile, the Niger floods yearly; this begins in September, peaks in November, and finishes by May.[24] An unusual feature of the river is the Inner Niger Delta, which forms where its gradient suddenly decreases.[24] The result is a region of braided streams, marshes, and large lakes; the seasonal floods make the Delta extremely productive for both fishing and agriculture.[25]
Boy bringing back his canoe on the Niger River (2022)
The river loses nearly two-thirds of its potential flow in the Inner Delta between Ségou, and Timbuktu to seepage and evaporation. The water from the Bani River, which flows into the Delta at Mopti, does not compensate for the losses. The average loss is estimated at 31km3/year but varies considerably between years.[3] The river is then joined by various tributaries but also loses more water to evaporation. The quantity of water entering Nigeria was estimated at 25km3/year before the 1980s and at 13.5km3/year during the 1980s.
The most important tributary is the Benue River which merges with the Niger at Lokoja in Nigeria. The total volume of tributaries in Nigeria is six times higher than the inflow into Nigeria, with a flow near the mouth of the river standing at 177.0km3/year before the 1980s and 147.3km3/year during the 1980s.[3]
Course
Map of the Niger, showing its watershed, and "inland delta"
The Niger takes one of the most unusual routes of any major river, a boomerang shape that baffled geographers for two centuries. Its source (Tembakounda) is 240km (150mi) inland from the Atlantic Ocean, but the river runs directly away from the sea into the Sahara Desert, then takes a sharp right turn near the ancient city of Timbuktu and heads southeast to the Gulf of Guinea. This strange geography apparently came about because the Niger River is two ancient rivers joined together. The upper Niger, from the source west of Timbuktu to the bend in the current river near Timbuktu, once emptied into a now dry lake to the east northeast of Timbuktu, while the lower Niger started to the south of Timbuktu and flowed south into the Gulf of Guinea. Over time upstream erosion by the lower Niger resulted in stream capture of the upper Niger by the lower Niger.[26]
The northern part of the river, known as the Niger bend, is an important area because it is the major river and source of water in that part of the Sahara. This made it the focal point of trade across the western Sahara and the centre of the Sahelian kingdoms of Mali and Gao. The surrounding Niger River Basin is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the Sudan province, which in turn is part of the larger African massive physiographic division.
Drainage basin
The Niger River basin, located in western Africa, covers 7.5% of the continent and spreads over ten countries.
Niger River basin: areas and rainfall by country[3]
Average discharge of the Niger River at Niger Delta (period from 2010 to 2018):[6]
Year
Average discharge
km3
m3/s
cfs
2010
288.1
9,130
322,410
2011
245.7
7,786
274,960
2012
320.3
10,150
358,440
2013
224.4
7,111
251,120
2014
251.2
7,960
281,110
2015
235.3
7,456
263,320
2016
286.8
9,088
320,950
2017
270.9
8,585
303,160
2018
311.6
9,874
348,700
2010–2018
270.5
8,572
302,710
Average, minimum and maximum discharge of the Niger River at Koulikoro (Upper Niger), Niamey (Middle Niger) and Lokoja (Lower Niger). Period from 2000/06/01 to 2025/05/31.
Growing African rice, Oryza glaberrima along the Niger River in Niger. The crop was first domesticated along the river.A reconstruction of the Ravenna Cosmography placed on a Ptolemaic map. The River Ger is visible at bottom. Note it is placed, following Ptolemy, as just south of the land of the Garamantes, in modern Libya, constricting the continent to the land from the central Sahara north.1561 map of West Africa by Girolamo Ruscelli, from Italian translation of Ptolemy's Atlas "La geografia di Claudio Tolomeo alessandrino, Nuovamente tradotta di Greco in Italiano". The writer was attempting to square information gleaned from Portuguese trade along the coast with Ptolemy's world map. The mouths of the Senegal River and Gambia River are postulated to flow into a lake, which also feeds the "Ger"/"Niger River", which in turn feeds the "Nile Lake" and Nile River.
