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104-518: The Voulet–Chanoine Mission to Lake Chad set out from Dakar in November 1898, moving through French Sudan (modern Mali ). It was composed of 50 Senegalese Tirailleurs , 20 spahis (both units recruited in West Africa) and 30 interpreters, but the bulk was formed by 400 auxiliaries and 800 porters that were pressed into service. The force was directed by nine Europeans: the two commanders,

208-637: A Berber language, in which "gher" means "watercourse", confusion could easily arise. Pliny connected these two rivers as one long watercourse which flowed (via lakes and underground sections) into the Nile, a notion which persisted in the Arab and European worlds – and further added the Senegal River as the "Ger" – until the 19th century. While the true course of the Niger was presumably known to locals, it

312-634: A dysentery epidemic broke out. By the end of the first two months the mission had lost 148 bearers to dysentery. Voulet and Chanoine reunited with the expedition in January at Say , the easternmost French post in Sudan (modern Niger ). The column was by now 2,000 men strong, well over the number that their supplies could sustain. Even though they were in French-controlled areas, Voulet's troops started pillaging, looting, raping, and killing. Among

416-629: A clearer Franco-British delimitation of the colonial borders), uniting with the Foureau-Lamy mission and destroying Rabih's empire, which permitted the institution in September by the French government of the military territory of Chad. Having achieved their goals, Joalland and Meynier left Chad and returned to French Sudan and the Niger River by November. Joalland, the doctor Henric and

520-421: A last warning, which Klobb ignored. Klobb, after telling his men not to open fire under any circumstances, in full-dress uniform and with his Légion d'honneur medal pinned on his chest, proceeded alone toward Voulet, who kept telling him to go back. To emphasise his warnings Voulet ordered two salvos fired in the air. When Klobb addressed Voulet's men, reminding them of their duties, Voulet threatened them with

624-597: A means to further his career. He actively sought support from French politicians, which was difficult to obtain because conflicts divided and preoccupied the Minister of Colonies André Lebon and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabriel Hanotaux . The political crisis of the Dreyfus affair also consumed the attention of French politicians, making it even more difficult for Voulet to be heard. In spite of these obstacles, he successfully obtained approval for his project, with

728-409: A negative impact on the production of these products, and the explosive growth of cattle herds has exacerbated this impact. Cattle are the most important livestock raised, as well as poultry , goats , sheep , camels , horses , and donkeys . The animal husbandry was severely affected by the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s. Fishing has traditionally been the most important economic activity for

832-522: A pistol and ordered them to open fire. Klobb fell, wounded, still ordering his men not to return fire; but his words were truncated by a new salvo that killed Klobb, while his soldiers fled. On the evening of Klobb's assassination, Voulet informed his officers of the clash and, while stripping off his galloons , proclaimed: "I'm no longer a Frenchman, I'm a black chief. With you, I will found an empire" ( Je ne suis plus Français, je suis un chef noir. Avec vous, je vais fonder un empire ). The officers' reaction

936-404: A position that the foot went to the hyenas and the rest of the body to the vultures. On 10 July, after a pursuit of over 2000 km, Klobb arrived at Damangara, near Zinder , where the villagers informed him that Voulet and his men were just a few hours' march ahead. He sent an African sergeant with two soldiers to give Voulet a letter informing him that he had been removed from his position and

1040-518: A radically new African historical perspective, countering the Eurocentric view. A French television movie produced by Serge Moati in 2004, Capitaines des ténèbres , focuses on the column, and especially on its two captains. The film is openly influenced by Joseph Conrad 's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness and in particular by its character Kurtz , of whom Voulet is seen as an incarnation. The material collected for Moati's movie also provides

1144-526: A second letter to Klobb, in which he again told him not to try to come closer. Klobb did not believe the other officers or the riflemen would dare to kill, or let be killed, a superior officer. He was unaware that Voulet had kept the new orders secret, and that as a precaution Voulet had made sure only himself and Chanoine would be present to receive him. Consequently, the following morning, Klobb proceeded with his men to Dankori, where Voulet waited. Upon seeing him, Voulet ordered his men to disperse and sent Klobb

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1248-686: A sharp decrease in the amount of water entering the lake. The average annual inflow of the Chari River and the Logone River from 1970 to 1990 was only 55% of that from 1950 to 1970. Since the 1980s, one-third of the water in the Chari River and the Logone River has been diverted and intercepted by the Central African Republic located upstream for agricultural irrigation and hydroelectric power generation. The dams built on

1352-489: A sometimes foolish sensitivity"; while the lieutenant, son of the general and future War Minister Charles Chanoine , was judged impulsive, ruthless and "cruel out of cold-bloodedness as well as for pleasure". Both had already proved their ruthlessness and efficiency two years before, when they invaded the Mossi Kingdoms and conquered its capital Ouagadougou . The mission was the brainchild of Voulet, who saw it as

