|
The
Nile
Facts
|
Continent
|
Africa
|
|
Countries
it flows through
|
Egypt,
Ethiopia, Sudan, Burundi
|
|
Length
|
6670
kilometres
|
|
Number
of tributaries
|
2
|
|
Source
|
Burundi,
central Africa
|
|
Mouth
|
Egypt
into the Mediterranean Sea
|
Location
The
River Nile is the longest river in the World. It has two main
tributaries, the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The White Nile is
the source of the Nile.
The White Nile begins as a small mountain stream
called the River Kagera. The small mountain stream flows into Lake Victoria
(largest lake in Africa)
and it then flows north through deserts and swamps. It then reaches
Khartoum (capital of Sudan) where the Blue Nile joins it. The Blue Nile
starts high up in the mountains of Ethiopia where there is a lot of
rainfall. The names of the tributaries are due to the different colours
of their waters.
From
Carton the Nile flows through Egypt which is mainly desert. Just north
of Cairo (Egypt's capital) the Nile splits into several channels because
it enters its delta. The
water from the Nile travels through the delta and empties out into the
Mediterranean Sea. There are a lot of bridges to cross the Nile at Cairo
but some people still use the traditional method of the ferry.
The
Nile and flooding
At
one time, the Nile used to flood every Autumn. The water and mud left
behind by the floods meant
that people could farm the land by the banks of the Nile. The Ancient
Egyptians first started irrigation canals. They dug
canals by their crops and used a shaduf to take water from the Nile
to water their crops.
The
Egyptians can control when the Nile floods because the Aswan
High Dam has been built. The flood water is stored in a huge reservoir
behind the Aswan High Dam called Lake
Nasser. People now use modern methods to pumps water into their
irrigation canals such as a waterwheel or an electric pump. They also
use the more traditional methods of a shaduf. But a lot of water is
lost from Lake Nasser by evaporation (about 15% per year).
The
Nile and agriculture
The
amount of land which is used for growing crops has got bigger (by about
12%). The people grow crops such as wheat, rice, maize, sugar cane,
barley, oranges, mandarins, bananas, mangoes and dates. A lot of these
crops need a lot of water to grow properly and this is taken from Lake
Nasser.
Agricultural
land by the banks of the Nile
|
