Niger river area. Africa, interesting and world famous Niger River. Creation of the African Society

The famous Niger River flows in West Africa, its length is 4180 kilometers, which means that it occupies the fourteenth place in the world. In Africa, Niger is in third place after the Congo and the Nile. At the same time, the river basin has an area of ​​over two million square kilometers. In the Guinean Highlands, in the southeast of Guinea, the Niger water stream begins its journey. And its end falls in the Gulf of Guinea, in the Atlantic Ocean. Compare with .

Features of the Niger River

The waters of the Niger River are heading northeast towards the Sahara. From there, turn twenty kilometers from the ancient city of Timbuktu to the southeast. Only after such a journey does Niger rush to the Atlantic coast. According to experts, in ancient times, when there was no Sahara desert, two rivers flowed in this territory. They flowed into large lakes, near the city of Timbuktu. From where only one stream flowed, bringing water to the Gulf of Guinea. Conventionally, this place is called Lower Niger. Who knows ?

About five thousand years ago, the Sahara began to form. For this reason, the rivers with their sources disappeared. The lake itself also disappeared, however, a new river was formed, which consisted of small rivers, including reservoirs of West Africa. From here began the Lower Niger, the source of which was on the Atlantic coast. In other words, the great Sahara Desert radically changed the geographical features of Central and North Africa. In Guinea, the Niger River originates. On its territory you can see the Futa-Dzhallon plateau, which is in the province of Labe. A river is formed by the union of several streams. This river rushes along a narrow valley to the northeast, while on both sides it is sandwiched by mountains.

The valley expands again on the territory of Mali and becomes more calm and full-flowing between the cities of Segou and Ba-Mako. Further, up to Timbuktu itself, the water stream splits into several branches, its waters rush through the swampy flat region, where there are a large number of small lakes and channels. Note that it was here in ancient times that there was a lake where the northern rivers flowed.

The river once again forms one channel beyond the city of Timbuktu, and flows eastward along the southern reaches of the Sahara. The length of this route is approximately 320 kilometers. The river waters, having reached the village of Bureem, immediately turn to the southeast. Near the city of Ayora, the waters intersect with the state border, falling into Niger. By the way, the capital Niamey is located on the river, where one million sixty thousand people live. By the way, this city is spread on both banks.

A little further, the river creates a state border between Benin and Niger, and from there it heads to Nigeria. It is quite difficult to list the entire route of the Niger River, but it is truly unique. Experts have not been able to fully explain this phenomenon. However, this does not prevent travelers who crave adventure from coming here.

From dry facts, you can move on to interesting moments. The name of the river was formed from the Tuareg language and means "river" or "flowing water". One hypothesis claims that the name of the river came from the words "jägerev", translated as "river of rivers" or "great river". Also, other peoples who lived on the banks of the Niger called it that way. Of course, there are many assumptions, however, there is no exact information about where the name came from. By the way, a large number of different tribes live on the banks of the Niger, who adhere to ancient traditions and are engaged in animal husbandry.

Many hydroelectric facilities and dams were built on the river. However, only in some places of the river navigation is developed. This is especially true for the Niamey city region.

In winter, the Niger River freezes over. Various species of fish live in its waters, for this reason, fishing is well developed in this area. Mostly locals trade on: perches, carps and barbels. On the banks of the river is very diverse and beautiful vegetation. A real oasis is formed along the coast. Every year, thousands of tourists visit the Niger River. Let's just say that the journey is not easy, here, at every step, travelers are in danger.

Thanks to the summer monsoons, the Niger River replenishes its water reserves. Floods begin in June and last until September and October. The food of the river is interestingly distributed along the course. The lower and upper reaches are located in regions with a solid amount of precipitation. But in the middle reaches, a predominantly dry climate prevails. The main tributaries of the Niger are: Benue, Kaduna, Sokoto, Bani and Milo.

A large amount of oil has been discovered in the mouth delta of the river, it is under the protection of the military. Most of the locals are engaged in fishing throughout their lives. This area is very developed in this region. The West African stream is called relatively clean. Compared to the Nile, the Niger replenishes the ocean with less water. This is because of the rocks, which give a minimum of silt. It is also worth mentioning that the Niger River is of great economic importance for West Africa.

Location water system Countries

Guinea Guinea, Mali Mali, Niger Niger, Benin Benin, Nigeria Nigeria

K: Rivers in alphabetical order K: Water bodies in alphabetical order K: Rivers up to 5000 km in length K: River card: fill in: Region Niger (river) Niger (river)

The source of the river is on the slopes 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 area of ​​confluence. The largest tributary of the Niger is the Benue River.

Etymology

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 on the slopes of the Leono-Liberian Upland in southeastern Guinea. The upper reaches of the river are called Joliba. 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 Curusa to the Malian capital of Bamako, as well as below the city of Segou, Niger flows through a wide valley and is navigable. Below the Malian city of Ke Masina, the Niger divides into several branches, forming the 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 the 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 branch of the delta is Nun, but for shipping use the deeper branch Forcados.