1456-493: A surge in the number of phytoplankton and zooplankton, allowing large fish to migrate seasonally within the watershed to feed and breed in the fertile floodplain when floods arrive. There are more than 30 million residents in the Chad Lake Basin. There are more than 70 ethnic groups around the lake, most of whom are distributed on the south bank, where the population density exceeds 100/km (260/sq mi). They rely on

1560-513: A titanic individual, reckless and unsubmissive, bloody for reasons of strategy. A very different perspective was taken in 1980 by Abdoulaye Mamani in Sarraounia , the masterpiece of Nigerien fiction. Here the protagonist is not the conqueror, the invader who is openly censured, but the African queen that refuses to submit, and whose heroism is extolled. There is no pretence of impartiality:

1664-795: Is 2,117,700 km (817,600 sq mi) in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali , Niger , on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria , discharging through a massive delta , known as the Niger Delta , into the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean . The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded by

1768-651: Is almost twice that of the rainy season, and the lowest nighttime temperature sometimes drops to 8 °C (46 °F) in December and January. April is usually the hottest month of the year, with temperatures occasionally reaching 40 °C (104 °F) , the lowest water levels appear in June to July, and the highest water levels in November to December, with surface water temperatures ranging from 19 to 32 °C (66 to 90 °F) . The Chad Basin covers an area of about 1 × 10 ^  km (390,000 sq mi), and

1872-520: Is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria , Niger , Chad , and Cameroon in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of 1,000,000 km (390,000 sq mi). It is an important wetland ecosystem in West-Central Africa. The lakeside is rich in reeds and swamps, and the plain along the lake is fertile, making it an important irrigated agricultural area. The lake

1976-478: Is between 0 and 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in), and that of the eastern archipelago is between 0 and 2 m (6 ft 7 in). The climate of the Lake Chad region is strongly influenced by continental and maritime air masses . The maritime air mass moves northward during the summer, producing seasonal precipitation. In late summer, continental air mass dominate again. The average annual precipitation in

2080-580: Is injected by the Chari , Logone , and Yobe Rivers . The water supply of the lake is seasonal. Most of the precipitation comes from the Adamawa Plateau in the south of the basin, which is transported to the lake basin through the Chari River and the Logone River. The two contribute 95% of the total inflow of Lake Chad, while the Yobe River only contributes less than 2.5%. The lake seeps through

2184-500: Is only slightly salty. The water volume of most large lakes in Africa depends on rainfall and evaporation, which means that temperature and precipitation are crucial for regulating the water balance of these bodies of water, and any fluctuations can cause significant changes in their water level and area. Lake Chad is a shallow inland lake, and the rainfall in the Chad basin is very sensitive to small changes in atmospheric circulation, so

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2288-477: Is part of the larger African massive physiographic division. The Niger River basin, located in western Africa , covers 7.5% of the continent and spreads over ten countries. Niger River basin: areas and rainfall by country within the basin rainfall in the basin (mm) Hydrometric stations on the Niger River kilometer (rkm) (m) (km ) start Average, minimum and maximum discharge of

2392-599: Is permanently or seasonally inhabited by hundreds of species of birds such as northern shoveler , Egyptian goose and marabou stork . It is an important wintering ground for European anatidae and wading birds. There are raptors such as steppe eagle and booted eagle on the lakeshore, and more than one million ruff can be observed on the lake at one time. The once common large mammals include red-fronted gazelle , dama gazelle , patas monkey , striped hyena , cheetah and caracal , while African elephant , otter , hippopotamus , sitatunga and kob are distributed in

2496-464: Is rich in aquatic resources and is one of the important freshwater fish producing areas in Africa. Lake Chad is divided into deeper southern parts and shallower northern parts. The water source of the lake mainly comes from rivers such as the Chari River that enter the lake. The water level varies greatly seasonally, and the area of the lake also changes dramatically. During the African humid period ,

2600-421: Is steep with a dip angle of about 55°, while the western fault has a dip angle of about 45°. The overall thickness of the inner layer in the slope area is relatively thin. In the central area of the basin, the thickness of the sedimentary strata is large, and the thickness of the sedimentary center zone reaches over 10,000 m (33,000 ft). The northern part of the basin appears steep in the west and gentle in

2704-589: The Atlantic Ocean through the Niger River . The vast waters formed during the African humid period provided conditions for the emergence of lakeside fishermen's settlements, and the Nilo-Saharan ethnic group also migrated to Lake Chad during this period. Agriculture also emerged in the Sahel region at this time. By 1800 BC, a pottery culture known as Gajiganna had emerged, initially as pastoralists, but, starting around 1500 BC, living in settled hamlets at

2808-498: The Kainji Dam , Shiroro Dam , Zungeru Dam , and Jebba Dam are used to generate hydropower. The water resources of the Niger River are under pressure because of increased water abstraction for irrigation. The construction of dams for hydropower generation is underway or envisaged in order to alleviate chronic power shortages in the countries of the Niger basin. The FAO estimates the irrigation potential of all countries in

