Upper Niger

Niger River Fleuve Niger (Joliba, Orimiri, Isa Ber, Oya, gher n gheren)
The Niger at Koulikoro, Mali.
Name origin: Unknown. Likely from Berber for River gher
Countries	Guinea, Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria
Tributaries
- left	Sokoto River, Kaduna River, Benue River, Anambra River
- right	Bani River
Cities	Tembakounda, Bamako, Timbuktu, Niamey, Lokoja, Onitsha
Source	Guinea Highlands
Mouth	Atlantic Ocean
- location	Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria
Length	4,180 km (2,597 mi)
Basin	2,117,700 km2 (817,649 sq mi)
Discharge	for Niger Delta
- average	5,589 m3/s (197,374 cu ft/s)
- max	27,600 m3/s (974,685 cu ft/s)
- min	500 m3/s (17,657 cu ft/s)

The Niger River (/ˈnaɪdʒər/; French: (le) fleuve Niger, pronounced [(lə) flœv niʒɛʁ]) is the principal river of western Africa, extending about 4,180 km (2,600 mi). Its drainage basin is 2,117,700 km² (817,600 sq mi) in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea. It runs in a crescent through Mali, Niger, on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria, discharging through a massive delta, known as the Niger Delta or the Oil Rivers, into the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded only by the Nile and the Congo River (also known as the Zaïre River). Its main tributary is the Benue River.

The Niger has different names in the different languages of the region:

The earliest use of the name "Niger" for the river is by Leo Africanus in his Della descrittione dell’Africa et delle cose notabili che iui sono published in Italian in 1550. The name may come from Berber phrase ger-n-ger meaning "river of rivers". As Timbuktu was the southern end of the principal Trans-Saharan trade route to the western Mediterranean, it was the source of most European knowledge of the region.