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 km 3 /year (their size 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 km 3 /year before the 1980s and 13.5 km 3 /year during the eighties. The most important tributary of the Niger is the Benue, which merges with it at the Lokoji region. 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 flow rates of Niger increase to 177 km 3 / year (data until the 1980s, during the eighties - 147.3 km 3 / year.

Hydrological regime

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 flow during floods can reach 30-35 thousand m³ / s.

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 film about his journey, which he called "Nightmare Journey" ( "The Crullest Journey") .

bend in the river

The Niger has one of the most unusual channel plans among major rivers. Similar to a boomerang, such a direction baffled European geographers for nearly two millennia. The source of Niger is located only 240 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean, but the river begins its journey in the exact 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, such as Pliny believed. The same point of view was also held. The very first European explorers believed that the upper Niger flows west and connects with the Senegal River.

Such a very unusual direction arose, probably due to the unification of two rivers into one in antiquity. 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 ).

Economic use

The most fertile lands are in the inner delta and the mouth delta of the river. The river brings 67 million tons of silt per year.

Many dams and hydropower facilities have been built on the river. The Egrette and Sansanding dams raise water for irrigation canals. The largest hydroelectric facility in Niger, Kainji, was built in the 1960s. The power of the hydroelectric power plant is 960 MW, the reservoir area is about 600 km².

Navigation on the river is developed only in some areas, especially from the city of Niamey to the confluence with the ocean. A large number of fish (perch, carp, etc.) live in the river, so fishing is developed among the locals.

River transport

In September 2009, the Nigerian government allocated 36 billion naira to dredging the Niger from Baro. Baro (Nigeria) ) to Varri in order to clean the bottom from silt. Dredging was intended to facilitate the transport of goods to settlements 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 have been raised that such work may 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.

Financing

Most investment in the development of Niger comes from aid funds. For example, the construction of the Kandaji dam is financed by the Islamic Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the development fund of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The World Bank approved a low - interest loan in July 2007 for financial projects in the Niger Basin for a twelve - year period . In addition to the goals of restoring dams in Niger, the loan also aims to restore ecosystems and build economic potential.

Cities

downstream

protected areas

• Management of the Niger Basin
• Upper Niger National Park
• Western National Park
• Kainji National Park

see also

Write a review on the article "Niger (river)"

Notes

1. F. L. Ageenko.. - M: ENAS, 2001.
2. Gleick, Peter H. (2000), The World's Water, 2000-2001: The Biennial Report on Freshwater, Island Press, p. 33, ISBN 1-55963-792-7; online at
3. Niger (a river in Africa) / Muranov A.P. // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. : Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
4. V. K. Gubarev.. retravel.ru. Retrieved March 7, 2012. .
5. Friedrich Hahn. Africa. - 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg: Printing house of the partnership "Enlightenment", 1903. - S. 393-395. - 772 p. - (World Geography under the general editorship of Prof. V. Sievers.).
6. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
7. , S. 191
8. , pp. 191–192
9. FAO: , 1997
10. Baugh, Brenda, Documentary Education Resources , . Retrieved 27 January 2010.
12. New encyclopedia of Africa, Volume 4. John Middleton, Joseph Calder Miller, p.36
13. Niger // Dictionary of modern geographical names. - Yekaterinburg: U-Factoria. Under the general editorship of Acad. V. M. Kotlyakova. 2006.
14. . BBC (10 September 2009). Retrieved September 11, 2009. .
15. Wole Ayodele. (unavailable link - story) . This Day Online (September 9, 2009). Retrieved September 11, 2009. .
16. (unavailable link - story) . Punch on the web (March 25, 2010). Retrieved May 11, 2010. .
17. Voice of America: July 4, 2007
18. World Bank : , accessed on January 9, 2010

Literature

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Dmitrevsky Yu. D. Internal waters of Africa and their use / Ed. ed. Dr. Geogr. Sciences M. S. Rozin. - L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1967. - 384 p. - 800 copies.
• Zotova Yu. N., Kubbel L. E. Looking for Niger. - M.: Science. The main edition of Eastern literature, 1972. - 242 p. - (Journey through the countries of the East). - 15,000 copies.

• River studies and recommendations on improvement of Niger and Benue. - Amsterdam: North-Holland Pub. Co., 1959.
• Reader, John (2001) africa, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, ISBN 0-620-25506-4
• Thomson, J. Oliver (1948), History of Ancient Geography Biblo & Tannen Publishers, ISBN 0-8196-0143-8
• Welcomme, R.L. (1986), "The Niger River System", in Davies, Bryan Robert & Walker, Keith F., The Ecology of River Systems, Springer, ss. 9–60, ISBN 90-6193-540-7

Countries desert Regions Relief water bodies oases Transport infrastructure

An excerpt characterizing the Niger (river)

“I spent the evening with her last night. Today or tomorrow morning she is going to the suburbs with her nephew.
- Well, how is she? Pierre said.
Nothing, sad. But do you know who saved her? It's a whole novel. Nicholas Rostov. She was surrounded, they wanted to kill her, her people were wounded. He rushed and saved her...
“Another novel,” said the militiaman. - Decisively, this general flight is made so that all the old brides get married. Catiche is one, Princess Bolkonskaya is another.
“You know that I really think she is un petit peu amoureuse du jeune homme. [slightly in love with the young man.]
- Fine! Fine! Fine!
- But how can I say it in Russian? ..