2912-712: The Nile and the Congo River . Its main tributary is the Benue River . The Niger has different names in the different languages of the region: The earliest use of the name "Niger" for the river is by Leo Africanus in his Della descrittione dell’Africa et delle cose notabili che ivi sono , published in Italian in 1550. Nevertheless, "Nigris" was already the name of a river in West Africa, as mentioned by Pliny

3016-591: The Scramble for Africa at the end of the 19th century. As part of the West Africa Sahel region, Niger River has a hot climate characterized by very high temperatures year-round; a long, intense dry season from October–May; and a brief, irregular rainy season linked to the West African monsoon. The Niger River is a relatively clear river, carrying only a tenth as much sediment as the Nile because

3120-588: The Wadi Ghir on the north-western edge of the Tuat , along the borders of modern Morocco and Algeria . This would likely have been as far as Ptolemy would have had consistent records. The Ni-Ger was likely speculation, although the name stuck as that of a river south of the Mediterranean's "known world". Suetonius reports Romans traveling to the "Ger", although in reporting any river's name derived from

3224-592: The 1980s. The Niger takes one of the most unusual routes of any major river, a boomerang shape that baffled geographers for two centuries. Its source ( Tembakounda ) is 240 km (150 mi) inland from the Atlantic Ocean, but the river runs directly away from the sea into the Sahara Desert , then takes a sharp right turn near the ancient city of Timbuktu and heads southeast to the Gulf of Guinea . This strange geography apparently came about because

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3328-556: The Anglo-French agreement of June 1898 had been assigned to the United Kingdom . Klobb immediately left Timbuktu, taking fifty tirailleurs and Lt. Octave Meynier as his second. Meanwhile, Voulet was meeting considerable resistance to his advance from the local queen Sarraounia , and at Lougou on 16 April he encountered his hardest battle yet , with 4 men killed and 6 wounded. Voulet took his revenge on 8 May: in one of

3432-628: The Congo River Basin to the Chari River Basin every year, and use a series of dams along the route to generate electricity. Niger River This is an accepted version of this page (Period: 1971–2000)7,922.3 m /s (279,770 cu ft/s) The Niger River ( / ˈ n aɪ dʒ ər / NY -jər ; French : (le) fleuve Niger [(lə) flœv niʒɛʁ] ) is the main river of West Africa , extending about 4,180 kilometres (2,600 miles). Its drainage basin

3536-592: The Elder and Solinus, among others. Whether this river was the same as the actual Niger, or rather the river also known as Ger (currently known as Oued Guir, in Morocco), is a matter of discussion. This Nigris was said to divide "Africa proper" from the land of the (Western) Ethiopians to the south, and its name (as well as that of the river Ger) might well come from the Berber phrase gr-n-grwn meaning "river of rivers", as

3640-782: The Fezzan, or to the east via Darfur . After the Arabs conquered North Africa during the 7th and 8th centuries, the Chad Basin became increasingly linked to the Muslim countries. Trade and improved agricultural techniques enabled more sophisticated societies. Around 900 AD, the Kanem people who spoke the Kanuri language unified numerous nomadic tribes and established the Kanem Empire in

3744-571: The Inner Delta between Ségou and Timbuktu to seepage and evaporation. The water from the Bani River , which flows into the Delta at Mopti , does not compensate for the losses. The average loss is estimated at 31 km /year but varies considerably between years. The river is then joined by various tributaries but also loses more water to evaporation. The quantity of water entering Nigeria

3848-654: The Interior of Africa . Park proposed a theory that the Niger and Congo were the same river. Although the Niger Delta would seem like an obvious candidate, it was a maze of streams and swamps that did not look like the head of a great river. He died in 1806 on a second expedition attempting to prove the Niger-Congo connection. The theory became the leading one in Europe. Several failed expeditions followed; however

3952-529: The Joalland-Meynier Mission. Joalland and Meynier remained for some time in Zinder to pacify the area; the sarki Amadou was killed on September 15 during a skirmish, which brought Zinder's territory under full control. This freed the two French officers to leave Zinder on October 3 to continue with their reconnaissance. They took 170 men and a cannon, while 100 men were left behind to secure

4056-427: The Lake Chad area is 330 mm (13 in), with an average annual precipitation of 560 mm (22.0 in) on the south bank and about 250 mm (9.8 in) on the north bank. The highest temperature in the rainy season is 30 °C (86 °F), and the highest temperature rises to more than 32 °C (90 °F) when October and November enter the dry season. The temperature difference between day and night

4160-674: The Minister of Colonies Antoine Guillain . This brought about the decision by the Dupuy ministry on 20 April to arrest Voulet and Chanoine and send orders to the Governor-General of French Sudan, Colonel Vimard, to have them replaced at the head of the mission with the governor of Timbuktu, Klobb. Among the chief concerns of the French government was that Voulet was carrying out his depredations in Sokoto , an unconquered territory that by

