page_title: Transport in Niger
section_title: Highways
hierarchical_section_title: Transport in Niger / Highways
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the road network of the republic of Niger. Green is paved, solid orange is partially improved laterite or pressed earth roads, dashed orange are tracks or sand "pistes". Modification of Public domain File:Un-niger.png
context_page_description: Transport in Niger is composed of the transportation systems and methods used in this landlocked nation, with cities separated by huge uninhabited deserts, mountain ranges, and other natural features. A poor nation, Niger's transport system was little developed during the colonial period, relying upon animal transport, human transport, and limited river transport in the far south west and south east. No railways were constructed in the colonial period, and roads outside the capital remained unpaved. The Niger River is unsuitable for large-scale river transport, as it lacks depth for most of the year and is broken by rapids at many spots. Camel caravan transport was historically important in the Sahara desert and Sahel regions which cover most of the north.
context_section_description: Outside of cities, the first major paved roads were constructed from the northern town of Arlit to the Benin border in the 1970s and 1980s.  This road, dubbed the Uranium Highway, runs through Arlit, Agadez, Tahoua, Birnin-Konni, and Niamey, and is part of the Trans-Sahara Highway system.
  An additional paved  highway runs from Niamey via Maradi and Zinder towards Diffa in the far east of the nation, although the stretch from Zinder to Diffa is only partially paved. Portions of this route are used by the Trans-Sahel Highway route.  The Niger section is 837 km long (of which 600 km was in poor condition as of 2000), via Niamey, Dosso, Dogondoutchi, Birnin-Konni and Maradi to the Nigerian border at Jibiya.
  Other roads range from all-weather laterite surfaces to grated dirt or sand Pistes, especially in the arid north.
  The United States government in 1996 estimated there were a total of 10100 km of highways in Niger, with 798 km paved and 9302 km, unpaved, but making no distinction between improved or all weather roads and unimproved roads.   In 2012, there is 19,675 kilometres (12,225 mi) of road network throughout Niger, of which only 4,225 kilometres (2,625 mi) are paved.
caption: The Nigerien road network. Paved roads are in green, "improved" (gravel or laterite) are in solid orange, "piste"s or dirt roads and tracks are orange dashes.
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