In which direction does the niger flow. Rivers of Nigeria. Expanding geographic knowledge about Africa
| Niger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| English Nigeria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 250px Bridge over the Niger at Bamako | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Characteristic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Length |
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2,117,700 km²
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| Water consumption |
8630 m³/s (mouth)
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| Source | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| - Height |
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| - Coordinates |
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| mouth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| - Height |
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| - Coordinates |
/ / 5.316667; 6.416667(Niger, mouth)Coordinates :
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| river slope |
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| Guinea |
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| Mali |
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| Niger |
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| Benin |
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| Nigeria |
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| Countries |
Guinea 22x20px Guinea, Mali 22x20px Mali, Niger 22x20px Niger, Benin 22x20px Benin, Nigeria 22x20px Nigeria
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| Region |
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| District |
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| Water Register of Russia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Pool code |
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| GI code |
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| Volume GI |
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| [[:commons:Category: Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#property" was not found. |Niger at Wikimedia Commons]] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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An excerpt characterizing the Niger (river)
He pushed me further. And then I suddenly realized what seemed so strange to me ... The room did not end! .. It seemed small in appearance, but continued to “lengthen” as we moved along it! .. It was incredible! I looked at Sever again, but he only nodded, as if to say: "Don't be surprised at anything, everything is fine." And I stopped being surprised... A man “came out” right from the wall of the room... Startled by surprise, I immediately tried to pull myself together so as not to show surprise, since for everyone else living here, this was apparently quite familiar. The man came straight up to us and said in a low sonorous voice:- Hello, Isidora! I am Volkhv Isten. I know it's hard for you... But you chose the path yourself. Come with me - I'll show you what you've lost.
We moved on. I followed the marvelous man, from whom incredible strength emanated, and sadly thought how easy and simple everything would be if he wanted to help! But, unfortunately, he didn’t want to either... I was walking in deep thought, not noticing at all how I found myself in an amazing space, completely filled with narrow shelves, on which rested an incredible number of unusual gold plates and very old “packages” similar to ancient manuscripts that were kept in my father's house, with the only difference being that those kept here were made on some very thin unfamiliar material, which I had never seen anywhere before. The plates and scrolls were different - small and very large, short and long, up to a whole human height. And in this strange room there were a great many of them ...
– This is KNOWLEDGE, Isidora. Or rather, a very small part of it. You can drink if you wish. It won't hurt, and maybe even help you in your quest. Try it honey...
Isten smiled affectionately, and it suddenly seemed to me that I had always known him. Wonderful warmth and peace emanated from him, which I lacked so much all these terrible days, fighting with Karaffa. He apparently felt all this very well, as he looked at me with deep sadness, as if he knew what an evil fate awaited me outside the walls of Meteora. And he mourned me in advance.... I went up to one of the endless shelves, "clogged" to the top with semicircular gold plates, to see how Easten suggested... But before I could even bring my hand closer, a flurry of stunning, wonderful visions! Stunning pictures, unlike anything I've ever seen, swept through my exhausted brain, replacing each other with incredible speed... Some of them somehow remained, and some disappeared, immediately bringing new ones, which I I almost didn't get to see it either. What was that?!.. The life of some long-dead people? Our Great Ancestors? The visions changed, flashing by at breakneck speed. The stream did not end, taking me to some amazing countries and worlds, not letting me wake up. Suddenly, one of them flashed brighter than the others, and a stunning city opened up to me ... it was airy and transparent, as if created from the White Light.
- What is it??? – I whispered softly, afraid to frighten off. - Could this be real?
“This is the Holy City, my dear. City of our Gods. He has been gone for a very long time... – Easten said quietly. – This is where we all once came from... Only on Earth no one remembers him – then, suddenly recollecting himself, he added: – Be careful, dear, it will be hard for you. You don't have to look anymore.
But I wanted more!.. Some scorching thirst burned my brain, begging me not to stop! The unfamiliar world beckoned and fascinated with its primordial nature!.. I wanted to go headlong into it and, plunging deeper and deeper, scoop it up endlessly, without missing a single moment, without losing a single precious minute... which, as I understood, there were very, very few of me left here ... Each new plate opened up before me with thousands of amazing images that were surprisingly bright and now for some reason understandable, as if I had suddenly found a magic key to them long lost by someone. Time flew by, but I did not notice it ... I wanted more and more. And it was very scary that right now someone would definitely stop, and it would be time to leave this wonderful storehouse of someone's incredible memory, which I will never be able to comprehend again. It was very sad and painful, but, unfortunately, I had no way back. I chose my life myself and was not going to renounce it. Even though it was incredibly hard...
“Well, that’s all, honey. I can't show you anymore. You are an "apostate" who did not want to know... And the way here is closed to you. But I am sincerely sorry, Isidora... You have a great Gift! You could easily KNOW all this... If you wanted to. It was not so easy for everyone... Your nature yearns for it. But you chose a different path, so you must leave now. My thoughts will be with you, child of Light. Go with FAITH, let it help you. Farewell, Isidora...
The room disappeared... We found ourselves in some other stone hall, also filled with many scrolls, but they already looked different, perhaps not as ancient as the previous ones. I suddenly felt very sad... To the point of pain in my soul, I wanted to comprehend these other people's "secrets", to see the wealth hidden in them, but I left... never to return here.
“Think, Isidora! - as if sensing my doubt, Sever said quietly. You haven't left yet, stay.
I just shook my head...
Suddenly, my attention was attracted by an already familiar, but still incomprehensible phenomenon - as we moved forward, the room lengthened here as we passed further. But if in the previous hall I did not see a soul, then here, as soon as I looked around, I saw a lot of people - young and old, men and women. There were even children here!.. They all studied something very carefully, completely withdrawing into themselves, and detachedly comprehending some "wise truths"... Paying no attention to those who entered.
Who are all these people, Sever? Do they live here? I asked in a whisper.
- These are Witches and Veduns, Isidora. Your father was once one of them... We train them.
My heart ached... I wanted to howl in a wolf's voice, pitying myself and my short lost life!.. Throwing everything away, sit down with them, with these happy Veduns and Witches, in order to know with my mind and heart the whole depth of the wonderful, so generously opened by him great KNOWLEDGE! Burning tears were ready to gush like a river, but I tried my best to somehow hold them back. There was no way to do this, since tears were another “forbidden luxury”, to which I had no right if I fancied myself a real Warrior. The warriors did not cry. They fought and won, and if they died, then certainly not with tears in their eyes ... Apparently, I was just very tired. From loneliness and pain... From constant fear for relatives... From an endless struggle in which she had not the slightest hope of emerging victorious. I really needed a breath of fresh air, and that air for me was my daughter, Anna. But for some reason, she was nowhere to be seen, although I knew that Anna was here, with them, on this wonderful and strange, "closed" land.
