Niger River Niger River The Niger River (; , ) is the principal river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is 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
Water politics in the Nile Basin necessity of conflict over the distribution of the Nile's water supply. For example, Egypt has such an agriculturally-dependent economy. Further, Egypt is already dependent on virtual water imports, a strategy which may lead that country to attempt future water conflicts. Ethiopia's tributaries supply about 86 percent of the waters of the Nile. Egypt has historically threatened war on Ethiopia and Tanzania over the Nile river. Egypt armed Somali separatist rebels in Ethiopia during and since the Somalia invasion of Ethiopia in the 1970s. Over the years, the involved states have put agreements and treaties into place so that conflict can