4264-520: The Ministry of Colonies was closed on December 1, 1902, claiming that Voulet and Chanoine had been driven mad by the dreadful heat, the " soudanite aiguë ". After a long period of oblivion, the memory of the expedition was revived in 1976 by the writer Jacques-Francis Rolland in his Le Grand Captaine , honoured with the Prix des Maisons de la Presse . The book is centered on the figure of Voulet, seen as

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4368-412: The Niger River at Koulikoro (Upper Niger), Niamey (Middle Niger) and Lokoja (Lower Niger). Period from 2000/06/01 to 2024/05/31. Average discharge of the Niger River at Niger Delta (period from 2010 to 2018): Niger River at Lokoja average, minimum and maximum discharge (1946 to 2023): The main tributaries from the mouth: tributary tributary (km) (km ) (m /s) At

4472-467: The Niger River is two ancient rivers joined together. The upper Niger, from the source west of Timbuktu to the bend in the current river near Timbuktu , once emptied into a now dry lake to the east northeast of Timbuktu, while the lower Niger started to the south of Timbuktu and flowed south into the Gulf of Guinea. Over time upstream erosion by the lower Niger resulted in stream capture of the upper Niger by

4576-481: The Niger bend region also brought Islam to the region in approximately the 14th century CE. Much of the northern Niger basin remains Muslim today, although the southern reaches of the river tend to be Christian. Classical writings on the interior of the Sahara begin with Ptolemy , who mentions two rivers in the desert: the "Gir" (Γειρ) and farther south, the "Nigir" (Νιγειρ). The first has been since identified as

4680-587: The Niger's headwaters lie in ancient rocks that provide little silt . Like the Nile, the Niger floods yearly; this begins in September, peaks in November, and finishes by May. An unusual feature of the river is the Inner Niger Delta , which forms where its gradient suddenly decreases. The result is a region of braided streams , marshes , and large lakes; the seasonal floods make the Delta extremely productive for both fishing and agriculture. The river loses nearly two-thirds of its potential flow in

4784-485: The area from the Congo and been awaiting them for some time in the region of Lake Chad. The following day, in the battle of Kousséri , this combined force totally defeated Rabih az-Zubayr 's forces, and Rabih was killed in the fight, his empire crumbling with him. This event meant that the original expedition had now accomplished all its main aims, that is, surveying the lands of Northern Nigeria and Niger (contributing to

4888-468: The area of Lake Chad reached 400,000 km (150,000 sq mi). Due to the increasingly arid climate, the lake surface gradually shrank. In the 19th century, Lake Chad still had an area of 28,000 km (11,000 sq mi). However, due to climate change and human water diversion, Lake Chad has been greatly reduced since the mid-1970s, and its area has fluctuated between 2,000 and 5,000 km (770 and 1,930 sq mi). The Chad Basin

4992-572: The area of Lake Chad shrank from 22,772 to 15,400 km (8,792 to 5,946 sq mi), further shrunk to 4,398 km (1,698 sq mi) in 1975, and only 1,756 km (678 sq mi) in February 1994. Since then, the area of Lake Chad has entered a relatively stable stage with a slight increase. From 1995 to 1998, it fluctuated within the range of 1,200 to 4,500 km (460 to 1,740 sq mi). The area once reached 5,075 square kilometres (1,959 sq mi) in 2000, and

5096-530: The artillery expert lieutenant Paul Joalland , Lt. Louis Peteau, Marine-Lt. Marc Pallier, the medical officer Dr. Henric and three NCOs . The expedition was fully armed with artillery, machine guns, hundreds of rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition. In command were captain Paul Voulet and his adjutant Lt. Julien Chanoine . The captain, a 32-year-old son of a doctor, was said by his officer colleagues to mix "a true love of blood and cruelty coupled with

5200-578: The author himself was to call his work a roman engagé , i.e. a politically motivated novel. Mamani was to participate in the 1986 screenplay of Sarraounia , a film based on his novel and directed by the Mauritanian Med Hondo , in a France- Burkina Faso coproduction that won the first prize in the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou . An anticolonialist epic, the work, like that of Mamani, sets out to offer

5304-685: The average area of surface water from 2013 to 2016 was about 1,876 km (724 sq mi), with the largest area being 2,231 km (861 sq mi) in July 2015. Part of the Chad Basin is located within the Chad Basin National Park in Nigeria, and the country and Cameroon have established the Lake Chad Ramsar Wetland with a total area of 8,225 km (3,176 sq mi). The wetland plants in

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5408-453: The basin is characterized by an asymmetric fault depression composite rift with steep slopes in the east and gentle slopes in the west on the profile, and is distributed in an NNW direction on the plane. There are two large basin‐bounding normal fault developed on both sides of the basin, with a graben style fault and depression in the middle. The east and west sides are outward dipping low angle gentle slope areas. The eastern boundary fault