Sever stood next to me on the edge of the gorge, and deep sadness lurked in his gray eyes. I wanted to ask him - will I ever see him? But there was not enough strength. I didn't want to say goodbye. Didn't want to leave. Life here was so wise and calm, and everything seemed so simple and good!.. But there, in my cruel and imperfect world, good people were dying, and it was time to return to try to save at least someone... This is real was my world, no matter how scary it was. And my father, who remained there, probably suffered severely, unable to escape from the clutches of Caraffa, whom I ironically decided, no matter what it cost me, to destroy, even if for this I have to give my short and so dear to me life ...
– May I see Anna? - with hope in my soul, I asked Severa.
– Forgive me, Isidora, Anna is undergoing a “cleansing” from worldly fuss... Before she enters the same hall where you have just been. She can't come to you now...
“But why didn’t I need to “cleanse” anything? I was surprised. - Anna is still a child, she does not have too much worldly "dirt", does she?
– She will have to absorb too much into herself, comprehend the whole infinity ... And you will never return there. You don't need to forget anything "old" Isidora... I'm sorry.
“So I will never see my daughter again…?” I asked in a whisper.
- You'll see. I will help you. And now do you want to say goodbye to the Magi, Isidora? This is your only opportunity, don't miss it.
Well, of course, I wanted to see them, the Lords of this Wise World! My father told me so much about them, and I myself dreamed for so long! Only I could not imagine then how sad our meeting would be for me ...
Sever raised his palms and the rock, shimmering, disappeared. We found ourselves in a very high, round hall, which at the same time seemed either a forest, or a meadow, or a fairy-tale castle, or simply “nothing” ... No matter how hard I tried, I could not see its walls, nor what was happening around. The air flickered and shimmered with thousands of brilliant "drops" similar to human tears... Having overcome the excitement, I breathed in... The "rainy" air was amazingly fresh, clean and light! From it, spilling life-giving force, the thinnest living threads of "golden" heat ran all over the body. The feeling was wonderful!
“Come in, Isidora, the Fathers are waiting for you,” Severus whispered.
I stepped further - the quivering air “parted” ... The Magi stood right in front of me ...
- I came to say goodbye, prophetic. Peace be with you…” I said softly, not knowing how I should greet them.
Never in my life have I felt such a complete, all-encompassing, Great POWER!.. They did not move, but it seemed that the whole hall was swaying with warm waves of some kind of unprecedented power for me... It was real LIFE!!! I didn't know what other words to call it. I was shocked!.. I wanted to embrace it with myself!.. Absorb it into myself... Or just fall to my knees!.. Feelings overwhelmed me with a stunning avalanche, hot tears flowed down my cheeks...
- Hello, Isidora. one of them sounded warm. – We pity you. You are the daughter of the Magus, you will share his path... The Force will not leave you. Go with FAITH, my dear...
My soul aspired to them with the cry of a dying bird!.. My wounded heart rushed to them, breaking against an evil fate... But I knew that it was too late - they slinged me... and pitied me. Never before have I "heard" how deep the meaning of these marvelous words is. And now the joy of their marvelous, new sounding surged, filling me, not letting me breathe from the feelings that overwhelmed my wounded soul...
In these words there lived a quiet, bright sadness, and a sharp pain of loss, the beauty of the life that I had to live, and a huge wave of Love, coming from somewhere far away and, merging with the Earth, flooding my soul and body... Life swept by in a whirlwind , catching every "edge" of my nature, leaving no cell that would not be touched by the warmth of love. I was afraid that I would not be able to leave ... And, probably because of the same fear, I immediately woke up from a wonderful “farewell”, seeing people next to me who were amazing in their inner strength and beauty. Around me stood tall old men and young men dressed in dazzling white robes that looked like long tunics. Some of them were girdled with red, and for two it was a patterned wide "belt" embroidered with gold and silver.
Oh look! - my impatient girlfriend Stella suddenly interrupted the wonderful moment. - They are very similar to your "star friends", as you showed them to me! .. Look, is it really them, what do you think ?! Well, tell me!!!
To be honest, even when we saw the Holy City, it seemed very familiar to me. And similar thoughts came to me as soon as I saw the Magi. But I immediately drove them away, not wanting to have vain "bright hopes" ... It was too important and too serious, and I just waved my hand to Stella, as if saying that we would talk later when we were alone. I understood that Stella would be upset, because, as always, she wanted an immediate answer to her question. But at the moment, in my opinion, it was far from being as important as the wonderful story told by Isidora, and I mentally asked Stella to wait. I smiled guiltily at Isidora, and she answered with her wonderful smile and continued...
My gaze was riveted by a powerful tall old man, who had something subtly similar to my beloved father, who suffered in the cellars of Karaffa. For some reason, I immediately understood that this was Vladyka... The Great White Magus. His amazing, piercing, imperious gray eyes looked at me with deep sadness and warmth, as if he was saying the last “Goodbye!” to me ...
– Come, Child of Light, we forgive you...
A wondrous, joyful white Light suddenly came from him, which, enveloping everything around with a soft radiance, enclosed me in a gentle embrace, penetrating into the most hidden corners of my pain-torn Soul ... The Light penetrated every cell, leaving only goodness and peace in it, “ washing away the pain and sadness, and all the bitterness that has accumulated over the years. I soared in a magical radiance, forgetting everything “earthly cruel”, everything “evil and false”, feeling only the wondrous touch of Eternal Being ... The feeling was amazing!!! And I mentally begged - if only it would not end ... But, according to the capricious desire of fate, everything beautiful always ends faster than we would like ...
– We gave you FAITH, it will help you, Child... Listen to her... And sling, Isidora...
I did not even have time to answer, and the Magi "flashed" with a wondrous Light and ... leaving the smell of flowering meadows, they disappeared. Sever and I were left alone... I sadly looked around - the cave remained the same mysterious and sparkling, only it no longer had that pure, warm light that penetrated the very soul...
“That was Jesus' Father, wasn't it? I asked carefully.
– Just like the grandfather and great-grandfather of his son and grandchildren, whose death is also the fault of his soul...
– ?!..
– Yes, Isidora, He is the one who bears the bitter burden of pain... And you will never be able to imagine how great it is... – Sever answered sadly.
– Perhaps it would not be so bitter today if He had pity on the good people who died from someone else’s ignorance and cruelty?.. If He had answered the call of His wonderful and bright Son, instead of handing him over to torture evil executioners? If even now he would not continue to only “observe” from his height how the “holy” accomplices of Caraffa burn Veduns and Witches in the squares? .. How is he better than Caraffa, if he does not prevent such Evil, Sever ?! After all, if he is able to help, but does not want to, all this earthly horror will forever lie on him! And neither the reason nor the explanation is important when a beautiful human life is at stake! .. I will never be able to understand this, Sever. And I will not “leave” as long as good people are being destroyed here, as long as my earthly Home is being destroyed. Even if I never see my real one... This is my destiny. And so, farewell...
