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River

Niger River

4,180 km from source to mouth · 5 countries.

NigeriaGuineaNigerMaliBeninNigeria, Guinea, Niger, Mali and BeninFlows into Gulf of Guinea1st longest in Nigeria

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouthBamakoNiameySégou
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

4,180km

Average flow

8,600m³/s

Basin

2,117,700km²

Drop

537m

from 543 m to 6 m

Countries

5

The journey

From source to mouth

4,180 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 45 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

543 m6 m
Fouta Djallonat 543 m0 km
Bamako4,227,569 people673 km
Ségou205,787 people909 km
Mopti186,187 people1,203 km
Bangao0.8 km²1,703 km
Gao133,110 people2,040 km
Niamey1,323,691 people2,498 km
Goroubitributary2,580 km
Kainji Lake1,035 km²3,124 km
Kaduna Rivertributary3,358 km
Onitsha1,553,000 people3,745 km
Gulf of Guineaat 6 m4,180 km
01,0002,0003,0004,180 km
  1. 0 kmFouta Djallonat 543 m
  2. 112 kmFaranah70,181 people
  3. 301 kmKouroussa36,295 people
  4. 327 kmNiandantributary
  5. 416 kmMilo Rivertributary
  6. 457 kmTinkisso Rivertributary
  7. 462 kmSiguiri148,018 people
  8. 589 kmSankarani Rivertributary
  9. 659 kmKabala24,241 people
  10. 664 kmKalaban Koro148,247 people
  11. 673 kmBamako4,227,569 people
  12. 688 kmMoribabougou24,085 people
  13. 736 kmKoulikoro64,128 people
  14. 909 kmSégou205,787 people
  15. 944 kmMarkala53,738 people
  16. 975 kmDiourou26,559 people
  17. 1,203 kmMopti186,187 people
  18. 1,205 kmBani Rivertributary
  19. 1,237 kmPouipo0.4 km²
  20. 1,349 kmLake Débo120 km²
  21. 1,527 kmDiré31,348 people
  22. 1,703 kmBangao0.8 km²
  23. 1,949 kmBourem42,371 people
  24. 2,040 kmGao133,110 people
  25. 2,285 kmAyérou33,527 people
  26. 2,285 kmAyorou26,290 people
  27. 2,290 kmBéli Rivertributary
  28. 2,334 kmMéhana40,593 people
  29. 2,377 kmTillabéri51,439 people
  30. 2,417 kmDargoltributary
  31. 2,420 kmGothèye93,264 people
  32. 2,424 kmKourteye61,670 people
  33. 2,439 kmSirba Rivertributary
  34. 2,447 kmNamaro55,094 people
  35. 2,458 kmKarma88,224 people
  36. 2,477 kmBitinkodji29,067 people
  37. 2,493 kmGoudel Barrage
  38. 2,498 kmNiamey1,323,691 people
  39. 2,513 kmLiboré26,243 people
  40. 2,523 kmN'Dounga22,341 people
  41. 2,523 kmYouri31,598 people
  42. 2,523 kmYouri Kourtéré31,598 people
  43. 2,534 kmKollo32,829 people
  44. 2,558 kmSay58,290 people
  45. 2,580 kmGoroubitributary
  46. 2,598 kmKirtachi39,693 people
  47. 2,632 kmTapoa Rivertributary
  48. 2,677 kmFalmey75,115 people
  49. 2,691 kmDallol Bossotributary
  50. 2,691 kmMékrou Rivertributary
  51. 2,722 kmSambéra50,820 people
  52. 2,770 kmTanda49,973 people
  53. 2,779 kmAlibori Rivertributary
  54. 2,790 kmMalanville64,639 people
  55. 2,794 kmSota Rivertributary
  56. 2,797 kmGaya45,465 people
  57. 2,816 kmTounouga42,849 people
  58. 2,902 kmSokoto Rivertributary
  59. 3,124 kmKainji Lake1,035 km²
  60. 3,355 kmPatigi28,285 people
  61. 3,358 kmKaduna Rivertributary
  62. 3,436 kmBaro26,821 people
  63. 3,505 kmGurara Rivertributary
  64. 3,547 kmLokoja60,579 people
  65. 3,549 kmBenue Rivertributary
  66. 3,627 kmIdah68,703 people
  67. 3,739 kmAsaba73,374 people
  68. 3,745 kmOnitsha1,553,000 people
  69. 3,764 kmAtani230,000 people
  70. 4,180 kmGulf of Guineaat 6 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in West Africa

At the mouth it carries 8,630 m³/s on average: 3.5 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 543 m to 6 m, 0.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 2,117,700 km², about the size of MX. 99.7 million people live in it. Highest water: September; lowest: from January to April. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (21% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • BamakoLargest city on its banks · 4,227,569 people
  • Modibo Keita International Airport (BKO)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 9 km from the cityCar hire in LagosDiscover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water106 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From December to JanuaryThe best months to visit

Niger River, month by month

Highest water: September

Lowest water: from January to April. Best months to visit: from December to January.