5512-478: The basin. The area of Lake Chad experienced four heydays between 39,000 BC and 300 BC, leaving thick diatomaceous earth and lacustrine deposits in the strata. This has been called Mega-Chad. The maximum depth of Mega-Chad exceeds 180 m (590 ft) and covers an area of approximately 400,000 km (150,000 sq mi), flowed into the Benue River through the Mayo Kébbi , and finally flows into

5616-542: The basis of the documentary Blancs de mémoire , directed by Manuel Gasquet, that follows in the expedition's footsteps and examines its impact on the inhabitants of the areas it passed through. In 2020, the documentary film African Apocalypse about the horror of Niger's colonial past, in particular focusing on Paul Voulet's horrific behavior, was produced as a non-fiction retelling of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness . Lake Chad Lake Chad ( Arabic : بحيرة تشاد , Kanuri : Sádǝ , French : Lac Tchad )

5720-541: The beginning of the river near Kissidougou in Guinea, walking at first till a raft could be used, then changing to various local crafts as the river broadened and changed. Two of them reached the ocean on March 25, 1947, with Ponty having left the expedition at Niamey , somewhat past the halfway mark. They carried a 16mm movie camera , the resulting footage giving Rouch his first two ethnographic documentaries: "Au pays des mages noirs", and "La chasse à l’hippopotame". A camera

5824-419: The benefits of new land from the receding waters. The surrounding residents who used to rely on lake water were forced to relocate, causing the economy of the lake area to continuously shrink. Since 1970, five countries in the southern part of the basin have constructed numerous water conservancy projects in the upper reaches of the Chari River, Logone River, and Yobe River to intercept river water, resulting in

5928-614: The city under the command of Sergeant Bouthel, who was awaiting the Foureau-Lamy mission that was heading towards Zinder from Algiers across the Sahara , and which arrived in November. In January 1900 Foureau and Lamy left Zinder, moving south-east towards the Komadugu Yobe River. They followed this river east to Lake Chad , north around the western and northern shores of the lake and then south along its eastern shore. Here they encountered Joalland who had travelled north, up

6032-464: The committee is located in N'Djamena , Chad. The commission's tasks include managing Lake Chad and its water resources, protecting the ecosystem, and promoting regional integration, peace, security, and development in the Lake Chad region. The surrounding countries' water replenishment plan for Lake Chad includes the construction of a 2,400 km (1,500 mi) canal to transport 100 × 10 ^  m (130 × 10 ^  cu yd) of water from

6136-420: The current Tuareg name for the river Niger. As Timbuktu was the southern end of the principal Trans-Saharan trade route to the western Mediterranean , it was the source of most European knowledge of the region. Medieval European maps applied the name Niger to the middle reaches of the river, in modern Mali, but Quorra ( Kworra ) to the lower reaches in modern Nigeria , as these were not recognized at

6240-434: The darkness and found refuge with some villagers. A sergeant then informed Lt. Pallier, the first French officer he found, of what had happened, and pledged the loyalty of the troop to him. The last chapter of Voulet's rebellion was played out the following morning, when he tried to reenter the camp, but was blocked by a sentry who refused to let him pass. Voulet shot at him but missed, and the sentry killed him. Pallier, who

6344-495: The drought in the 1970s, the soil that can be planted without irrigation and fertilization has been exposed at the bottom of the lake, and it has been reclaimed as a polder for planting maize, cowpea , rice , sorghum and other crops. Farmers have shifted from planting mainly dry crops, such as wheat, to rice with high water demand, resulting in more serious soil salinization and water eutrophication. The adverse effects of reduced water sources on fishing, farming, and herding outweigh

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6448-400: The early 1960s to the mid-1980s, the lake water level decreased by 3 m (9.8 ft) compared to the average level from 1900 to 2010. In 1870, the area of Lake Chad was about 28,000 km (11,000 sq mi). The lake was able to flow out of the Bahr el-Ghazal during the rainy season. At the turn of the 20th century the area of Lake Chad shrank briefly, and reached a new high in

6552-472: The east on the profile. Five fault structural zones parallel to the basin‐bounding faults have developed from west to east. Lake Chad is divided into north and south parts by a shallow sill called the Great Barrier, with the bottom of the northern basin at an altitude of 275.3 m (903 ft) and the bottom of the southern basin at 278.2 m (913 ft). When the water level in the south exceeds 279 m (915 ft) above sea level, it will flow into

6656-400: The east side of the lake, to meet them. The united expeditions, now under the overall command of Lamy, returned south to Joalland's base camp on the right bank of the Chari River , near where it enters Lake Chad from the south. The joint expedition conquered Kousséri in April 1900; shortly afterwards, on April 21, they were joined by a third expedition, the Gentil Mission , that had entered

6760-626: The end of the African humid period around 5,500 years before present, the modern Sahara Desert, once a savanna , underwent desertification . As plant species sharply declined, humans migrated to the fertile Niger River bend region, with abundant resources including plants for grazing and fish. Like in the Fertile Crescent , many food crops were domesticated in the Niger River region, including yams , African rice ( Oryza glaberrima ), and pearl millet . The Sahara aridification may have triggered, or at least accelerated, these domestications. Agriculture, as well as fishing and animal husbandry, led to