Farewell, Isidora. Peace be to your soul... Forgive me.
I was again in “my” room, in my dangerous and ruthless being... And everything that had just happened seemed just a wonderful dream, which I would never dream of again in this life... Or a beautiful fairy tale, in which I probably expected someone "happy ending". But not me... I was sorry for my failed life, but I was very proud of my brave girl, who will be able to comprehend all this great Miracle... if Caraffa does not destroy her before she can defend herself.
The door opened with a noise - an enraged Caraffa stood on the threshold.
- Well, where did you "walk", Madonna Isidora? my tormentor asked in a mockingly sweet voice.
“I wanted to visit my daughter, Your Holiness. But she couldn't...
I didn't care what he thought, or whether my "outing" made him angry. My soul hovered far away, in the amazing White City, which Easten showed me, and everything around seemed distant and miserable. But Caraffa, unfortunately, did not allow me to go into dreams for a long time ... Immediately sensing my changed mood, the "holiness" panicked.
– Did they let you into Meteora, Madonna Isidora? - Caraffa asked as calmly as possible.
I knew that in his soul he was simply “burning”, wanting to get an answer faster, and I decided to torment him until he told me where my father was now.
“Does it matter, Your Holiness?” After all, you have my father, whom you can ask everything, which is natural, I will not answer. Or have you not had enough time to interrogate him yet?
– I do not advise you to talk to me in such a tone, Isidora. How you intend to behave will largely depend on his fate. Therefore, try to be more polite.
– And how would you behave if instead of mine, your father turned out to be here, Holiness? .. – trying to change the topic that had become dangerous, I asked.
“If my father was a HERETIC, I would burn him at the stake!” - Caraffa answered quite calmly.
What kind of soul did this “holy” person have?!.. And did he even have one?
“Yes, I was in Meteora, Your Holiness, and I am very sorry that I will never get there again ...” I answered sincerely.
“Have you really been expelled from there too, Isidora?” Caraffa laughed in surprise.
“No, Holiness, I was invited to stay. I left on my own...
- It can not be! There is no such person who would not want to stay there, Isidora!
- Well, why not? And my father, Holiness?
I don't believe he was allowed to. I think he should have left. It's just that his time is probably over. Or the Gift wasn't strong enough.
It seemed to me that he was trying, by all means, to convince himself of what he really wanted to believe.
- Not all people love only themselves, you know ... - I said sadly. “There is something more important than power or strength. There is still love in the world...
Caraffa brushed me off like an annoying fly, as if I had just uttered some complete nonsense ...
- Love does not control the world, Isidora, well, but I want to control it!
– A person can do anything... until he starts trying, Your Holiness – I “bite” without restraining myself.
And remembering something that she definitely wanted to know, she asked:
– Tell me, Your Holiness, do you know the truth about Jesus and Magdalene?
– Do you mean that they lived in Meteora? I nodded. - Yes, of course! That was the first thing I asked them about!
– How is this possible?!.. – I asked dumbfounded. – Did you also know that they were not Jews? Caraffa nodded again. – But you don’t talk about it anywhere, do you? Nobody knows about it! And what about the TRUTH, Your Holiness?! ..
- Do not make me laugh, Isidora! .. - Caraffa laughed sincerely. You are a real child! Who needs your "truth"? .. The crowd that never looked for it?! .. No, my dear, Truth is needed only by a handful of thinking people, and the crowd should just "believe", well, what - it no longer has much values. The main thing is that people obey. And what is presented to them at the same time is already secondary. The TRUTH is dangerous, Isidora. Where the Truth is revealed, doubts appear, well, where doubts arise, a war begins... I am waging MY war, Isidora, and so far it gives me real pleasure! The world has always been based on a lie, you see... The main thing is that this lie should be interesting enough to be able to lead "narrow-minded" minds... And believe me, Isidora, if at the same time you start proving to the crowd the real Truth that refutes them “faith” is unknown in what, and you will be torn to pieces, this same crowd ...
The Niger River is the most important river in West Africa. The length is 4,180 km, the basin area is 2,118 thousand km², the third in these parameters in Africa after the Nile and the Congo. It flows through the territory of Guinea, Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria. Source - Guinea Highlands, southeast of Guinea. Mouth of the Atlantic Ocean. The basin area is 2,117,700 km².
The Niger is fed by the waters of the summer monsoon rains. In the upper reaches, the flood begins in June and near Bamako reaches a maximum in September - October. In the lower reaches, the rise of water begins in June from local rains, in September it reaches its maximum. The average annual water flow of the Niger at the mouth is 8630 m³/s, the annual flow is 378 km³, the discharge during floods can reach 30-35 thousand m³/s.
Water supply along the current is not traditionally distributed. The lower and upper reaches of the river are located in places with high rainfall. but in the middle reaches of the river the climate is already dry.
The main tributaries of the Niger are the rivers Bani, Sokoto, Milo, Kaduna, Benue.
Niger also has an inland delta. The locals call her Masina. This vast area is located in the middle reaches of the river. It is a large heavily swampy floodplain valley. The river there has a large number of branches, oxbow lakes, lakes. Downstream, they merge into one channel. The delta is four hundred twenty-five kilometers long and eighty-seven kilometers wide.
So far, the origin of the name of the river has not been established. One of the versions says that the name of the river comes from the Latin word niger - “black”. But the indigenous people call the river in their own way. In the upper reaches, it has the name Joliba, in the middle - Egirreu, and in the lower reaches it is already Kvara. The Arabs also call it differently - Nil el-Abid, which means "Nile of Slaves".
According to one hypothesis, the name of the river comes in turn from the words "jaegerev n'egerev", which in Tamashek (one of the Tuareg languages) means "great river" or "river of rivers". So called Niger and other peoples who lived on its shores.
The source is in Guinea, then the river flows through Mali, Niger, along the border of Benin, then flows through Nigeria and flows into the Gulf of Guinea.
It originates under the name Joliba on the slopes of the Leono-Liberian Upland, flows into the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean, forming a delta. Main tributaries: on the right - Milo and Bani, on the left - Sokoto, Kaduna and Benue. From the sources to about 10 ° N. sh. N. flows to the north-east. in the mountains, mostly in a narrow valley, and then goes to the plains of Sudan. From Kurusa to Bamako and below Segou the valley is wide; here the river significantly increases its water content due to the confluence of tributaries; navigable. Between the years Ke Masina and Timbuktu N. is divided into many branches and flows in a wide, heavily swampy valley with an abundance of channels, oxbow lakes and lakes. This area is the inner delta of N.; here the river once flowed into a large drainless lake. In the Timbuktu region, the arms merge into one channel. Further, the river flows in an easterly direction for about 300 km along the southern edge of the Sahara desert, without receiving significant tributaries. From the village of Burem, the river turns to the southeast, below Mt. Elva it crosses the North Guinea Upland, where it receives many small tributaries. Further, up to the mouth (about 750 km), the river flows in a wide valley, accessible for navigation. Having taken from the city of Lokoja its largest tributary - the river. Benue, N. turns into a mighty stream up to 3 km wide and up to 20 m deep and more. The N. delta (24,000 km2) begins 180 km from the ocean (near the city of Aba). In terms of length, the largest branch is Nun, for navigation they use the deeper branch of Forcados. Sea tides cover most of the delta and only 35 km do not reach its top; their height on Forcados is about 1.2 m.
The Niger River flows through five countries. The main current passes through the territory of Mali. This river is the main water artery of this state. In these arid lands, without Niger, existence would be very difficult. The local population still believes that various spirits live in the river.
The Niger River originates just east of the Kong Mountains. There, the height above sea level is eight hundred and fifty meters. First, it heads north, towards the desert, then the river turns southeast, and then south. The river flows into the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean. A large delta with an area of twenty-five thousand kilometers is formed there. This area is covered with dense thickets and marshy.
In the upper reaches of the Niger, rapids often come across, and already in the middle reaches it has the calm character of a flat river.
In the place where the Niger merges with the tributary of the Bani, there was once a large closed lake. But today this lake is formed only during the wet season, when there is a lot of precipitation. During a flood, the total area of the delta can increase from four to twenty thousand square kilometers.
Niger is rich in fish. Carp, perch, barbel and other fish species live in the river. In the countries where the Niger flows, fishing is very developed. Fishing is often the only source of subsistence for the local population.
There is a large amount of oil in the mouth of the Niger Delta. The wise use of oil resources could help the local population out of poverty. But due to environmental pollution by oil and products of its processing, the situation is only getting worse.
The Niger is the most important river in West Africa. The length is 4180 km, the basin area is 2,117,700 km², the third in Africa after the Nile and the Congo in terms of these parameters. The source of the river is on the slopes of the Leono-Liberian Upland in southeastern Guinea. The river flows through the territory of Mali, Niger, along the border with Benin, and then through the territory of Nigeria. It flows into the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean, forming a delta in the confluence area. The largest tributary of the Niger is the Benue River. The exact origin of the name of the river is unknown, and among researchers there has long been a dispute on this matter. Popular is the opinion that the name of the river comes from the Tuareg nehier-ren - "river, flowing water." According to one hypothesis, the name of the river comes in turn from the words "jaegerev n'egerev", which in Tamashek (one of the Tuareg languages) means "great river" or "river of rivers". So called Niger and some other peoples who lived on its shores.
There is also a hypothesis according to which the Latin word niger, that is, "black", is a derivative of the name of the river. Such a hypothesis admits that historically the words "Niger" and "Negro" have the same root, since the latter also comes from the word "black".
The natives, living near the coast, in some sections of the course call the river differently: Joliba (in the Mandingo language - “big river”), Mayo, Eghirreu, Izo, Quorra (Kuarra, Kovara), Baki-n-ruu, etc. etc., but at the same time, the vast majority of these names in translation mean "river".
Hydrography
The source is located on the slopes of the Leono-Liberian Upland in southeastern Guinea. In the upper course, the river is called Dzholiba. The river flows northeast, crossing the border with Mali. In the upper and lower reaches of the Niger there are rapids, flowing mainly in a narrow valley. In the middle reaches of the Niger, it has the character of a flat river. From the Guinean city of Kurusa to the Malian capital of Bamako, and also below the city of Segou, the Niger flows through a wide valley and is navigable. Below the Malian city of Ke Masina, the Niger divides into several branches, forming an inland delta. In the Inner Delta region, the Niger Valley is heavily swamped. Previously, in this place, the Niger flowed into an endorheic lake. In the Timbuktu region, numerous branches merge into one channel. The river then flows east along the southern border of the Sahara for 300 km. Near the town of Burem, the Niger turns to the southeast and flows in a wide valley to the very mouth, navigable. The river flows through the territory of Niger, where there are numerous dry riverbeds (wadis) that once flowed into Niger, along the border of Benin, then flows through Nigeria and flows into the Gulf of Guinea, forming a vast delta with an area of 24 thousand km². The longest arm of the delta is the Nun, but the deeper Forcados arm is used for navigation.
Major tributaries of the Niger: Milo, Bani (right); Sokoto, Kaduna and Benue (left).
The Niger is a relatively “clean” river, compared to the Nile, the turbidity of its water is about ten times less. This is due to the fact that the upper reaches of the Niger pass through rocky terrain and do not carry much silt. Like the Nile, the Niger floods every year. It starts in September, peaks in November, and finishes by May.
An unusual feature of the river is the so-called Inner Niger Delta, formed at the site of a strong decrease in the longitudinal channel slope. The area is an area of multi-channel channel, marches and lakes the size of Belgium. It has a length of 425 km with an average width of 87 km. Seasonal floods make the inland delta extremely favorable for fishing and agriculture.
Niger loses approximately two-thirds of its flow in the section of the inner delta between Segou and Timbuktu due to evaporation and seepage. 
Even the waters of the Bani River flowing into the delta near the city of Mopti are not enough to compensate for these losses. Average losses are estimated at 31 km³/year (which varies greatly from year to year). After the inner delta, many tributaries flow into the Niger, but evaporative losses are still very large. The volume of water entering Nigeria in the Yola region was estimated at 25 km3/year before the 1980s and 13.5 km3/year during the eighties. The most important tributary of the Niger is the Benue, which merges with it at Lokoji. The volume of inflows into Nigeria is six times greater than the volume of Niger itself when it enters the country. By the Niger Delta, the discharge of Niger increases to 177 km3 / year (data until the 1980s, during the eighties - 147.3 km3 / year.
