The Niger River is the principal river of West Africa, extending about 4,180 km. Its drainage basin is 2,117,700 km2 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 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 Congo River. Its main tributary is the Benue River; the Niger has different names in the different languages of the region: Manding: Jeliba or Joliba "great river" Igbo: Orimiri or Orimili "great water" Tuareg: Egerew n-Igerewen "river of rivers" Songhay: Isa "the river" Ijaw: Toru Beni "the river water" Zarma: Isa Beeri "great river" Hausa: Kwara Yoruba: Oya Fula: Maayo JaalibaThe earliest use of the name "Niger" for the river is by Leo Africanus in his Della descrittione dell’Africa et delle cose notabili che iui sono published in Italian in 1550.

The name may come from Berber phrase ger-n-ger meaning "river of rivers". 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 to the lower reaches in modern Nigeria, as these were not recognized at 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 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, was thought to be no more than coastal wetlands, it 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 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 the Scramble for Africa at the end of the 19th century. The Niger River is a "clear" river, carrying only a tenth as much sediment as the Nile because the Niger's headwaters lie in ancient rocks that provide little silt. Like the Nile, the Niger floods yearly. An unusual feature of the river is the Inner Niger Delta, which forms where its gradient decreases; the result is a region of braided streams and lakes the size of Belgium. The river loses nearly two-thirds of its potential flow in the Inner Delta between Ségou and Timbuktu to seepage and evaporation. All 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 km3/year, but varies between years. The river is joined by various tributaries, but loses more water to evaporation.

The quantity of water entering Nigeria measured in Yola was estimated at 25 km3/year before the 1980s and at 13.5 km3/year during the 1980s. The most important tributary of the Niger in Nigeria is the Benue River which merges with the river 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 km3/year before the 1980s and 147.3 km3/year during 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 is just 240 km inland from the Atlantic Ocean, but the river runs directly away from the sea into the Sahara Desert takes a sharp right turn near the ancient city of Timbuktu and heads southeast to the Gulf of Guinea. This strange geography came about because 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 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 desert; this made it the focal point of trade across the western Sahara, 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 is part of the larger African massive physiographic division; the origin of the river's name remains unclear. What is clear is that "Niger" was an appellation applied in the Mediterranean world from at least the Classical era, when knowledge of the area by Europeans was better than fable. A careful study of Classical writings on the interior of the Sahara begins with Ptolemy, who mentions two rivers in the desert: the "Gir" and farther south, the "Nigir"; the first has been since identified as the Wadi Ghir on the north western edge of the Tuat, along the borders of modern Morocco and Algeria.

This would have been as far as Ptolemy would have had consistent records. The Ni-Ger was speculation, although the name stu

The 2nd Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and fall under the command of the 2nd Marine Division and the II Marine Expeditionary Force; the Regiment comprises three infantry battalions and one headquarters company: Headquarters Company 2nd Marines 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines The first "2nd Regiment" of Marines came into existence in 1901 when unsettled conditions in the Far East required the presence of a Marine expeditionary force to protect American lives and property. The regiment was formed at Cavite, Philippines, on 1 January, by utilizing personnel for units returned to the Philippines from service in the Boxer Rebellion in China, the 1st Regiment and the 4th and 5th Independent Battalions; the 2nd Regiment became part of the 1st Brigade of Marines stationed in the Philippines as a ready force to be committed wherever needed in Far Eastern waters.

Following the collapse of Philippine resistance in the Philippine–American War, the 2nd was given an additional mission of helping carry out United States Navy responsibilities for the military government of Cavite Peninsula and the Subic Bay area. The Marines of the regiment established garrisons and outposts and continually patrolled their assigned areas to round up the remaining insurgents and to maintain law and order. In order to execute the regiment's military government responsibilities, officers were appointed to varied special duties such as captains of the ports, district commanders, inspectors of customs, internal revenue collectors, provost judges and marshals; as the political situation in the Philippines returned to normalcy, practice marches, general field training. Were emphasized to a greater degree. In January 1914, the regiment reassigned most of its units to ships and other stations of the Far East. With the transfer of the Field and Staff to the Provisional Regiment, Guam, on 20 January, the 2nd Regiment was formally disbanded.

At the same time, a "2nd Regiment" served in the Far East, the 2nd Regiment, 1st Provisional Brigade consisting of a Field and Staff, Companies A, B, C, F was organized at League Island, Pennsylvania on 26 December 1903. The regiment embarked and sailed this same date to Panama, arriving there on 3 January 1904; the primary mission of this force in Panama was the enforcement of provisions of the Hay–Herrán Treaty made with Panama on 18 November 1903 which provided for the construction of a cross-isthmus canal. A revolution broke out in Cuba in late 1906, a Marine expeditionary force was dispatched to the island to establish and maintain law and order; as part of this force, the 4th Expeditionary Battalion was formed at League Island, Pennsylvania, on 27 September 1906. The battalion sailed for Cuba. Here, it was reorganized and redesignated 2nd 1st Expeditionary Brigade. Order was soon restored, upon the arrival of United States Army troops as occupation forces on 31 October, the 2nd Regiment was disbanded.