At the end of the African humid period around 5,500 years before present, the modern Sahara Desert, once a savanna, underwent desertification. As plant species sharply declined,[34] humans migrated to the fertile Niger River bend region, with abundant resources including plants for grazing and fish.[35] Like in the Fertile Crescent, many food crops were domesticated in the Niger River region, including yams, African rice (Oryza glaberrima), and pearl millet.[36] The Sahara aridification may have triggered, or at least accelerated, these domestications.[34] Agriculture, as well as fishing and animal husbandry, led to the rise of settlements like Djenné-Djenno in the Inner Delta, now a World Heritage Site.[37]
The region of the Niger bend, in the Sahel, was a key origin and destination for trans-Saharan trade, fueling the wealth of great empires such as the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires. Major trading ports along the river, including Timbuktu and Gao, became centers of learning and culture. Trade to the Niger bend region also brought Islam to the region in approximately the 14th century CE. Much of the northern Niger basin remains Muslim today, although the southern reaches of the river tend to be Christian.
Classical writings on the interior of the Sahara begin with Ptolemy, who mentions two rivers in the desert: the "Gir" (Γειρ)[38][39] and farther south, the "Nigir" (Νιγειρ).[40][41] The first has been since identified as the Wadi Ghir on the north-western edge of the Tuat, along the borders of modern Morocco and Algeria.[40][42] This would likely have been as far as Ptolemy would have had consistent records. The Ni-Ger was likely speculation, although the name stuck as that of a river south of the Mediterranean's "known world". Suetonius reports Romans traveling to the "Ger", although in reporting any river's name derived from a Berber language, in which "gher" means "watercourse", confusion could easily arise.[43]Pliny connected these two rivers as one long watercourse which flowed (via lakes and underground sections) into the Nile,[44] a notion which persisted in the Arab and European worlds – and further added the Senegal River as the "Ger" – until the 19th century.
While the true course of the Niger was presumably known to locals, it was a mystery to the outside world until the late 18th century. The connection to the Nile River was made not simply because this was then known as the great river of "Aethiopia" (by which all lands south of the desert were called by Classical writers), but because the Nile like the Niger flooded every summer.[45] Through the descriptions of Leo Africanus and even Ibn Battuta – despite his visit to the river – the myth connecting the Niger to the Nile persisted.
Many European expeditions to plot the river were unsuccessful.[46] In 1788 the African Association was formed in England to promote the exploration of Africa in the hopes of locating the Niger, and in June 1796 the Scottish explorer Mungo Park was the first European to lay eyes on the middle portion of the river since antiquity (and perhaps ever). He wrote an account in 1799, Travels in the Interior of Africa.[47] Park proposed a theory that the Niger and Congo were the same river. Although the Niger Delta would seem like an obvious candidate, it was a maze of streams and swamps that did not look like the head of a great river. He died in 1806 on a second expedition attempting to prove the Niger-Congo connection.[48] The theory became the leading one in Europe.[48] Several failed expeditions followed; however the mystery of the Niger would not be solved for another 25 years, in 1830, when Richard Lander and his brother became the first Europeans to follow the course of the Niger to the ocean.[48]
In 1946, three Frenchmen, Jean Sauvy, Pierre Ponty and movie maker Jean Rouch, former civil servants in the African French colonies, set out to travel the entire length of the river, as no one else seemed to have done previously. They travelled from the beginning of the river near Kissidougou in Guinea, walking at first till a raft could be used, then changing to various local crafts as the river broadened and changed. Two of them reached the ocean on March 25, 1947, with Ponty having left the expedition at Niamey, somewhat past the halfway mark. They carried a 16mm movie camera, the resulting footage giving Rouch his first two ethnographic documentaries: "Au pays des mages noirs", and "La chasse à l'hippopotame". A camera was used to illustrate Rouch's subsequent book "Le Niger En Pirogue" (Fernand Nathan, 1954), as well as Sauvy's "Descente du Niger" (L'Harmattan, 2001). A typewriter was brought as well, on which Ponty produced newspaper articles he mailed out whenever possible.[49]
Management and development
The water in the Niger River basin is partially regulated through dams. In Mali the Sélingué Dam on the Sankarani River is mainly used for hydropower but also permits irrigation. Two diversion dams, one at Sotuba just downstream of Bamako, and one at Markala, just downstream of Ségou, are used to irrigate about 54,000 hectares.[3] In Nigeria the Kainji Dam, Shiroro Dam, Zungeru Dam, and Jebba Dam are used to generate hydropower.
