The Route Nationale No. 1 is an important highway in Niger. It connects the east of the country to the west. RN1 runs approximately 1200 km from Koutougou on the Mali border in the west to N'Guigmi in the east, via Tillabery, Niamey, Dosso, Maradi, Zinder, and Diffa. The first large paved section, between Gouré and N'Guigmi, was surfaced in 1971–72. This section, in the distant and sparsely populated east, is now the most degraded section and in part completely eroded. It was named the "Route de l'Unité" ("the Unity Highway") in the 1970s. By 1980, it was joined by the second longest all-weather road in Niger, the "Uranium Highway," running from Niamey to Arlit in the far north.