Egypt Tribute – Nile
The Nile River traverses about 1,600 kilometers through Egypt and flows northward to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Nile in Egypt is a combination of three long rivers whose sources are in central Africa. The White Nile, which begins at Lake Victoria in Uganda, supplies about 28% of the Nile’s waters in Egypt. The Blue Nile, which originates at Lake Tana in Ethiopia, provides an average of 58% of the Nile’s waters in Egypt. The much shorter Atbara River, which also originates in Ethiopia, joins the main Nile north of Khartoum between the fifth and sixth cataracts (areas of steep rapids) and provides about 14% of the Nile’s waters in Egypt.
Before the Aswan High Dam was completed in 1971, the White Nile watered the Egyptian stretch of the river throughout the year, whereas the Blue Nile, carrying seasonal rain from Ethiopia, caused the Nile to overflow its banks and deposit a layer of fertile mud over adjacent fields, the Gift of the Nile. The great flood of the main Nile usually occurred in Egypt during August, September, and October.
At Cairo, the Nile spreads out to form a fertile, fan-shape delta about 250 kilometers wide at the seaward base and about 160 kilometers from north to south. The Nile Delta extends over approximately 22,000 square kilometers. Seven branches of the Nile once ran through the Delta. Nature and man have closed all but two main outlets: the east branch, Damietta and the west branch, Rosetta.
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