Geography :
Geography Empties into Gulf of Guinea
3rd longest river in Africa
Tributaries: Sokoto River; Kaduna River; Benue River www.wikipedia.com
Names :
Manding: Jeliba; Joliba
Songhay: Isa Ber
Oya; Yoruba River Niger goddess
Tuareg phrase gher n gheren, or ngher
Called Ger or Gir by ancient Europeans Names
History :
Believed by ancient Romans to be part of the Nile River
Early Europeans thought that it flowed West into Senegal River
Ravenna Cosmography; 700 CE History
Niger River Ecology :
Niger River Ecology River contains 36 taxonomic families and 250 species of freshwater fish; 20 of which are unique to the river
Hundreds of thousands of transmigratory birds
Manatees can be found in several parts of river
Hippos and crocodiles
Many large mammals come to river to
drink
Oil and the Niger :
Oil and the Niger Niger Delta a.k.a. Niger Delta of the Oil Rivers
Once a major producer of palm oil
Nigeria has many oil wells in Oil Rivers
Much of extracted natural gas in Delta is immediately burned; 70 million m3 per day
41% of all African Natural gas consumption
Recent guerilla activity against industry from Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)
Sept. 2008: MEND declares “oil war” on pipelines and production facilities and the Nigerian soldiers protecting them
The Kainji Dam :
The Kainji Dam Dam across Niger River in western Nigeria
6 miles long
Constructed mostly from earth, but center section is concrete, which houses hydroelectric turbines
Provides electricity for all large cities in Nigeria
Some power is sold to Niger
Oct. 7, 1998, floodgates were opened by engineers, releasing torrents of water, sweeping away villages and hundreds of families’ homes
Bibliography :
Bibliography "Niger (river)," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
"Manding." The Living Africa: the People. 1 1998. ThinkQuest Team. 15 Feb. 2009 <http://library.thinkquest.org/16645/the_people/ethnic_mand.shtml>.
"The Dam Which Brought Disaster." NewAfricanJan. 1999. IC Publications. 15 Feb. 2009 <http://www.africasia.com/archive/na/99_01/naam0101.htm>.
"Niger River." Wikipedia 15 Feb. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger_River>.
"Fishing on the Niger River." WWF. 1 1998. World Wide Fund for Nature. 15 Feb. 2009 <http://www.panda.org/news_facts/multimedia/video/?uNewsID=61121>.