The Republic of Niger is an entirely landlocked West African country. It covers an area of 1,267,000 square kilometers (490,000 square miles) - approximately twice the size of Texas - bordered by the following countries: Chad to the East, Mali to the West, Algeria and Libya to the North, Nigeria to the South, and Benin and Burkina Faso to the Southwest.

Relief

Niger is a vast, undulating plain at an average altitude of 985 feet above sea level. There are, however, a number of extensive depression, usually filled with sand, the tops of the ridges sometimes being formed of volcanic structures, the highest of which is Mount Greboun (7,580 feet) in the Aïr Massif.

The Aïr: This massif, which extends over 180 miles from north to south and some 120 miles from east to west, lies in the northern part of the country and is strikingly similar to the Algerian Hoggar. It evokes the history and the wandering of the Tuaregs. The elevation of this massif, which enables it to retain the last shreds of the Guinean monsoon, ensures green pastures in the middle of the desert, while its mountain climate is less dry than that of the rest of the country.

Sunsets in the Aïr are a unique experience, the character of the light, the towering shapes and huge shadows leaving a completely unforgettable impact on the senses.

The southern slopes of the Aïr plunge down into a long depression overshadowed by the Tigidit Cliff, a towering buttress reminiscent of Tassili in southern Algeria.

To the West extends the sandy Talak plain, extensively watered by the mountain oueds (rivers) and hence far less desolate than most of the Saharan ergs (stretch of dunes). It contains only one live erg, the Jadal, and encompasses the Azawak and the Tamesna. This is the kingdom of fossil valleys and the vestiges of a zone once rich in fauna and flora.

The Ténéré: To the east of the Aïr extends the Ténéré, a vast arid plain where the live sand dunes cover the whole of eastern Niger, from the sandstone hamada (plateau) of Mangeni, dominated by the Djado Massi, to the Chad basin. The Ténéré covers some 156,000 square miles and includes three rather different regions: 1) The Tafassasset Ténéré, between Aïr and Djado; 2) the Ténéré itself, with endless expanses of sand and where not even a hint of vegetation mitigates the harsh landscape. This is the kingdom of air, sand and light with chains of dunes running continuously for 12 miles and rise up to ten feet in height. They form massive barriers, making it practically impossible for vehicles to cross the areas; and 3) lastly, the erg known as the Great Bilma Erg or Kaoura. This is a transitional zone between the Sahara proper and the Sahel.

Southern Niger: Until recently, this part of Niger was considered to be the "useful" part of the country, in contrast with the austere and inhospitable desert areas. It consists of an almost horizontal strip, 780 miles long, bounded on the south by the borders of the country. The area presents a less contrasted landscape than the north of the country. More abundant rainfall has maintained lake-like features of the clay basins. But the landscape presents a picture of alternating low sandstone plateaus, sometimes covered with sand, and no less sandy depressions, indicating the existence of ancient basins of dallols (valleys.)

At its western end, the low-lying plateau is crossed by the River Niger Alluvial plain, then by the Bosso and Maouri dallols. In the center lies the vast ferrous sandstone plateau of Adar-Doutchi, which in certain places rises to an elevation of over 300 feet. Deep valleys and basins, sometimes enclosing lakes, cut into this plateau, which precedes the Goulbi zone (Maradi-Tessaoua), a region of broad valleys of rich soil, watered by fast-flowing seasonal rivers during the monsoon.

To the east lies a monotonous succession of sandy wastes, interrupted only by the granite outcrops of Damagaram (above 1,640 feet), the clay depressions of Damergou and the Massif of Minana (1,475 feet) and Koutous (1,970 feet). The manga zone, which marks the end of this strip and which itself ends at Lake Chad, is mainly sandy, with scattered flat-bottomed basins which are usually fertile.

Hydrography

Apart from a few more or less permanent pools and seasonal water courses, Niger's main hydrographic network consists of one major river, the Niger, whose eccentric position prevents it from sewing the country as a whole, and a smaller river, the Komadougou Yobé, likewise eccentric.