The Benue River or Bénoué River is the major tributary of the Niger River. The river is approximately 1,400 km long and is almost entirely navigable during the summer months. As a result, it is an important transportation route in the regions it flows through.

It rises in the Adamawa Plateau of northern Cameroon, from where it flows west, through the town of Garoua, then into Nigeria and through Yola, Ibi and Makurdi before entering the Niger at Lokoja.

The river's major tributary is the Mayo-Kebbi, which during floods connects it with the Logone River , part of the Lake Chad system.