When Pierre returned home, he was served two posters of Rostopchin brought that day.
The first said that the rumor that Count Rastopchin was forbidden to leave Moscow was unfair and that, on the contrary, Count Rostopchin was glad that ladies and merchant wives were leaving Moscow. “Less fear, less news,” the poster said, “but I answer with my life that there will be no villain in Moscow.” These words for the first time clearly showed Pierre that the French would be in Moscow. The second poster said that our main apartment is in Vyazma, that Count Wittgsstein defeated the French, but that since many residents want to arm themselves, there are weapons prepared in the arsenal for them: sabers, pistols, guns, which residents can get at a cheap price. The tone of the posters was no longer as playful as in Chigirin's previous conversations. Pierre thought about these posters. Obviously, that terrible thundercloud, which he called upon with all the forces of his soul and which at the same time aroused involuntary horror in him, - obviously, this cloud was approaching.
“To enter the military service and go to the army or wait? - Pierre asked himself this question for the hundredth time. He took a deck of cards lying on his table and began to play solitaire.
“If this solitaire comes out,” he said to himself, mixing the deck, holding it in his hand and looking up, “if it comes out, then it means ... what does it mean? .. - He did not have time to decide what it means, when a voice the eldest princess, asking if it is possible to enter.
“Then it will mean that I have to go to the army,” Pierre finished to himself. “Come in, come in,” he added, turning to the princes.
(One older princess, with a long waist and a petrified lead, continued to live in Pierre's house; two younger ones got married.)
“Forgive me, mon cousin, that I came to you,” she said in a reproachfully agitated voice. “After all, we must finally decide on something!” What will it be? Everyone has left Moscow, and the people are rioting. What are we left with?
“On the contrary, everything seems to be going well, ma cousine,” said Pierre with that habit of playfulness that Pierre, who always embarrassedly endured his role as a benefactor in front of the princess, learned to himself in relation to her.
- Yes, it's safe ... good well-being! Today Varvara Ivanovna told me how different our troops are. Certainly an honor to ascribe. Yes, and the people completely rebelled, they stop listening; my girl and she became rude. So soon they will beat us. You can't walk on the streets. And most importantly, today the French will be here tomorrow, what can we expect! I ask one thing, mon cousin, - said the princess, - order me to be taken to Petersburg: whatever I am, but I cannot live under Bonaparte power.
“Come on, ma cousine, where do you get your information from?” Against…
“I will not submit to your Napoleon. Others, as they wish ... If you do not want to do this ...
- Yes, I will, I will order now.
The princess, apparently, was annoyed that there was no one to be angry with. She, whispering something, sat down on a chair.
“But you are being misreported,” said Pierre. Everything is quiet in the city, and there is no danger. So I was reading now ... - Pierre showed the posters to the princess. - The count writes that he answers with his life that the enemy will not be in Moscow.
“Ah, this count of yours,” the princess spoke with malice, “this is a hypocrite, a villain who himself set the people to rebel. Didn't he write in these stupid posters that whatever it was, drag him by the crest to the exit (and how stupid)! Whoever takes, he says, honor and glory. That's where he messed up. Varvara Ivanovna said that she almost killed her people because she spoke French ...
“But it’s so ... You take everything to heart very much,” said Pierre and began to play solitaire.
Despite the fact that the solitaire converged, Pierre did not go to the army, but remained in deserted Moscow, still in the same anxiety, indecision, in fear and together in joy, expecting something terrible.
The next day, the princess left in the evening, and his commander-in-chief came to Pierre with the news that the money he required for uniforming the regiment could not be obtained unless one estate was sold. The commander-in-chief generally represented to Pierre that all these undertakings of the regiment were supposed to ruin him. Pierre could hardly hide his smile, listening to the manager's words.
“Well, sell it,” he said. “What can I do, I can’t refuse now!”
The worse the state of all affairs, and especially his affairs, the more pleasant it was for Pierre, the more obvious it was that the catastrophe for which he was waiting was approaching. Already almost none of Pierre's acquaintances was in the city. Julie has gone, Princess Mary has gone. Of close acquaintances, only the Rostovs remained; but Pierre did not go to them.
On this day, Pierre, in order to have fun, went to the village of Vorontsovo to watch a large balloon that Leppich was building to destroy the enemy, and a trial balloon that was supposed to be launched tomorrow. This ball was not yet ready; but, as Pierre learned, it was built at the request of the sovereign. The sovereign wrote to Count Rostopchin about this ball as follows:
"Aussitot que Leppich sera pret, composez lui un equipage pour sa nacelle d" hommes surs et intelligents et depechez un courrier au general Koutousoff pour l "en prevenir. Je l "ai instruit de la chose.
Recommandez, je vous prie, a Leppich d "etre bien attentif sur l" endroit ou il descendra la premiere fois, pour ne pas se tromper et ne pas tomber dans les mains de l "ennemi. Il est indispensable qu" il combine ses mouvements avec le general en chef.
[As soon as Leppich is ready, make a crew for his boat from loyal and intelligent people and send a courier to General Kutuzov to warn him.
I informed him about it. Please inspire Leppich to pay careful attention to the place where he will descend for the first time, so as not to make a mistake and not fall into the hands of the enemy. It is necessary that he consider his movements with the movements of the commander-in-chief.]
Returning home from Vorontsovo and driving along Bolotnaya Square, Pierre saw a crowd at the Execution Ground, stopped and got off the droshky. It was the execution of a French chef accused of espionage. The execution had just ended, and the executioner was untying a pitifully groaning fat man with red whiskers, blue stockings and a green jacket from the mare. Another criminal, thin and pale, was standing right there. Both, judging by their faces, were French. With a frightened, painful look, similar to that of a thin Frenchman, Pierre pushed his way through the crowd.
- What is it? Who? For what? he asked. But the attention of the crowd - officials, bourgeois, merchants, peasants, women in coats and fur coats - was so eagerly focused on what was happening at the Execution Ground that no one answered him. The fat man got up, frowning, shrugged his shoulders and, obviously wanting to express firmness, began to put on his doublet without looking around him; but suddenly his lips trembled, and he wept, angry with himself, as adult sanguine people weep. The crowd spoke loudly, as it seemed to Pierre, in order to drown out the feeling of pity in itself.
- Someone's cook is princely ...
“What, Monsieur, it’s clear that the Russian sauce was sour for the Frenchman ... he set his mouth on edge,” said the wrinkled clerk, who was standing next to Pierre, while the Frenchman began to cry. The clerk looked around him, apparently expecting an assessment of his joke. Some laughed, some fearfully continued to look at the executioner, who was undressing another.
Pierre sniffled through his nose, grimaced and, quickly turning around, went back to the droshky, without ceasing to mutter something to himself while he walked and sat down. As the journey progressed, he shuddered several times and cried out so loudly that the coachman asked him:
- What do you order?
– Where are you going? - Pierre shouted at the coachman, who was leaving for the Lubyanka.
“They ordered to the commander-in-chief,” answered the coachman.
- Fool! beast! Pierre shouted, which rarely happened to him, scolding his coachman. - I ordered home; and hurry up, fool. We still have to leave today, Pierre said to himself.
Pierre, at the sight of the punished Frenchman and the crowd surrounding Lobnoye Mesto, decided so completely that he could no longer stay in Moscow and was going to the army today that it seemed to him that he either told the coachman about it, or that the coachman himself should have known this. .
Arriving home, Pierre gave an order to his coachman Yevstafyevich, who knew everything, knew everything, known throughout Moscow, that he was going to Mozhaisk at night to the army and that his riding horses were sent there. All this could not be done on the same day, and therefore, according to Yevstafyevich's idea, Pierre had to postpone his departure until another day in order to give time for the set-ups to leave for the road.
On the 24th it cleared up after bad weather, and on that day after dinner Pierre left Moscow. At night, changing horses in Perkhushkovo, Pierre learned that there had been a big battle that evening. It was said that here, in Perkhushkovo, the ground trembled from the shots. To Pierre's questions about who won, no one could give him an answer. (It was a battle on the 24th at Shevardin.) At dawn, Pierre drove up to Mozhaisk.
All the houses of Mozhaisk were occupied by troops, and at the inn, where Pierre was met by his coachman and coachman, there was no room in the upper rooms: everything was full of officers.
In Mozhaisk and beyond Mozhaisk, troops stood and marched everywhere. Cossacks, foot soldiers, mounted soldiers, wagons, boxes, cannons could be seen from all sides. Pierre was in a hurry to go ahead as soon as possible, and the further he drove away from Moscow and the deeper he plunged into this sea of ​​\u200b\u200btroops, the more he was seized by the anxiety of restlessness and a new joyful feeling that he had not yet experienced. It was a feeling similar to the one he experienced in the Sloboda Palace during the arrival of the sovereign - a feeling of the need to do something and sacrifice something. He now experienced a pleasant feeling of consciousness that everything that makes up the happiness of people, the conveniences of life, wealth, even life itself, is nonsense, which is pleasant to cast aside in comparison with something ... With what, Pierre could not give himself an account, and indeed he tried to make clear to himself for whom and for what he finds a special charm to sacrifice everything. He was not interested in what he wanted to sacrifice for, but the very sacrifice constituted for him a new joyful feeling.