6864-501: The growing interest in Africa among European academic and business communities, the Lake Chad area was extensively described by Europeans in the 19th century. Three scientific expeditions were conducted between 1898 and 1909. During the Berlin Conference in 1884–1885, Africa was divided between the European colonial powers. By the second decade of the 20th century, Lake Chad had been colonized and occupied by Britain , France , and Germany , defining boundaries that are largely intact with

6968-570: The help of his adjutant Chanoine. The four months of delay in the start of the mission—and the very limited funds granted—had dire consequences for the future. Voulet completely ignored the local hierarchies and took liberties with the orders he received, which were anyway very vague—he was asked only to explore the territory between the Niger River and Lake Chad , and put the area "under French protection". The Minister of Colonies merely said, "I don't pretend to be able to give you any instructions on which route to choose or how you are to behave towards

7072-525: The lake are all facing the problem of extreme poverty, and due to the difficulty in meeting their livelihoods, some local residents have been involved in drug and arms trade. This has been exacerbated by the activity of Boko Haram , an insurgency that has displaced millions of people and disrupted development through the region. Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad established the Lake Chad Basin Commission on 22 May 1964. The Central African Republic joined in 1996, and Libya joined in 2008. The headquarters of

7176-419: The lower Niger. The northern part of the river, known as the Niger bend , is an important area because it is the major river and source of water in that part of the Sahara. This made it the focal point of trade across the western Sahara and the centre of the Sahelian kingdoms of Mali and Gao . The surrounding Niger River Basin is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the Sudan province, which in turn

7280-470: The middle of the 20th century and overflowed from the Bahr el-Ghazal again. A major drought started in the Sahel region in the late 1960s and caused severe damage in 1972 and 1984. It was thought to be related to vegetation loss, global warming, and sea surface temperature anomalies. During this period, Lake Chad shrunk considerably and fluctuated in the range of 2,000 to 5,000 km (770 to 1,930 sq mi) thereafter. From June 1966 to January 1973,

7384-429: The mission's officers, told Voulet that he had had enough and was leaving; Voulet countered by dismissing him on 29 January 1899 for "lack of discipline and enthusiasm." This decision eventually backfired: on 15 February Peteau wrote a letter to his fiancée that fully detailed the atrocities committed by Voulet and Chanoine that he had witnessed. Peteau's fiancée contacted her local deputy, who promptly sent her letter on to

7488-458: The most brutal episodes was the sacking of the village of Sansanné-Haoussa on 8 January 1899. One hundred and one people were killed, among them thirty women and children, to set an example in retaliation for the wounding of a couple of his soldiers. When at the end of the month the mission left the Niger River to pass into the semi-desert areas extending east, their march became an endless orgy of looting and killing. In January, Lt. Peteau, one of

7592-509: The mystery of the Niger would not be solved for another 25 years, in 1830, when Richard Lander and his brother became the first Europeans to follow the course of the Niger to the ocean. In 1946, three Frenchmen, Jean Sauvy, Pierre Ponty and movie maker Jean Rouch , former civil servants in the African French colonies , set out to travel the entire length of the river, as no one else seemed to have done previously. They travelled from

7696-467: The native chieftains." In the opinion of the British historian G. Regan, this meant "giving carte blanche to two known psychopaths in uniform," especially as Voulet had already told the governor of French Sudan that he meant to crush any resistance by burning villages. When the column reached Koulikoro , on the Niger, it divided. Chanoine led most of the expedition overland across the 600-mile bend of

7800-399: The north. In the south, there is continuous open water at the mouth of the Chari River, and the western part of the water is covered by reed swamps, and the sand dunes that are not completely submerged in the eastern waters form an archipelago. The average depth of the southern lake basin is between .5 and 2 m (1 ft 8 in and 6 ft 7 in), that of the northern lake basin

7904-522: The northeast of Lake Chad. At the beginning of the founding of the country, the Kanem people continued to live a nomadic life until the 11th century, when they were Islamized and settled in Njimi . Through trans-Saharan trade , the power of the Kanem Empire reached its peak in the 13th century, but as the empire declined in the 14th century, its southwestern vassal state of Bornu began to rise, causing

8008-524: The other French officers, due to the military success of the campaign, were able to avoid court-martial . Both Joalland and Meynier went on to have successful careers, and become generals. When, in August 1899, the government made public the atrocities committed by the Voulet's expedition and the murder of Klobb, a storm of indignation arose from the press, and France's claim of a "civilizing mission" in Africa

8112-457: The people of the lake area, which almost ceased during drought periods and only resumed in the mid-1990s. Most fishing products are dried, pickled, or smoked. The natron produced in the depression on the northeast bank of the lake has long been of significant economic significance. Traditionally, it has been excavated in blocks and transported across the lake to enter the Nigerian market. Since