History of the Niger River
In the Middle Ages, Arab geographers believed that the Niger was connected to the Nile. The beginning of this idea was laid by Greek geographers - according to Herodotus, for example, Nager was the source of the Nile, flowing down from the Atlas. One of the first to challenge this opinion in his essay "Travels in Africa" (1799) was W. G. Brown. In 1796, a young Scottish doctor, Mungo Park, was the first European to reach Niger. The park found that the Niger flows to the east and has nothing to do with either Senegal or the Gambia - earlier Europeans believed that the Niger was divided into these two rivers. M. Park was going to find out where the actual current of the Niger was directed, but due to tropical fever he was forced to turn back. In 1805, he again visited the Niger and explored its course from Bamako to Bussang, where he was killed by the locals. At that time, nothing was known about the lower course of the Niger, but it was believed that it flows into the Gulf of Guinea. This opinion was confirmed by the voyages of Dixon Denham and Hugh Clapperton in 1825 and Clapperton's second voyage in 1827. In the late 1920s, the French traveler Rene Calle visited Timbuktu, posing as an Arab merchant. In 1830, the British government sent Richard Lander (English) Russian, Clapperton's companion on a previous journey, to the banks of the Niger, to more carefully study the course of the river, Lander, with his brother (English) Russian, reached Bussang by land, descended from there downstream and, having sailed a path of 900 km, reached the Gulf of Guinea. In 1832, Lander entered the Niger through the Bay of Benin and sailed up the river; the same journey, at the same time, was made by Laird (English) Russian. and Oldfield, of which the latter sailed to Rabbi, 750 km from the mouth. Bikes (English) Russian, together with English naval officers, explored in 1857-64 the lower reaches of the Niger to Rabba and founded missions and trading stations along its banks. The middle course of the river, from Timbuktu to Sai, was explored by Barth in 1854. The course of the Niger between the mouth of the Benue and the Rabbah was explored by Ralph in 1867, but as early as 1832 Lang almost reached the headwaters of the Niger, the main springs of which, Thembi, were discovered by Mustier and Zweiffel in 1879. An exact study of the course of the Niger between Gammaki and Timbuktu, with its mapping, was made by the French officer Caron in 1887.
In the 19th century, the French established themselves in the upper part of the middle reaches of the Niger, near Timbuktu. Trade from here was directed to the west, that is, to the lower reaches of the Senegal River. Meanwhile, in the lower reaches of the Niger, European trading posts had long existed - in the 80s of the 19th century, the British bought French trading posts.
On October 24, 1946, three Frenchmen, Jean Sauvy, Pierre Ponty and film director Jean Rouch, all former employees in the African 
French colonies, decided to make a trip along the entire length of the river, which, most likely, no one had ever done before them. They began their journey from the very source of the Niger in the region of Kisidougou, Guinea-Bissau, at first on foot, as conditions did not allow the use of a raft. They then traveled in a wide variety of watercraft as the river widened and deepened. Pierre Ponty stopped the journey at Niamey and two others reached the ocean on 25 March 1947. They filmed their journey with a 16mm camera, from which Jean Rouch edited his first two ethnographic documentaries: "Au pays des mages noirs" and "La chasse à l'hippopotame". The film served as an illustration for Rusch's later published book, Le Niger En Pirogue (1954), as well as Descente du Niger (2001). Pierre Ponty also carried a typewriter with him and sent articles to newspapers along the way.
In 2005, Norwegian traveler Helge Hjelland undertook another expedition along the length of the Niger, starting in Guinea-Bissau in 2005. He also made a documentary about his journey called The Cruellest Journey.
bend in the river
The Niger has one of the most unusual channel plans among major rivers. Like a boomerang, this direction has baffled European geographers for almost two millennia. The source of the Niger is located only 240 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean, but the river begins its course in the opposite direction, into the Sahara, after which it turns sharply to the right near the ancient city of Timbuktu and flows southeast to the Gulf of Guinea. The ancient Romans thought that the river near Timbuktu was part of the Nile, as Pliny thought, for example. Ibn Battuta also held the same point of view. The first European explorers believed that the upper Niger flows west and joins the Senegal River.
Such a very unusual direction arose, probably due to the union of two rivers into one in ancient times. The upper Niger, beginning west of Timbuktu, ended approximately at the bend of the modern river, emptying into a now defunct lake, while the lower Niger began from the hills near that lake and flowed south into the Gulf of Guinea. After the development of the Sahara in 4000-1000. BC e., two rivers changed their directions and merged into one as a result of interception (eng. Stream capture).
River transport
In September 2009, the Nigerian government allocated 36 billion naira to dredging the Niger from Baro 
(Eng. Baro (Nigeria)) to Warri in order to clean the bottom of silt. Dredging was intended to facilitate the transportation of goods to settlements located far from the Atlantic Ocean. Similar work was supposed to be carried out several decades ago, but they were postponed. Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua noted that the project will enable year-round navigation in Niger and expressed his hope that Nigeria will become one of the twenty most industrialized countries in the world by 2020. Alhayi Ibrahim Bio, Nigeria's transport minister, said the ministry would do its best to complete the project within the allotted time frame. Concerns were raised that such work could have a negative impact on the villages located in the coastal zones. At the end of March 2010, the Niger dredging project was 50% complete.
Information
- Length: 4180 km
- Swimming pool: 2,117,700 km²
- Water consumption: 8630 m³/s (mouth)
- mouth: Gulf of Guinea
Source. wikipedia.org
Where does the Niger River begin and where does it flow?, the third largest river in Africa? Perhaps, in the history of world science there are not many problems that would occupy the minds for so long. The problem of Niger was born in the 5th century. BC e.Herodotus on a Journey to South Africa
Greek Herodotus, who has been called the "father of history", told about the journey from Libya to the southwest Africa five young nomads from the Nasamones tribe. The Nasamones set off on their journey, trying to penetrate as far as possible into southern Africa. They crossed the sandy deserts and reached fertile country, replete with various unfamiliar plants. But here they were captured by some short people with black skin, speaking a language they did not understand, and taken away with them. The captives passed through vast swampy areas, behind which they saw big river flowing from west to east; they noticed a large number of crocodiles in its waters. After many adventures, the young Nasamones returned home safely.Herodotus' mistaken assumption that the Niger is a tributary of the Nile
It is hardly possible to say with certainty whether the journey of the Nasamones actually took place or whether it was fiction. Based on the story of Herodotus in Europe, they first learned about the existence of a large river deep in West Africa, flowing from west to east. But at the same time, Herodotus made a mistake, understandable and justified given the then level of human knowledge about the world in which he lives, but finally refuted only in the 19th century. The Greeks had no idea about the actual size of the African continent, but they already knew the Nile quite well, in the valley of which the great civilization of Ancient Egypt developed - Greece owed a lot to it. Naturally, therefore, Herodotus suggested like a big river, which was discussed in the story he wrote down about the journey of the Nasamones, - west tributary of the Nile . And this view lasted more than two millennia. Geographic representations of Herodotus became the basis on which the maps of the interior of Africa were created, which appeared in the writings of such ancient scholars as the Roman Pliny the Elder(I century AD) and in particular the great geographer of the ancient world Claudius Ptolemy. Exactly Ptolemy's map for many centuries became a source of geographical information for the people of the Middle Ages. This map, with all its imperfections for its time, was major scientific achievement.Cultural Heritage of the Middle East
The knowledge accumulated by the scientists of antiquity, medieval Europe received mainly in the transmission of Arab scientists: on Middle East cultural heritage much better preserved than in the early medieval states of Europe, where the all-powerful Catholic Church was suspicious of most of the monuments of paganism, and the closed subsistence economy of feudal society did not really encourage the development of geography. In the Middle East at that time there were huge flourishing cities with developed handicrafts and lively trade relations.The Arabs were attracted by the geographical work of Ptolemy
It is clear that Arabs were attracted by the geographical work of Ptolemy. A native of Central Asia, a great mathematician, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi in the ninth century revised "Geography" of Ptolemy, supplementing it with the information that the Arabs were able to accumulate by this time. A century later, some Suhrab in turn, he reworked al-Khwarizmi's "Book of the Earth's Appearance", supplementing and enriching with new features the appearance of the then known part of the globe, drawn by Ptolemy.