The final one of these temporary "2nd Regiment" organizations to be formed was designated as the 2nd Regiment, 2nd Provisional Brigade on 19 February 1913 at Philadelphia. The regiment was intended for duty in Mexico as part of an expeditionary brigade. Instead, it was sent to Guantanamo Bay and held in readiness for emergency duties, while undergoing intensive training. On 1 May, this unit was redesignated 2nd Regiment, Expeditionary Force, USMC; the lineage of the modern 2nd Marine Regiment traces from its activation as the 1st Advance Base Regiment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 19 June 1913. The following year that designation was changed to Advanced Base Force; that unit landed as part of a joint force to secure and occupy the Mexican port of Veracruz in 1914. That brief encounter resulted in two Medal of Honor awards to members of the regiment, Wendell C. Neville and Smedley D. Butler; the following year, the regiment was posted to Cap Hatien, Haiti, to safeguard American lives and property.

This turned into a long occupation during which the regiment carried put extensive patrolling, engaged in numerous sharp firefights, trained a native constabulary. The most notable single action was the reduction of Fort Riviere, the most notorious rebel stronghold. Smedley Butler and Daniel Daly were both awarded their second Medals of Honor for valorous actions in Haiti. In 1916, the unit was redesignated 2nd Regiment, 1st Brigade. In 1933, the 2nd Regiment was redesignated the "2nd Marines." The following year, the 2nd Marines departed Haiti was disestablished on 15 August 1934. The 2nd Marines were reactivated in February 1941 in California; this time the regiment was part of the newly formed 2nd Marine Division. The regiment, with the acting division commander and headquarters embarked in USS Crescent City and remaining elements embarked aboard USS President Adams, USS Alhena, USS President Hayes and USS President Jackson, was placed on twenty-four hours alert for sailing effective 24 June with ultimate destination Guadalcanal.

The ships sailed combat-loaded and ready for landing operations on arrival from San Diego on 1 July to the South Pacific in July 1942, to reinforce the 1st Marine Division during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942-43. On August 7, 1942 and in support of assaults onto Tulagi Island plus the islets of Gavutu and Tanambogo, the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines landed in two locations onto Florida Island. Finding no Japanese troops, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines shifted during day to support the 1st Marine Parachute Battalion on Gavutu and Tanambogo. Gavutu and Tanambogo connected to each other via a causeway. An attempted landing by C

Timothy Marc Plester is a British actor and filmmaker, best known for the documentaries Way of the Morris and The Ballad of Shirley Collins - plus a variety of cameo roles for film and TV. Born and raised in North Oxfordshire Banbury, Plester graduated from Dartington College of Arts in Devon, with a BA in Theatre, went on to obtain an MA in playwriting studies from Birmingham University. Plester's award-winning documentary Way of the Morris premiered at SXSW 2011 and received a limited theatrical release in UK cinemas before being released on DVD. Co-directed with Rob Curry and produced independently by Fifth Column Films, the feature-length documentary includes contributions from Billy Bragg, Fairport Convention's Chris Leslie and members of The Adderbury Village Morris Men, it was selected by the UK Film Focus as one of the "Breakthrough" British films of 2011. Plester and Curry are responsible for the short field-recorded documentary Here We’m Be Together; the Ballad of Shirley Collins, the duo's feature-length film about the iconic English folk-singer Shirley Collins, premiered at the 2017 BFI London Film Festival).

Funded by a successful kickstarter campaign, the film screened at the Rotterdam international film festival and CPH:DOCS in Denmark. Plester's writing credits for film include Ant Muzak, a short film directed by Ben Gregor and starring Nick Moran and Mackenzie Crook, it was the winner of an Audience Award at the 2003 Sydney Film Festival and was nominated for'Best UK Short' at the 2003 Soho Rushes Festival and the 2002 Raindance Film Festival. He wrote and created Blake's Junction 7 - again directed by Ben Gregor and starring Johnny Vegas, Mackenzie Crook, Mark Heap, Raquel Cassidy and Martin Freeman – which premiered at the 2004 Edinburgh Film Festival. Both films became cult hits and were released on DVD in 2008, along with a third film entitled World of Wrestling. Again created and written by Plester and directed by Gregor, the film stars Mackenzie Crook, Kevin Eldon, Patrick Baladi, Miranda Hart and Kris Marshall. In 2007, Plester completed work on an offbeat romantic comedy entitled English Language - which marked his directorial debut.

The short, in which Plester starred, premiered at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival and went on to screen at over 45 film festivals worldwide, picking-up 5 awards along the way. He has written and directed the JFK-inspired beat poem Et In Motorcadia Ego! and the award-winning 15-second film Slapphappy, which premiered at the Belfast Film Festival in 2008. Winner of the 1992/93'National Student Playwright Of The Year' award, Plester has writing credits for the theatre including: Dakota. Plester's many and varied acting credits for TV and film include: Lockout, Kick-Ass, Cuban Fury, Closer to the Moon, Wolf Hall, Bone in the Throat, Doctor Who, Life On Mars, Murphy's Law, 1066: The Battle For Middle Earth, Magicians, It's All Gone Pete Tong, Heist, Ant Muzak, Criminal Justice, Five Daughters, Silent Witness, The Wrong Mans, Uncle Dad, Residents, Poliakoff's Friends and Crocodiles, both series of Paul Whitehouse’s Happiness and the 2009 BAFTA-winning short film September. Plester played petty thief Linus Brody in the first two series’ of the BBC Birmingham production WPC 56.

He played the role of Black Walder Rivers in the HBO series Game of Thrones and the homeless junkie Julian in After Life. In 2018, he played Queen's producer, in the film Bohemian Rhapsody. In September 2019, he appeared in an episode of Doctors as Martin Taylor. Official Website Tim Plester on IMDb