Niger (river)

See also: Niger (homonymy)

The Niger is a river of Western Africa, the third of the continent after the the Nile and the Congo.

Etymology

Its current name would come from the Latin " noir" (color of water? or many inhabitants of the crossed countries?) or of a phrase Tuareg gher N gheren (river of the rivers). It has several local names of which the mandingue Jeliba or Joliba or Dhioliba , the songhaï Isa Ber .

Geography

It takes its source close to the Monts of Loma, at the border of the Sierra Leone and the Guinea. It takes a north-eastern direction, crossing Guinea and the south of the Mali where it sprinkles Bamako, Tombouctou and Gao. Between KéMacina and Tombouctou it extends in a vast flooded plain of almost 40.000 km ² to the maximum of the flood, in what is called the interior delta, where its flow is tiny room of 25 with nearly 50% per evaporation mainly. It forks then towards south-east, crosses the west of the Niger of which the capital Niamey, then the Nigeria where it is directed more and more towards the south, towards a marshy delta. Before joining the Atlantic with Port Harcourt after a tour of 4.184 km, it receives in Lokoja out of left bank its principal affluent, the Bénoué, coming from the Cameroun, which doubles its flow before the maritime delta.

Its curious course made that Niger remained a enigma for the geographers a long time. The most whimsical assumptions were advanced. Of aucuns confused it with the Senegal or with Congo, others made of it a branch of the Nile and for some, it was a river tributary of an interior lake. It was necessary to await 1830 and the forwarding of Richard Lander to know the truth.

In spite of its weak Anthropisation, the Niger river belongs to these rivers (just like Senegal) which were strongly arranged since the years 1980 because of the stressing of the dryness. By the means of the Authority of the Basin of Niger (ABN), organization of international cooperation between nine crossed countries and the creation of the office of Niger (1932), the river constitutes agricultural but such an electric real issue. The installation of the stoppings (Sélingué being the principal one) has from now on the vocation to leave the electric dependence (hydroelectricity) and cereal (irrigation of perimeter of rice growing) the African countries.

Affluents

The course of the river can be divided into four sections:

  • high Niger

    • Tinkisso
    • Niandan
    • Milo'
    • Sankarani
  • the interior delta
    • the Banished
  • average Niger
    • Gorouol
    • Dargol
    • Sirba
    • Tapoa
    • Goroubi
    • Diamangou
    • Mékrou
    • Alibori
    • Sota
  • lower Niger

Fossil affluents:

Main cities

See too

  • List of rivers in the world

External bonds

  • water and international law: selective bibliography See Niger (river) . Library of the Palate of Peace
  • Fabio Spadi (2005), " The ICJ Judgment in the Benign-Niger To border Argument: the interplay off titles and `effectivities' under the uti possidetis juris principle" , '' Leiden Newspaper off International Law '' 18: 777-794
  • "Watermusic" T.C. Boyle, Romance

Simple: Niger To rivet

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