8216-541: The power center of the empire to shift to Bornu around 1400. In the second half of the 16th century, the Bornu Empire began importing firearms from North Africa, consolidating its military hegemony. The Bornu Empire declined in the 18th century, and later lost its western region to the Sokoto Caliphate during the early 19th century. It was later colonised by European powers in the 20th century. Following

8320-408: The present post-colonial states . At the beginning of independence, the countries surrounding Lake Chad not only had a poor economic foundation, but also had more complex ethnic, religious, and political conflicts. Nigeria and Niger , which had just gained independence, experienced continuous coups, while Chad also experienced ongoing civil war. The inability of countries along the lake to consider

8424-481: The protection of Lake Chad has led to a series of environmental problems. The Chad Basin includes Chad , Nigeria, Cameroon , Niger, Sudan , and the Central African Republic . It is an extensional fault depression type rift basin , which can be divided into four secondary structural units : southern depression, northern depression, central uplift, and eastern slope. The southern depression of

8528-453: The rise of settlements like Djenné-Djenno in the Inner Delta, now a World Heritage Site . The region of the Niger bend, in the Sahel , was a key origin and destination for trans-Saharan trade , fueling the wealth of great empires such as the Ghana , Mali, and Songhai Empires . Major trading ports along the river, including Timbuktu and Gao, became centers of learning and culture. Trade to

8632-641: The river – the myth connecting the Niger to the Nile persisted. Many European expeditions to plot the river were unsuccessful. In 1788 the African Association was formed in England to promote the exploration of Africa in the hopes of locating the Niger, and in June 1796 the Scottish explorer Mungo Park was the first European to lay eyes on the middle portion of the river since antiquity (and perhaps ever). He wrote an account in 1799, Travels in

8736-434: The river, while Voulet took the rest of the men downriver to Timbuktu , held by Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-François Klobb , who provided him with another 70 tirailleurs and 20 spahis . Chanoine had increasing difficulties finding provisions for his large column in the arid region where he marched; he started pillaging the villages on the way, and gave orders for anyone trying to escape to be shot. In addition to these troubles,

8840-449: The side of the lake. The archaeological discovery revealed wild grasses, mostly of the tribe Paniceae , and wild rice together with the earliest domesticated Pearl millet in the Lake Chad region, dating to 1200–1000 cal BC . One of the oldest domesticated Pearl millet in West Africa was found in the Chad Basin, charred together with wild grasses, and their era can be traced back to 800–1000 cal BC. Permanent villages were established to

8944-720: The south mainly include cyperus papyrus , etc. Reeds mainly grow in the north where the salinity is high, and the floating plant pistia sometimes covers large areas of open water. Plants such as hyparrhenia rufa grow on the shores of lakes with long floods in the south. The area of permanent vegetation has increased from about 3,800 km (1,500 sq mi) in 2000 to about 5,200 km (2,000 sq mi) in 2020 as water levels have dropped and temperatures have increased. The surrounding dense woodland has been converted to open forest with acacias , baobabs , palms and Indian jujube . The lake has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International . It

9048-504: The south of the lake by 500 BC, and major archaeological discoveries include the Sao civilization . According to the records of Claudius Ptolemy in the mid-2nd century AD, the Romans of the 1st century AD had already come into contact with Lake Chad through their connections with Tunisia, Tripolitania , and Fezzan . By the 5th century AD camels were being used for trans-Saharan trade via

9152-490: The surface area of Lake Chad is greatly affected by climate change. Dry climate due to vegetation loss from overgrazing and deforestation and large-scale irrigation projects that diverted water from the rivers that feed the lake are the main reasons for the shrinkage of Lake Chad. The Atlantic multidecadal oscillation and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation have affected precipitation in the Sahel region. From

9256-533: The time as being the same river. When European colonial powers began to send ships along the west coast of Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Senegal River was often postulated to be the seaward end of the Niger. The Niger Delta, pouring into the Atlantic through mangrove swamps and thousands of distributaries along more than 160 kilometres (100 mi), was thought to be coastal wetlands. It

9360-473: The underground to the lowest point of the Chad Basin, the Bodélé Depression , approximately 480 km (300 mi) northeast of Lake Chad, with the deepest point reaching an elevation of only 155 m (509 ft) above sea level. This takes away most of the salinity and maintains the low salinity of Lake Chad. The southwestern waters of Lake Chad being freshwater, and the water in the northeast

9464-442: The upper reaches of the rivers entering the lake changed the time and scope of seasonal floods and disrupted the migration of fish, resulting in a sharp reduction in the populations of Alestes baremoze and Nile perch , the main catches of Lake Chad, and a significant reduction in the catch. At the same time, the conflicts between countries and ethnic groups competing for water and land are also escalating. The four countries along

9568-409: The water source of Chad Lake for irrigation, breeding, animal husbandry and drinking. Local self-sufficient crops include sorghum , maize , finger millet , beans , and vegetables . Gourd is widely planted for making utensils. The collection of forest products such as gum arabic , honey , beeswax , and firewood is of great significance in the region. However, the reduction in forest area has had

