Key Facts about Niger River

About Niger River:

• It is the principal river of western Africa. 
• With a length of 2,600 miles (4,200 km), it is the third longest river in Africa, after the Nile and the Congo.
• In West Africa, it’s the longest and largest river and is nicknamed the "Boomerang River" due to its serpentine shape.
• Course: The Niger rises in Guinea 150 miles (240 kilometers) from the Atlantic Ocean, from where the river detours into the Sahara Desert, taking a sharp right turn near Mali’s Timbuktu city, and then flowing southeast into the Gulf of Guinea.
• Niger, Guinea, Cote de Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Benin, Chad, Cameroon, and Nigeria are the ten African countries that the river runs through. 
• The Niger River Basin covers 7.5 percent of the African continent, and its main tributary is the Benue River. 

Q1: Where is the Gulf of Guinea?

It is the northeastern most portion of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, located off the western coast of the African continent. It is found at the junction of the Prime Meridian and the Equator at 0°0’N and 0°0’E. The area covers 2.3 million square kilometers, with approximately 6,000 kilometers of coastline. It has a narrow continental shelf. Its major tributaries are the Volta and Niger rivers. The 16 coastal countries that are situated along the Gulf of Guinea are Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Nigeria, Ghana, São Tomé and Principe, Togo, and Sierra Leone.

News: Nigeria: 27 dead, over 100 missing after boat capsizes in Niger River