Niger

1. A country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria. Official name: Republic of the Niger.
2. A major river in West Africa that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria.
3. A state of Nigeria in the North Central geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Minna.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈnaɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/

Etymology

Cognate with Latin: niger

In summary

Commonly linked by folk etymology to Latin niger (“black”), which likely influenced the modern spelling.
Some sources give the term to Tuareg roots, deriving it from a claimed gher n-gheren or egereou n-igereouen (“river of rivers”). Compare Tarifit iɣzar-n-iɣezran.
Older sources derive Niger, via a series of mistranslations and geographic misplacements by Greek, Roman and Arab geographers, from Ptolemy's descriptions of the wadi Gir (in modern Algeria) and the "Lower Gir" (or "Ni-Gir") to the south.

Synonyms

Republic of Niger

Niger River

Republic of the Niger

the Republic of the Niger

the Niger

𐐤𐐴𐐾𐐲𐑉

Translations

Niger

🇳🇪

Niger

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Níger

🇳🇪

Níger

🇳🇪

Niger

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Niger

Νίγηρας

Niger

🇳🇪

Nijer

🇳🇪

Níger

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النيجر

🇳🇪

نيجر

Nigèr

Nîjer

Niger