On the 24th there was a battle at the Shevardinsky redoubt, on the 25th not a single shot was fired from either side, on the 26th the Battle of Borodino took place.
Why and how were the battles at Shevardin and Borodino given and accepted? Why was the Battle of Borodino given? Neither for the French nor for the Russians it made the slightest sense. The immediate result was and should have been - for the Russians, that we approached the death of Moscow (which we feared most in the world), and for the French, that they approached the death of the entire army (which they also feared most of all in the world) . This result was obvious at the same time, but meanwhile Napoleon gave, and Kutuzov accepted this battle.
If the commanders were guided by reasonable reasons, it seemed, as it should have been clear to Napoleon, that, having gone two thousand miles and accepted the battle with the probable accident of losing a quarter of the army, he was going to certain death; and it should have seemed just as clear to Kutuzov that, accepting the battle and also risking losing a quarter of the army, he was probably losing Moscow. For Kutuzov, this was mathematically clear, as clear as it is that if I have less than one checker in checkers and I change, I will probably lose and therefore should not change.
When the opponent has sixteen checkers, and I have fourteen, then I am only one-eighth weaker than him; and when I exchange thirteen checkers, he will be three times stronger than me.
Before the battle of Borodino, our forces were approximately in relation to the French as five to six, and after the battle as one to two, that is, before the battle one hundred thousand; a hundred and twenty, and after the battle fifty to a hundred. And at the same time, the smart and experienced Kutuzov accepted the battle. Napoleon, the brilliant commander, as he is called, gave battle, losing a quarter of the army and stretching his line even more. If it is said that by occupying Moscow he thought he would end the campaign by occupying Vienna, then there is much evidence against this. The historians of Napoleon themselves say that even from Smolensk he wanted to stop, knew the danger of his extended position, knew that the occupation of Moscow would not be the end of the campaign, because from Smolensk he saw in what position the Russian cities were left to him, and did not receive a single answer to their repeated statements about their desire to negotiate.
Giving and accepting the Battle of Borodino, Kutuzov and Napoleon acted involuntarily and senselessly. And historians, under the accomplished facts, only later summed up the intricate evidence of the foresight and genius of the generals, who, of all the involuntary tools of world events, were the most slavish and involuntary figures.
The ancients left us models of heroic poems in which the heroes are the whole interest of history, and we still cannot get used to the fact that for our human time this kind of history has no meaning.
To another question: how the battles of Borodino and the Shevardino battles preceding it were given - there is also a very definite and well-known, completely false idea. All historians describe the case as follows:
The Russian army, as if in its retreat from Smolensk, was looking for the best position for itself for a general battle, and such a position was allegedly found at Borodin.
The Russians allegedly fortified this position forward, to the left of the road (from Moscow to Smolensk), at almost a right angle to it, from Borodino to Utitsa, on the very spot where the battle took place.
In front of this position, a fortified advanced post on the Shevardinsky barrow was allegedly put up to observe the enemy. On the 24th, Napoleon allegedly attacked the forward post and took it; On the 26th, he attacked the entire Russian army, which was in position on the Borodino field.
So the stories say, and all this is completely unfair, as anyone who wants to delve into the essence of the matter will easily be convinced of.
The Russians did not look for a better position; but, on the contrary, in their retreat they passed many positions that were better than Borodino. They did not stop at any of these positions: both because Kutuzov did not want to accept a position that was not chosen by him, and because the demand for a popular battle had not yet been expressed strongly enough, and because Miloradovich had not yet approached with the militia, and also because other reasons that are innumerable. The fact is that the previous positions were stronger and that the Borodino position (the one on which the battle was given) is not only not strong, but for some reason it is not at all a position more than any other place in the Russian Empire, which, guessing, one would point with a pin on the map.
The Russians not only did not fortify the position of the Borodino field to the left at a right angle from the road (that is, the place where the battle took place), but never before August 25, 1812 did they think that the battle could take place on this place. This is evidenced, firstly, by the fact that not only on the 25th there were no fortifications in this place, but that, begun on the 25th, they were not completed on the 26th; secondly, the position of the Shevardinsky redoubt serves as proof: the Shevardinsky redoubt, in front of the position on which the battle was taken, does not make any sense. Why was this redoubt fortified stronger than all other points? And why, defending it on the 24th until late at night, were all efforts exhausted and six thousand people lost? To observe the enemy, a Cossack patrol was enough. Thirdly, the proof that the position on which the battle took place was not foreseen and that the Shevardinsky redoubt was not the forward point of this position is that Barclay de Tolly and Bagration until the 25th were convinced that the Shevardinsky redoubt was the left flank of the position and that Kutuzov himself, in his report, written hastily after the battle, calls the Shevardinsky redoubt the left flank of the position. Much later, when reports about the battle of Borodino were written in the open, it was (probably to justify the mistakes of the commander in chief, who had to be infallible) that unfair and strange testimony was invented that the Shevardinsky redoubt served as an advanced post (whereas it was only a fortified point of the left flank) and as if the battle of Borodino was accepted by us in a fortified and pre-selected position, while it took place in a completely unexpected and almost unfortified place.
The case, obviously, was like this: the position was chosen along the Kolocha River, which crosses the main road not at a straight line, but at an acute angle, so that the left flank was in Shevardin, the right flank was near the village of Novy and the center was in Borodino, at the confluence of the Kolocha and Vo rivers. yn. This position, under the cover of the Kolocha River, for the army, whose goal is to stop the enemy moving along the Smolensk road to Moscow, is obvious to anyone who looks at the Borodino field, forgetting how the battle took place.
Napoleon, leaving on the 24th to Valuev, did not see (as the stories say) the position of the Russians from Utitsa to Borodin (he could not see this position, because it was not there) and did not see the advanced post of the Russian army, but stumbled in the pursuit of the Russian rearguard on the left flank of the position of the Russians, on the Shevardinsky redoubt, and unexpectedly for the Russians transferred troops through Kolocha. And the Russians, not having time to enter into a general battle, retreated with their left wing from the position they intended to take, and took up a new position, which was not foreseen and not fortified. Having crossed to the left side of Kolocha, to the left of the road, Napoleon moved the entire future battle from right to left (from the side of the Russians) and transferred it to the field between Utitsa, Semenovsky and Borodino (in this field, which has nothing more advantageous for the position than any another field in Russia), and on this field the whole battle took place on the 26th. In rough form, the plan for the proposed battle and the battle that took place will be as follows:

If Napoleon had not left on the evening of the 24th for Kolocha and had not ordered to attack the redoubt immediately in the evening, but had begun the attack the next day in the morning, then no one would have doubted that the Shevardinsky redoubt was the left flank of our position; and the battle would have taken place as we expected it to. In that case, we would probably have defended the Shevardino redoubt, our left flank, even more stubbornly; they would attack Napoleon in the center or on the right, and on the 24th there would be a general battle in the position that was fortified and foreseen. But since the attack on our left flank took place in the evening, following the retreat of our rearguard, that is, immediately after the battle of Gridneva, and since the Russian military leaders did not want or did not have time to start a general battle on the same 24th evening, the first and main action of Borodinsky the battle was lost on the 24th and, obviously, led to the loss of the one that was given on the 26th.
After the loss of the Shevardinsky redoubt, by the morning of the 25th we found ourselves without a position on the left flank and were forced to bend back our left wing and hastily strengthen it anywhere.
But not only did the Russian troops stand only under the protection of weak, unfinished fortifications on August 26, the disadvantage of this situation was further increased by the fact that the Russian military leaders, not fully recognizing the accomplished fact (the loss of a position on the left flank and the transfer of the entire future battlefield from right to left ), remained in their stretched position from the village of Novy to Utitsa and, as a result, had to move their troops from right to left during the battle. Thus, during the entire battle, the Russians had twice the weakest forces against the entire French army, directed at our left wing. (The actions of Poniatowski against Utitsa and Uvarov on the right flank of the French constituted actions separate from the course of the battle.)

The well-known Niger River is the most important river in Western. The length is 4180 km, the basin area is 2118 thousand km², the third in these parameters in Africa after and. The exact origin of the name of the river is unknown and in our time there is a dispute among scientists. ( 11 photos)

2. The river receives its main water from the summer monsoon rains. 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. But there are also tributaries, here are the five main ones - Milo (right), Bani (right), Sokoto (left), Kaduna (left), Benue (left).

5. It is believed that the name of the river came 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 are many different hypotheses, but it is not known for certain where the river takes its name from.

7. In 1805, a Scottish doctor, Mungo Park, visited Niger for the second time and explored its course from Bamako to Bussang, where he was killed by local natives.

Niger flows through the territory:,. Niger is the third largest after and and the 2nd most abundant river in the west, which bears various names among the coastal natives, of which the name Joliba predominates in the upper reaches, Egirreu in the middle, Kwara or Quorra in the lower, the Arabs call it Nil-el -Abid (Nile of slaves). Niger originates at 8°36` and 10°33` west longitude (from Greenwich) in the East of the Kong Mountains, in Kuranko, at an altitude of 850 meters above sea level and at the beginning flows to the North towards, then turns to the South east and south, and through several branches, of which the largest are Sombrero, Nen, Brass and Forcado, pours into the Gulf of Guinea.

At 140 kilometers from its source, which, being sacred, is inaccessible to foreigners and for exact definition, the Niger, still called Tembi, receives from the left the wide river Faliko with a tributary of the Tamikon, after which, under the name of Joliba, flows north to 10 ° north latitude. Turning to the Northeast, it receives several small tributaries on the left, and significant tributaries on the right: Mifu and Yandan, or Niannu, turning again to the north, it receives Milo and Tankisso; here the Niger slope decreases to half (only 329 meters above sea level), its channel becomes wider, but shallower - and it flows northeast for 400 kilometers, forming a border line between and the kingdom of Segou. At Bomak, the Niger in high water is up to 800 meters wide and forms rapids, capriciously changing the width of the channel; near Niamine it becomes navigable and turns south; its slope becomes even smaller, the channel is lower; at Massino, it divides into two main branches, which head north to Lake Debu. At Diafaraba, these sleeves are interconnected by natural channels, which, crossing, form from the network an island area of ​​​​Burgu of 200 square kilometers; on one of these islands lies ancient Djenne, or Gineva, ch. d. The land of the Negroes, from which the whole country takes its name of Guinea. Further, the Niger enters the territory of the fellahs, where it is called Issa and heads north, crossing Lake Debo, receives many tributaries and again divides into the branches of Danko and Mayo Balleo; near Kabara, the harbor of the city, reaches 17 ° north latitude and flows to E along the desert; on this route, the rapids of the Tozaie impede navigation in a slow current, and among the extremely low shores, the Niger reaches the country of Ussa, where it already bears the new name of Gulbin-nkovar, or Kovara. At Burrum the river turns sharply to the South-East and enters, after the lowlands of Massina and the rocky desert of Timbuktu, into a hilly country with a tropical and again forms a whole network of branches near Gago, the ancient capital of the Sanray empire. Having broken through the rapids surrounding the island of Bornu-Guntu, Niger spreads like a wide tablecloth over and only at Akarambai, to the South of the island of Ansongo, narrows again, constrained by walls of rocks, to a width of 30 meters.