The water resources of the Niger River are under pressure because of increased water abstraction for irrigation. The construction of dams for hydropower generation is underway or envisaged in order to alleviate chronic power shortages in the countries of the Niger basin.[50] The FAO estimates the irrigation potential of all countries in the Niger river basin at 2.8 million hectares. Only 0.93m hectares (ha) were under irrigation in the late 1980s. The irrigation potential was estimated at 1.68m ha in Nigeria 0.56m ha in Mali, and the actual irrigated area was 0.67m ha and 0.19m ha.[3]
Trade routes and ecological importance in West Africa
The Niger River is a key river of West Africa and it is considered the third-longest river in Africa.[51] The river extends approximately 2,600 miles from its source in the Fouta Djallon Highlands of Guinea through Mali, Niger, Benin, and Nigeria before emptying into the Gulf of Guinea. For close to centuries, The Niger River has been a vital economic lifeline, transportation for the peoples and the states of West Africa.[52]
Trade routes of the Niger River
According to history, the Niger River has served as important trade and transportation corridors in West Africa.[51] The river flows through Mali, Guinea, Niger, Benin, and Nigeria, the river facilitated the movement of goods and people across the region long before the invention of modern transportation systems like ships, and aeroplanes.[53] During the middle ages, the river supported Ghanaians, Malians, and the Songhai Empires by connecting inland settlements with trans-Saharan trade routes.[54]
Goods traded
The commodities transported along the Niger River were:[15]
Gold
Salt
Kola nuts
Agricultural produce
Fish
Livestock
Textiles
Slaves
In recent times, the Niger River remains an important inland waterway supporting commerce, trade and transport. The river transport contributes to economic development, particularly in rural areas.
Ecological importance
The Niger River is one of Africa's most significant ecological systems. The Niger river basin supports many diverse habitats, including aquatic life, floodplains, savannas and forest reserves.[55] The Inner Niger Delta, serves as a habitat for large species of migratory birds, fish, reptiles and mammals.[56] The Inner Niger Delta covers approximately 20,000km2 in the wet seasons and 3,900km2 in the dry season, serving as a vital resource for fishing, farming and pastoralism that sustains millions of lives.[56]
The Niger River is also the major source of freshwater for domestic use, irrigation and hydroelectric power generation.[57] The Niger River waters irrigates extensive agricultural produce, such as millet, rice and vegetable cultivation.[58] Additionally, the river helps regulate local climates by maintaining wetlands.[55]
The Niger River faces multiple challenges including climate change, pollution, deforestation, overfishing and the construction of dams.[55] These challenges pose a threat to both the ecological health of the river and the livelihoods of the populations that depends on its resources and life.[57] In essence, sustainable management of the Niger River Basin is considered essential for the long-term economic and environmental safety of West Africa. Management authorities like the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) seeks to address these challenges to encourage management of this vital waterway.[59] Another regulatory authority is the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)[59] is recognised as a body that promotes sustainable resource use across the basin's nine countries.
See also
Azawagh– Dry basin that once carried a northern tributary of the Niger River
↑Hunwick, John O. (2003) [1999]. Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sadi's Tarikh al-Sudan down to 1613 and other contemporary documents. Leiden: Brill. p.275 Fn 22. ISBN978-90-04-11207-0.
↑Mcintosh, Susan Keech; Mcintosh, Roderick J. (Oct 1979). "Initial Perspectives on Prehistoric Subsistence in the Inland Niger Delta (Mail)". World Archaeology. 11 (2 Food and Nutrition): 227–243. doi:10.1080/00438243.1979.9979762. ISSN0043-8243. PMID16470987.
↑Law, R. C. C. (1967). "The Garamantes and Trans-Saharan Enterprise in Classical Times". Journal of African History. 8 (2): 181–200. doi:10.1017/S0021853700007015. ISSN0021-8537. S2CID165234947.. Law carefully ties together the classical sources on this, and explains the mix of third hand reports and mythology that was current in both the European and Arab worlds.
12Zwarts, Leo; Beukering, Pieter Van; Koné, Bakary; Wymenga, Eddy; Taylor, Douglas (March 2006). "The Economic and Ecological Effects of Water Management Choices in the Upper Niger River: Development of Decision Support Methods". International Journal of Water Resources Development. 22 (1): 135–156. doi:10.1080/07900620500405874.
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