The Niger is the West African river about 4,200 kilometres long that empties into the Gulf of Guinea.
It rises in the Guinea Highlands and follows a remarkable crescent-shaped course through Guinea, Mali, Niger, Benin, and Nigeria. Instead of flowing directly toward the nearby Atlantic, the river first travels northeast into the Sahel, then turns southeast toward the Gulf of Guinea.
The Niger forms an inland delta in Mali, a large wetland that supports farming, fishing, grazing, and wildlife. Farther downstream in Nigeria, it spreads into the Niger Delta before entering the Atlantic through the Gulf of Guinea.
The Volta, Gambia, and Senegal are also important West African rivers, but none matches this combination of length, crescent-shaped route, and Gulf of Guinea outlet. The Niger is generally described as Africa’s third-longest river, after the Nile and Congo.