In the middle reaches of the Niger, it receives: Goradzhende, flowing from Libtako, Kassani, or Tederimt, Sirbia, or Chirba, and Gulbi-n-Sokoto at Gomba. From Gomba to the rapids of Bussa, the Niger is navigable; steamboats run between Rabba and Lokoja, although even here sandy shoals sometimes interfere with navigation. Here the Kaduna or Liful flows into the Niger, and a little further on the Gurara; its most significant tributary, the Benue, flows into the Lokoja, originating north of the Ngauandare in Adamey, in the rainy season it joins the lake. From Lokoja at the Ebo (at the head of the delta), the Niger, joined to the Benue, flows in a majestic stream, rushing south among the rocks and, leaning in gradual terraces, receives on the left a parallel tributary of the Amambaru. The width of Niger is increasing, and it rushes in a stream to, into the Gulf of Guinea, into which it flows through the aforementioned arms. The Niger Delta covers an area of ​​25,000 square kilometers, is low-lying, swampy and covered with mangroves. The navigability of Niger depends, in addition to rapids and waterfalls, on its high water or shallow water. In the upper reaches of the Niger to Timbuktu, high water occurs from July to early January, and here it is navigable from Bammako to Timbuktu; in the middle reaches the Niger is deep and navigable from Gabba to Lokoja, from June to October; in the lower reaches from Lokoja to Akassa, thanks to the influx of Benue waters, the Niger is full from June to the end of September and has a secondary high water from January to the end of April, depending on the high water in the upper reaches; Here it is navigable at any time of the year.

Way of eating Niger: the river is fed by summer waters.

Tributaries of the Niger: Milo (right), Bani (right), Sokoto (left), Kaduna (left), Benue (left).

Inhabitants of Niger: it is very developed in Niger, the main commercial fish species are: carp, perch, barbel (or barbel) and others.

Freezing Niger: does not freeze.

The Niger River is the largest in West Africa and the third longest on the entire continent, after the Nile and. And many thousands of years ago, two rivers flowed along its current course. From its source in the Guinean Highlands, one of them flowed into an ancient drainless lake, while the second flowed east of this place and was not connected with the first. But time dried up the lake, and these two rivers gradually changed their course, merging, they gave birth to Niger.
For a long time, the serpentine current of the Niger remained the main obstacle for researchers. There was even an assumption that the other African rivers Senegal and Gambia are nothing more than branches of the Niger, although in fact they flow to the north.
There have been many attempts to solve the mystery of the river. Since the so-called African Association was founded in 1788, the purpose of which was to study African lands in detail, including the course of the Niger: it was necessary to learn everything about the promising trade routes of Africa, and Niger goes to the Atlantic Ocean.
Less than ten years later, the river found its hero. In 1796 the Scottish traveler Mungo Park (1771-1806) reached its waters. Exploring the sources of the rivers of Senegal and the Gambia, he also reached the Niger and during his voyage discovered that the Niger had nothing to do with Senegal and the Gambia. But Park could not thoroughly study the Niger either: he fell ill with dengue fever, was captured, fled, but after a relapse of a debilitating illness, he interrupted his journey along the river, returning on foot to the mouth of the Gambia, and with great difficulty reached the English trading settlement of Pisania in June 1797 . But he conveyed the collected materials. They formed the basis of a book published in 1799, which brought Mungo Park prestige in scientific circles and fame among inquisitive compatriots.
This inspired the Scotsman for another trip to Niger in 1805. The expedition started from the Niger Delta, was well prepared and armed. However, due to illness, heat and endless skirmishes with local tribes, Mungo Park lost most of his team (out of forty people, only eleven reached the Malian territories). In the same year, 1805, he drowned in the waters of Niger when he tried to hide from the arrows of local residents in the water. This became known only in 1808, when the diaries and letters of the brave traveler, which he sent ahead of time with his people, finally reached the addressee: the Park's envoys themselves barely survived. Although Europe already knew about the obstinate nature of the Niger, there were (and still are) a lot of extreme sports lovers who wanted to make a trip along this river. The sad fate of the Park warned real researchers... But in 1946, a significant geographical event nevertheless occurred: for the first time, a person managed to overcome absolutely all the obstacles on the way from the source of the Niger to its mouth. It was a French expedition - documentary filmmaker and connoisseur of Africa Jean Rush and his companions Pierre Ponty and Jean Soy.
Thanks to the film materials they brought from this trip, people were able to see the beauty of the hitherto mysterious river, to feel the diversity and originality of its world, bewitchingly attractive, despite all the potential dangers.