But neither al-Khwarizmi nor Sukhrab made any significant changes to the map of West Africa. Arab geography of that time was a "bookish" science and was based on ancient and Hellenistic theories. And Muslim merchants, by the 9th century. well mastered trade routes to Ghana - largest country in West Africa of that period, were not too interested in the nature of this part of the continent: trade routes or goods that could be obtained here absorbed all their attention. Accumulating real knowledge about the interior of Africa
But gradually, as they accumulated real knowledge about the hinterland of Africa, among Arab geographers, ideas about these areas begin to become more complicated. Of course, this does not mean that they could give a clear answer to the question of what, for example, the basins of the Nile and Niger look like. The complication of the picture was expressed mainly in the appearance (starting from the third quarter of the 10th century) in the works of Arab geographers and on the maps compiled by them, along with the familiar and well-known "Nile of Egypt" several more Nils: "Black Nile", "Zinj Nile", etc. At the same time, the majority of Arab writers, as it were, tacitly adhered to the old point of view of Herodotus: for them, the connection Nile West African with Nile of Egypt was taken for granted. In the same way, they had no doubts that the “big river” on the map of West Africa (“Countries of the Blacks”) flows from west to east.Conflicting accounts of the Niger and Sinegal rivers
But as the Muslim merchants moved south, complications arose: having become acquainted with two different rivers - Niger and Senegal, merchants, and after them, geographers begin to mix them up. For the first time such a mixture of these large West African rivers appears in the "Book of Ways and States" by the Spanish-Arab geographer and historian al-Bekri in the middle of the 11th century. Sam al-Bekri never been to west africa, he described it based on the materials of the rich archives of Cordoba, where many reports of Muslim merchants from different cities of Spain were stored. These merchants traded more than anyone else with the peoples living south of the Sahara. And al-Bekri either did not pay attention to the contradiction between different documents that spoke of a large river in ancient Ghana and adjacent countries (in some documents it was stated that the river flows from east to west, and in others - from west to east), or, as Arab historians and geographers of the Middle Ages often did, he cited the information of both without criticism, relying on the usual formula in such cases: “Allah knows best!” But if al-Bekri simply fixed a contradiction, then the great geographer al-Idrisi(XII century) adopted a point of view that was directly opposite to the previously prevailing one. It also mixes Niger and Senegal, but its West African "Nile" flows only from east to west. The scientific authority of al-Idrisi turned out to be great enough to make this mistake (however, one of many) set for several centuries. It could not be refuted by the quite definite evidence of a traveler Ibn Battuty(XIV century) that the "Black Nile" flows from west to east. But Ibn Battuta was the first of the authors of Arabic geographical works, who personally visited Niger. At the same time, being a man of practice, far from scientific discussions, he firmly adhered to the old point of view: "Nile of Egypt" and "Nile of blacks" are one and the same river. Of course, in the eyes of people involved in geographical science, the testimony of a simple merchant could not compete with the opinion of such a scientist as al-Idrisi.African lion saw Niger
More than that, even when a century and a half after Ibn Battuta, the regions along the Niger were twice visited by the North African traveler and scholar al-Hasan ibn Wazzaz al-Fasi, known in Europe under the name African lion, the authority of al-Idrisi remained decisive. Lion African Not only seen Niger with my own eyes; he sailed on it more than once and went down this river from Timbuktu to Djenne. It seemed that he could not but know in which direction the river was flowing! But, unfortunately, in his Description of Africa, which glorified his name, Leo Africanus did not say a single word about the direction in which the Niger flows. And this silence was taken as an agreement with al-Idrisi.
For two and a half centuries, the book of Leo Africanus remained in Europe the main source of information about the African continent.. And it never occurred to anyone to refute the opinion of al-Idrisi about the direction of the flow of the Niger. Of course, it cannot be said that the accumulation of information about the geography of the interior regions of West Africa has completely stopped. European scholars heard vague rumors about the existence somewhere far from the coast of a huge lake, to which you can go through the lands of the Hausa people, that is, through the current Northern Nigeria. And a major geographer of the late XVI century. Ortelius connected with this lake - real Lake Chad- Niger flow. On his map, the river begins south of the equator, crosses it, flows into Chad, and from there flows west, to a certain "Lake Guber." Having passed this alleged lake, the Niger flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the area actual mouth of Senegal. The performances of Ortelius are interesting, among other things, because they contain a lot of quite real, but completely fantastically mixed material. Portuguese Knowledge of West Africa
Portuguese probably already at the end of the 15th century. became aware of the existence of several lakes along the upper reaches of the Niger above Timbuktu - lake Debo, Fagibin, Tanda and others. Something became known about the wealthy Hausan cities further to the east; one of the most important among them was gobir. And in 1564 on the map of the Italian Giacomo di Castaldi appears in the depths West Africa the huge “Lake Huber” (by the way, for the first time Europeans learned about Huber from the same “Description of Africa” by Leo Africanus). “Lake Guber” was regularly reproduced on their maps by everyone who was engaged in the geography of Africa until the end of the 18th century. And almost all the time continued to consider the Niger and Senegal as one river. True, there was a certain positive side to these erroneous views: already did not mix Niger with the Nile, and the very name "Niger" since the 16th century. firmly established on European maps.Expanding geographic knowledge about Africa
But in general expanding geographical knowledge about Africa in the period between the appearance in 1550 of the first Italian edition of the "Description of Africa" and the first expedition Mungo Parka in the mid 90s of the XVIII century. went much more slowly than at the beginning of the era of the great geographical discoveries of the XV - the first quarter of the XVI century. The discovery of America and the successful penetration of Europeans into the regions of the South Seas led to the fact that the leading role in the economy of Europe passed from the countries of the Mediterranean to the countries of the Atlantic coast. At the same time, the capture of almost all of North Africa by the Ottoman Empire contributed to an even greater weakening of the usual contacts between Southern Europe and the Middle East. And in Africa itself, the main ties with Europeans moved to the west coast: from here the main export product was sent to the New World - slaves for plantations and mines. Africa was turning, in the words of K. Marx, into a "reserved hunting ground for blacks."Slave trade
In search of new sources of this terrible commodity, European sailors quickly explored the Atlantic coast of Africa and mapped it quite accurately. But in the deep regions, things were different. Since slaves were brought to the coast by African rulers, there was no need for a European to move away from coastal markets and penetrate deep into the continent. Besides, slave trade was so profitable for the African rulers themselves that they would hardly have welcomed the penetration of Europeans deep into the country. Therefore, the difficulties and obstacles in the way of those who tried to move at least a little away from the coastal forts-factories were great. For a time, this position more or less suited European merchants and African leaders. But in the second half of the XVIII century. circumstances began to change rapidly. In European countries, the positions of those who sought to ban the slave trade. Many reasons contributed to this, and the desire of British merchants and industrialists to prevent the development of the economy of the former North American colonies, which was largely based on the massive use of plantation slavery, played an important role.The Industrial Revolution won in England
In the same time in England finally industrial revolution won I; The capitalist mode of production became the dominant force in the country's economy. The strengthened British bourgeoisie needed new sources of raw materials, new strongholds in all parts of the world. After the successful end for England in 1763 of the Seven Years' War the question of the possession of India was decided in favor of the British. British colonial interests moved from North America and the West Indies to the east. But this did not mean a weakening of attention to other regions of the globe. It is no coincidence that just at that time in England interest in geographical research of overseas lands was growing unusually rapidly, and among these lands Africa ranks first. But discoveries could be expected only with a certain level of organizational and financial support for research enterprises. Well, the British bourgeoisie was rich enough, and enterprising enough, and far-sighted enough to give such support to their compatriots who would dare to take on the hard work of exploring unknown lands.Creation of the African Society
In 1788 in London there was organized by the African Society(Society for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior of Africa). It is characteristic that, when announcing the creation of the society, its founders specifically drew attention to the fact that European ideas about the interior regions of Africa are almost entirely based on information provided by al-Idrisi and Leo Africanus. And in the first place among the tasks to be solved, it was put to determine where does the Niger begin and where does it flow. The report on the founding meeting of the society stated:"The course of the Niger, the places of its source and end, and even its existence as an independent river, have not yet been determined."Thus, from the end of the 18th century systematic exploration of inner Africa begins. Already in the first year of its existence, the society sent two researchers to Africa, who were supposed to cross the continent in different directions. First, John Ledyard, it was instructed to pass "from east to west along the latitude of Niger." Second, Simon Lucas, had
"cross the Sahara desert, moving from Tripoli to Fezzan",and then return to England
"through the Gambia or across the Guinean coast".Neither Ledyard nor Lucas failed to complete these tasks. The first died before he even left Cairo, and the second, having landed in Tripoli in October 1788, could not wait for the end of the war that was being waged between the nomadic tribes who lived along the main caravan road to Fezzan. And without this there was nothing to think about the journey. In July 1789 Lucas returned to England. Then the leaders of the society decided to try another route to Niger - through the Gambia (this route was shorter, although they did not yet know about it).
Houghton's trip to Africa
It was from here that he began his journey to the hinterland Africa retired major Houghton, who served for several years in the colonial troops on the coast of West Africa. In November 1790, he moved from the mouth of the Gambia to the east with the task of visiting"Cities of Timbuktu and Hausa". He had succeeded in reaching the region of Bamboo in the upper reaches of Senegal, and Houghton hoped to reach Timbuktu. But, crossing Senegal, not far from the present Malian city of Nioro, Houghton died. Scientific results of the Houghton expedition despite his death, were very important. Houghton installed:
- that the Niger flows from west to east.
- His news from Africa contained confirmation that the river in its middle course passes through the areas inhabited by the Hausa people.
Mungo Park Expedition
And only in 1795 did a young Scottish doctor offer his services to society Mungo Park. In May 1795 he went from the mouth of the Gambia the same way as Houghton. It took him more than a year to reach the city of Segou (in the modern Republic of Mali), where he first saw Niger. It was July 20, 1796.“I,” Park wrote, “with great pleasure saw the main goal of my expedition - the majestic Niger, which I thought about for so long, wide, like the Thames at Westminster, sparkling in the morning sun and flowing east”. Park was the first modern European who saw with his own eyes that the river still flows from west to east(Houghton's data was based on numerous inquiries from local residents who had a good idea of the real picture). Of course, it was a great success. However, no less successful was the fact that Park managed to return to England and in 1799 published an account of his journey.. The book was accompanied by a voluminous note by the greatest geographer of England at that time James Rennell dedicated to the scientific results of Park's journey. In it, Rennel hypothesized that the Niger flows into "vast lakes" in eastern Africa, from where excess water evaporates due to the large area of \u200b\u200bthe water table. This theory has gained almost universal acceptance.
Friedrich Hornemann's notes
However, some researchers still preferred to believe that the Niger is connected to the Nile. The flow of the Niger into the Nile was also mentioned in the diaries sent from Fezzan by Friedrich Hornemann, a young German scientist who was invited by the African Society to try to approach the Niger from the north. Latest records in the diary he kept Horneman, which contains the assumption of the connection of the Niger with the Nile, refer to April 1800, after which there was no information about Horneman. Later it became known that he managed to reach the state of Nupe in the lower Niger and died there. After the great success of the Park expedition science had only hypotheses regarding the origins of the Niger and its mouth. And only new travels could confirm or refute them. By this time, a significant change had taken place in the organization of geographical research by English scientists in Africa. Under pressure from the British bourgeoisie, interested in opening up new markets, the British government is decisively involved in the planning and financing of expeditions.Mungo Park's second expedition
List of government expeditions opened Mungo Park's second expedition, which set off for Africa from England in January 1805. The park should have reached the Niger and descended along it to the mouth, wherever it was. The traveler was going to repeat his route, which he took ten years ago. He intended to build a ship in Sega and go downstream (it was for this purpose that he included shipbuilders in the expedition). In total, the Park group included forty-four Europeans and one African guide. Perhaps this choice of satellites to a large extent predetermined the tragic failure of the entire enterprise: in the last letter of the Park, written by him in November 1805, it was reported that only five Europeans survived - the unusual climate and tropical diseases did their job. And although Park managed to go down the Niger for more than one and a half thousand kilometers (to the city of Busa in modern Nigeria), the expedition ended in a complete disaster: Park and three of his companions who had survived by that time died on the rapids near Busa. The expedition did not produce any scientific results. All of Park's records died with him..
Before Park's departure for the second expedition, a new hypothesis was put forward that Niger and Congo are one river(at the beginning of the 19th century, only the mouth of the third great river of Africa was known to European sailors, although the first Portuguese ships reached this mouth more than three hundred years earlier). To test the hypothesis that the Niger and the Congo are one river, the British government tried in 1816. Captain Takka's Expedition
Captain Takka's Expedition was supposed to climb up the Congo, and the second expedition, led by Major peddy, go to the Niger and go downstream. But almost all the participants of both expeditions died of illness during the journey, and these expeditions also remained inconclusive. Then in England for some time they abandoned attempts to pass to Niger from the ocean, and the northern direction again came to the fore.Ritchie and Lyon Expedition
The very next year, from Tripoli moved south Ritchie and Lyon Expedition, whose goal was to achieve Timbuktu. But she couldn't do it either. Travelers have only reached Murzuka, center Fezzan region: here Ritchie died, and Lyon, who tried to continue his journey, soon had to return due to lack of funds. However, Lyon, after questioning a large number of Africans involved in one form or another in the caravan trade across the Sahara, came to the conclusion that the waters of the Niger are connected to the great Nile of Egypt.Dr. Audney's Expedition
The first successful attempt to explore the interior of West Africa from the Mediterranean coast belongs to an expedition that set off in 1821. It was led by Dr. Audney, the expedition included Major Denham and lieutenant of the fleet Clapperton. Coming out of Tripoli, the expedition, after long months of struggling with the harsh nature and obstacles that were repaired by the warlike tribes roaming the desert, reached Lake Chad. True, this did not bring Denham and his comrades any closer to solving the Niger problem, although Denham really hoped that the solution would be found here. But already what for the first time Europeans reached Lake Chad, it was no small event. Denham remained in the state of Bornu on the shores of Chad, while Clapperton and Audney moved west, intending to explore the areas of the Hausa people and, if possible, reach Niger. But in Kano, the largest of the Hausa cities, only Clapperton arrived; Audney died on the road. In Kano, Clapperton first heard that Quorra(as Niger was called here) flows into the ocean in the Yoruba country (in the southwest of present-day Nigeria), where European ships come. True, this idea in itself was not unexpected: after all, at the beginning of the century, the German geographer Karl Reichard wrote about such a possibility. But then his point of view did not meet with support: it was believed that the path to the Gulf of Benin was blocked by a chain of granite mountains.
From Kano, Clapperton moved further west. In Sokoto, the capital of the huge sultanate just created by the Fulbe people, he was warmly received by the Sultan Muhammad Bello. In conversations with a European, the Sultan confirmed that it was really possible to get to the sea along a large river. However, on the map that Mohammed Bello drew for his guest, Niger was connected to the Nile, and in order to avoid misunderstanding, an explanation was given to the map: "This is the river Quorra that reaches Egypt and is called the Nile."Now it is difficult to say how the unexpected contradiction between the words of the Sultan and his map can be explained: admiration for the traditional ideas of Muslim geographers or sober political calculation. After all, Mohammed Bello had enough information to fear the penetration of the British into his country. The Sultan was fully aware that, in addition to losing the advantages of intermediary trade, the penetration of the guest's compatriots into his country could lead to unpleasant political consequences. Not without reason, during Clapperton's second visit to Sokoto in 1827, he was told:
"If the British are too encouraged, they will certainly come to the Sudan one by one until they are strong enough to take over the country ... as they did in India, which was wrested from the hands of the Muslims."Perhaps it was hard to say. Be that as it may, Clapperton was not allowed to Niger. He had to return to Bornu. Denham, who remained here, also collected information about the Niger and heard confirmation that this river merges with the Nile. Thus, the expedition, despite its undoubted success, did not establish the main thing - where the Niger begins and where it flows: neither the source nor the mouth of the Niger has yet been found. In 1824 Denham and Clapperton returned to their homeland. After their journey, to a certain extent, it strengthened erroneous point of view regarding the connection of the Niger and the Nile. But in essence, by this time it had already been irrefutably proven that to merge with Nilom nigga can't, no matter which direction it flows. Moreover, this was proved not speculatively, but strictly experimentally, based on a barometric measurement of the absolute height of the most likely source of the great West African river. The man who made this discovery was called
Niger River flows through the territory of five countries: Guinea, Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria. The middle course of the river falls on the territory of the state of Mali. Mali is deprived of access to the sea and therefore the river is its main artery. Without it, existence in these arid lands would be very difficult. Many locals still retain their traditional beliefs and believe that the river is inhabited by various spirits.
River length: 4180 km.
Watershed area: 2,117,700 km. sq.
Estuary water flow: 8630 m3/s.
The origin of the name of the river is still not exactly established. According to one version, the name of the river comes from the Latin word niger, i.e. "black". The indigenous people call the river differently. In the upper reaches, the name Joliba is most common, in the middle reaches it is Egirreu, in the lower reaches the river is called Kvara. The Arabs, in turn, also came up with a rather original name - Nil el-Abid (Nile of Slaves).
Where does it run: The Niger River originates east of the Cong Mountains, in Guinea. The height of the source above sea level is 850 meters. First, the river flows north, towards the desert, then, on the territory of Mali, the river changes its direction of flow to the southeast, and even further, downstream - to the south. The river flows into the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean, forming a large delta at the mouth with an area of 25,000 square meters. km. The delta is swampy and covered with dense mangroves. Rapids are often found in the upper and lower reaches, and in the middle reaches of the Niger it has the character of a flat river flow.
River mode
Niger is fed by the summer monsoons. The flood begins in June and reaches a maximum in September-October. It is characterized by a large dependence of water consumption on the season. The average water flow at the mouth is 8630 m³/s, during floods it rises to 30-35 thousand m³/s.
The feeding of the river is rather unusually distributed along the current. The upper and lower reaches of the river are located in areas with high rainfall, while in the middle reaches the climate is characterized by great dryness.
Main tributaries: Milo, Bani, Sokoto, Kaduna, Benue.
In addition to the estuarine delta, Niger also has inland delta or as the inhabitants of Mali call it - Masina. Masina is a vast area in the middle reaches of the river. It is a heavily swampy floodplain with a large number of branches, lakes and oxbow lakes, connecting downstream again into one channel. The length of the delta is 425 kilometers, the average width is 87 km.
Inner Delta:
Interesting fact: At the confluence of the Niger with the tributary of the Bani, in the old days there was a large drainless lake. Today, the lake only forms during the wet season. During a flood, the area of the delta increases from 3.9 to 20 thousand km2. sq.
Biological resources: quite a lot of fish live in Niger (carp, perch, barbel). This contributes to the development of fisheries. Fishing is the main source of subsistence for many locals.
Oil: there is a large amount of oil in the mouth of the Niger Delta. These guys are chasing her.
In fact, the wise use of resources could help the inhabitants of the delta get out of poverty, but today the situation is only worsening due to oil pollution.
The Niger River on the map:
