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
Hymn to the Nile men are immolated to you, great festivals are instituted for you. Birds are sacrificed to you, gazelles are taken for you in the mountain, pure flames are prepared for you.” This is an example of how the ancient Egyptian peoples treated the Nile as if it were bigger and better than humans themselves. This would be considered part of their religious practice, making the Nile River a religious figure to the ancient Egyptian peoples. The ancient Egyptian peoples connected with the river agriculturally as well. They noticed that if the water levels reached too high then their shelter would be