Taking its origin under the name Joliba on the Leono-Liberian Upland, Niger rushes west to the Gulf of Guinea of ​​the Atlantic Ocean, absorbing a lot of large and small tributaries along the way and gradually accelerating its course. At the confluence with its largest tributary - the Benue River - Niger acquires the greatest strength. Here its width reaches three kilometers, and the depth in some areas is kept at the level of twenty meters. The Niger is navigable from Kurusa to Bamako, from the falls of Sotuba to Ansongo, and from Niamey to the mouth. The Niger Delta begins 180 km from the ocean near the city of Aba.
A real oasis is formed along the shores of the Niger in the area of ​​​​its inner delta Masina, in the very place where the waters of the lake that dried up over time splashed. Now this region belongs to the state of Mali (it gained independence in 1960). About half a million people live here. Most of the local settlements belong to the Dogon. Near the Bandiagara ledge one can find their small villages, consisting of adobe houses, merging with the surrounding rocky landscape, and their fields and melons stretch along the Niger coast. Niger sheltered on its shores the Fulbe tribes, adhering to the ancient traditions of a nomadic lifestyle and animal husbandry. Living conditions here are not easy, even taking into account the proximity of the river: the wind brings hot dry air from the Sahara desert, and temperatures throughout the year can jump up to + 40 ° C. From here the river rushes on, deviating to the east and approaching the southern outskirts of the Sahara. Here, river water is an invaluable and perhaps the only source of life, including for the Malian city of Timbuktu, standing in a bend (inner delta) of Niger. Until the beginning of the 20th century. along the Niger, Timbuktu could only be reached when the water level in the river rose after the summer monsoon rains. The first European to reach this previously known city only from descriptions was a British officer, Major Alexander Leng, and this happened in 1825.
There are other, larger cities on the banks of the Niger (the population of Timbuktu is only a little more than 50 thousand people). Downstream of the Inner Delta lies the Malian capital of Bamako, with a population of nearly two million, Africa's fastest growing city. The difficult natural conditions of West Africa leave their mark on the appearance of this capital city. At first glance, it may seem that Bamako is not so big. The houses here are low-rise, and the streets, with a fairly high population density, are not so busy (the green minibuses of the local fixed-route taxi are sometimes found here much more than private cars).
On the banks of the great African river, the capital, Niamey, is also located. Founded in the 18th century, it really flourished only towards the end of the 19th century, during the French colonization. During the day, living in a bustle, brightly sparkling in the evening lights, this city is one of the largest African centers of trade, both retail and wholesale. And here one can observe, it seems, an ineradicable African paradox: next to the circulation of goods and money - poverty and begging.

general information

River in West Africa.
The third river in terms of length and basin area in Africa (after the Nile and the Congo).
Main tributaries: Benue, Milo, Bani, Sokoto, Kaduna.
Countries through which the Niger flows: Guinea, Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria.
The most important cities in the basin: Timbuktu, Bamako (Mali), Niamey (Niger), Lokoja, Onicha (Nigeria).
The most important port: Port Harcourt (Nigeria, located on the Bonny River in the Niger Delta).

Numbers

Length: 4180 km.
Pool area: 2,117,700 km2.
Delta area: 70,000 km2.
Water consumption (at the mouth): 8630 m 3 /s.
Annual flow: 378 km3.

Economy

The most important route of communication between the countries of West Africa.
Industry: hydropower (the Kainji hydroelectric complex in Nigeria, with a reservoir with an area of ​​​​600 km 2), oil production (in the Niger Delta).
Agriculture: growing oranges, bananas, legumes, corn, millet, rice, sugarcane, peanuts, sorghum, cassava, cotton; cattle breeding.
Fishing: carp, perch, barbel, captain fish and other species.
Trade is developed in coastal cities.

Climate and weather

Tropical desert in the north of the region, subequatorial in the south.
Average monthly temperatures throughout the year: from +20 to +34ºС.
Sharp diurnal temperature fluctuations are characteristic: in the morning the air temperature can be around +10ºС, and during the day it can rise to +40ºС.
Average annual rainfall: in the north of the region - less than 100 mm, in the south - up to 800 mm.

Attractions

■ Bamako (Mali): National Museum of Mali - dedicated to the history of the country since ancient times; Bamako Cathedral Mosque is one of the tallest buildings in Bamako; the VCEAO tower - the bank building, the tallest in West Africa; Palace of Culture Amado - One of the main centers for cultural events;
■ Niamey (Niger): National Museum of Niger; Nigerian zoo; city ​​market - the largest shopping center of the Republic of Niger; Great Mosque of Niemei;
■ Kainji Lake National Park;
■ Upper Niger National Park;
■ Western Niger National Park.

Curious facts

■ Saying that the Niger Basin is a densely populated area is like saying nothing. Only in the delta region of this African river, the population is about thirty-one million people.
■ The Republic of Niger is one of the largest oil suppliers among African countries. Every day, about two million barrels of black gold are mined in the Niger Delta. True, this figure is far from the limit: before production was three million barrels per day, but in recent years the country's oil industry has lost ground.
■ Steamships are rare in Niger, mostly small sailing ships.
■ Documentary filmmaker and ethnographer Jean Rouch (1917-2004), who explored the Niger in 1946, called the river a living liana that coiled around West Africa, noting the variability of its waters.
■ The most delicious fish found in the waters of Niger is the captain fish.
■ The city of Mopti in Mali, located at the confluence of the Bani River with the Niger, is called the “African Venice”. But not always, but in winter, when, after the monsoon rains, Niger overflows and Mopti is surrounded by water from all sides.