2,000
24°1 mmJan
1,300
27°3 mmFeb
1,300
29°10 mmMar
1,600
31°29 mmApr
2,600
31°63 mmMay
4,900
30°103 mmJun
9,300
28°154 mmJul
14,900
27°188 mmAug
17,700
28°146 mmSep
15,400
28°56 mmOct
10,600
27°7 mmNov
5,300
24°1 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 1,300 m³/s in the lowest month to 17,700 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire in LagosDiscover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Niger River: the basin in numbers

2,096,808 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 21% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 99.7millionpeople live in the basin
  • 48/km²people per km²
  • 410maverage altitude of the basin
  • 654mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 27.2°Caverage air temperature
  • 11%protected areas
  • 0.2%covered by lakes
  • 42km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 9% Forest
  • 19% Cropland
  • 29% Pasture
  • 1% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Niger River: what you find on the way

  • 15DamsCentrale hydroélectrique de Sotuba, Markala Dam, Kainji Dam and 12 more
  • 9WeirsSeuil d'épandage des eaux du Fleuve à Niamey and 8 more
  • 3LocksCanal de navigation de Markala
  • 2WaterfallsCENTRALE Hydroélectrique de Sotuba, Pied de Coline Missabougou
  • 19Boat ramps
  • 83Ferry piersBac de Tiguibiry, Koulikoro, Ségou and 80 more
  • 4MarinasPort de Mopti, Goro and 2 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 3.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Niger River in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 4lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 18mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (4)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Pouipokm 1,1840.4km²
  2. Lake Débokm 1,291120km²
  3. Bangaokm 1,6300.8km²
  4. Kainji Lakekm 2,988 · 121 m deep1,035km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (18)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Kondewa12 km away615m
  2. Yarakoko13 km away
  3. Kouikonko14 km away
  4. Kouloufandi8.3 km away
  5. Kourouworo9.5 km away
  6. Ouroukonko7.3 km away
  7. Koddou14 km away
  8. Konkule4.9 km away

10 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Niger River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Niger River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth197 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Niger River in pictures

Niger River View, Djenne (6861797)
upyernoz from Haverford, USA · CC BY 2.0
Niger, Boubon (16), scene at the river front
Vincent van Zeijst · CC BY-SA 4.0
Niger, Niamey, Pont Kennedy (1)
NigerTZai · CC BY-SA 4.0
River Niger at Bomadi
Wne Akpara · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (22)

Benue RiverNigeriaNigeria1,370 km3,200 m³/sjoins at km 3,396Sokoto RiverNigeriaNigeria600 km290 m³/sjoins at km 2,777Kaduna RiverNigeriaNigeria550 km640 m³/sjoins at km 3,213Bani RiverMaliMali430 km510 m³/sjoins at km 1,153Mékrou RiverNigerNiger410 km29 m³/sjoins at km 2,574Sankarani RiverMaliMali400 km260 m³/sjoins at km 563Sirba RiverNigerNiger350 km780 m³/sjoins at km 2,333Milo RiverGuineaGuinea330 km190 m³/sjoins at km 398Tinkisso RiverGuineaGuinea268 km180 m³/sjoins at km 438Tapoa RiverNigerNiger260 km8.9 m³/sjoins at km 2,518Sota RiverBeninBenin250 km46 m³/sjoins at km 2,673

Also: Alibori River, Niandan, Anambra River, Dallol Bosso, Béli River, Goroubi, Gorouol, Dargol, Gurara River, In-Ates, Gounti Yéna

In the same basin

Faro RiverNigeriaNigeria305 km360 m³/sGongola RiverNigeriaNigeria531 km210 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Cross RiverNigeriaNigeria489 km170 m³/s207 km awayBenue RiverNigeriaNigeria1,370 km3,200 m³/s274 km awaySanagaCameroonCameroon918 km2,100 m³/s406 km awayKaduna RiverNigeriaNigeria550 km640 m³/s387 km awayWouri RiverCameroonCameroon160 km620 m³/s385 km awayOuémé RiverBeninBenin480 km170 m³/s459 km awayNyong RiverCameroonCameroon640 km450 m³/s446 km awayCampo RiverEquatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea460 km720 m³/s499 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q3542) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit