Global InformationNile information
| Nile | |
|---|---|
 Nile in Cairo, Egypt | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Countries | Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi |
| Major cities | Jinja, Juba, Khartoum, Cairo |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | White Nile |
| • coordinates | 02°16′56″S 29°19′53″E / 2.28222°S 29.33139°E |
| • elevation | 2,400 m (7,900 ft) |
| 2nd source | Blue Nile |
| • location | Lake Tana, Ethiopia |
| • coordinates | 12°02′09″N 037°15′53″E / 12.03583°N 37.26472°E |
| Mouth | Mediterranean Sea |
• location | Nile Delta, Egypt |
• coordinates | 30°10′N 31°09′E / 30.167°N 31.150°E |
• elevation | Sea level |
| Length | 6,650 km (4,130 mi)[a] |
| Basin size | 3,349,000 km2 (1,293,000 sq mi) |
| Width | |
| • maximum | 2.8 km (1.7 mi) |
| Depth | |
| • average | 8–11 m (26–36 ft) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Aswan, Egypt |
| • average | 2,633 m3/s (93,000 cu ft/s) |
| • minimum | 530 m3/s (19,000 cu ft/s) |
| • maximum | 7,620 m3/s (269,000 cu ft/s) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Cairo, Egypt |
| • average | 2,000 m3/s (71,000 cu ft/s) |
| • minimum | 500 m3/s (18,000 cu ft/s) |
| • maximum | 7,000 m3/s (250,000 cu ft/s) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Nile Delta, Egypt, Mediterranean Sea |
| • average | 1,584 m3/s (55,900 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | White Nile |
| • right | Blue Nile, Atbara |
The Nile[b] is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest river in the world,[3][4] though this has been contested by research suggesting that the Amazon River is slightly longer.[5][6] Of the world's major rivers, the Nile is one of the smallest, as measured by annual flow in cubic metres of water.[7] About 6,650 km (4,130 mi)[a] long, its drainage basin covers eleven countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt.[9] In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan.[10] Additionally, the Nile is an important economic river, supporting agriculture and fishing.
The Nile has two major tributaries: the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile is traditionally considered to be the headwaters stream. However, the Blue Nile is the source of most of the water of the Nile downstream, containing 80% of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region. It begins at Lake Victoria and flows through Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia[11] and flows into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet at the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.[12]
The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Nubian Desert to Cairo and its large delta, and the river flows into the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria. Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river and its annual flooding since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of the Aswan Dam. Nearly all the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt developed and are found along river banks. The Nile is, with the Rhône and Po, one of the three Mediterranean rivers with the largest water discharge.[13]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "ⲓⲁⲣⲟ - Wiktionary". en.wiktionary.org. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ Reinisch, Leo (1879). Die Nuba-Sprache. Grammatik und Texte. Nubisch-Deutsches und Deutsch-Nubisches Wörterbuch Erster Theil. Zweiter Theil. p. 220.
- ^ a b "Nile River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015.
- ^ a b c Liu, Shaochuang; Lu, P; Liu, D; Jin, P; Wang, W (1 March 2009). "Pinpointing the sources and measuring the lengths of the principal rivers of the world". Int. J. Digital Earth. 2 (1): 80–87. Bibcode:2009IJDE....2...80L. doi:10.1080/17538940902746082. S2CID 27548511.
- ^ Amazon Longer Than Nile River, Scientists Say Archived 15 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "How Long Is the Amazon River?". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- ^ Said, R (6 December 2012). The Geological Evolution of the River Nile. New York: Springer (published 2012). p. 4. ISBN 9781461258414. Retrieved 23 May 2021 – via Google.
- ^ "Where Does the Amazon River Begin?". National Geographic News. 15 February 2014. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
- ^ Oloo, Adams (2007). "The Quest for Cooperation in the Nile Water Conflicts: A Case for Eritrea" (PDF). African Sociological Review. 11 (1). doi:10.4314/asr.v11i1.51447. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ Elsanabary, Mohamed Helmy Mahmoud Moustafa (2012). Teleconnection, Modeling, Climate Anomalies Impact and Forecasting of Rainfall and Streamflow of the Upper Blue Nile River Basin (PhD thesis). Canada: University of Alberta. doi:10.7939/R3377641M. hdl:10402/era.28151.
- ^ The river's outflow from that lake occurs at 12°02′09″N 37°15′53″E / 12.03583°N 37.26472°E
- ^ "What's the Blue Nile and the White Nile?". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
- ^ Margat, Jean F. (2004). Mediterranean Basin Water Atlas. UNESCO. p. 4. ISBN 9782951718159.
A basin of varied geometry: Area of the entire Mediterranean Basin, including the whole of the Nile Basin = 4,562,480 km2; Area of the 'conventional' Mediterranean Basin (i.e. counting only part of the Nile Basin in Egypt) = 1,836,480 km2 [...] There are few rivers with an abundant flow. Only three rivers have a mean discharge of more than 1000 m3/s: the Nile (at Aswan), the Rhône and the Po.