9672-833: The wetlands. At present, most of the large mammals have been hunted to extinction, replaced by a large number of cattle. The entire Chad Basin has 179 species of fish, of which 127 are the same as the Niger River Basin, 85 are the same as the Nile River Basin, 47 are the same as the Congo River Basin , and 84 fish species are distributed in the lake. This makes it a rich fishing ground for communities across Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. The seasonal influx of floods combined with seasonal increases in air temperature leads to decreased salinity, increased turbidity, and increased trophic levels, which catalyzed

9776-535: The worst massacres in French colonial history , he slaughtered all the inhabitants of the town of Birni-N'Konni , killing possibly thousands of people. Klobb followed the trail left by the " infernal column's " passage; a trail of burned villages and charred corpses. He passed trees where women had been hanged, and cooking fires where children had been roasted. He also found the corpses of the expedition's guides; those that had displeased Voulet had been strung up alive in

9880-463: Was a mystery to the outside world until the late 18th century. The connection to the Nile River was made not simply because this was then known as the great river of " Aethiopia " (by which all lands south of the desert were called by Classical writers), but because the Nile like the Niger flooded every summer. Through the descriptions of Leo Africanus and even Ibn Battuta – despite his visit to

9984-403: Was decided at Zinder to split the expedition, with 300 riflemen, Lt. Pallier, Dr. Henric and two French NCOs leaving immediately for French Sudan while the remaining 270 riflemen (who had pledged to continue the mission for another year) put themselves under the command of Lt. Paul Joalland . Klobb's former officer, Lt. Octave Meynier , became Joalland's second and the expedition became known as

10088-469: Was estimated at 25 km /year before the 1980s and at 13.5 km /year during the 1980s. The most important tributary is the Benue River which merges with the Niger at Lokoja in Nigeria. The total volume of tributaries in Nigeria is six times higher than the inflow into Nigeria, with a flow near the mouth of the river standing at 177.0 km /year before the 1980s and 147.3 km /year during

10192-464: Was far from enthusiastic, and their mood infected the troop. On July 16 an informer told Voulet that the troop was about to mutiny. Voulet and Chanoine assembled the riflemen, and after shooting the informer in front of the troop—for informing him too late of the impending mutiny—Voulet harangued the soldiers about their duty to obey their leaders, while at the same time shooting at them. The Senegalese returned fire, killing Chanoine, but Voulet escaped into

10296-520: Was formed by the depression of the African Shield . The floor of the basin is made of Precambrian bedrock covered by more than 3,600 m (11,800 ft) of sedimentary deposits. For most of the Quaternary , the basin had abundant water sources. Towards the end of this period the climate became drier. Around 20,000–40,000 years ago, eolianite sand dunes began to form in the north of

10400-563: Was now in command, decided to take Zinder , then the biggest town in present-day Niger and a former vassal of the Bornu Empire ; Pallier defeated the local ruler sarki Amadou, and took the city on July 30. Shortly afterwards, Pallier left Zinder with 300 riflemen to make a reconnaissance of the route to Lake Chad , but was forced by a mutiny among his men to make a premature return to the city. The soldiers had threatened to kill him if he didn't immediately take them back to Zinder and promise to send them back to French Sudan . Consequently, it

10504-439: Was only with the 18th-century visits of Mungo Park , who travelled down the Niger River and visited the great Sahelian empires of his day, that Europeans correctly identified the course of the Niger and extended the name to its entire course. The modern nations of Nigeria and Niger take their names from the river, marking contesting national claims by colonial powers of the "upper", "lower" and "middle" Niger river basin during

10608-578: Was tarnished, as was the army, whose prestige was already considerably weakened by the Dreyfus affair . The expedition's eventual success greatly reduced the public indignation; and when the Radical MP Paul Vigné d'Octon proposed in the National Assembly on December 7, 1900 the formation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry, the government rejected the request as being "dangerous and purposeless". An enquiry requested by

10712-445: Was to return home immediately; to this Voulet replied that he had 600 guns against his (Klobb's) fifty, and would use them if he dared to come near. Voulet and Chanoine were careful not to inform the other officers of Klobb's letter, and in the following days kept them occupied in raids. On July 13 he conducted his last massacre: after a villager killed two of his men, Voulet had 150 women and children slaughtered. The same evening he wrote

10816-743: Was used to illustrate Rouch's subsequent book "Le Niger En Pirogue" (Fernand Nathan, 1954), as well as Sauvy's "Descente du Niger" (L'Harmattan, 2001). A typewriter was brought as well, on which Ponty produced newspaper articles he mailed out whenever possible. The water in the Niger River basin is partially regulated through dams. In Mali the Sélingué Dam on the Sankarani River is mainly used for hydropower but also permits irrigation. Two diversion dams, one at Sotuba just downstream of Bamako , and one at Markala , just downstream of Ségou , are used to irrigate about 54,000 hectares. In Nigeria

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