Nile River, Egypt

The Nile River is the longest river of the world, which water a total distance 4,187 miles from its origin in the lake Tana in Ethiopia into the Mediterranean Sea. The river Nile is composed of three tributaries, the Blue Nile, the White Nile and the Atbara. Presently, there are nine countries through which the river Nile flows. These countries include Uganda, Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya, Zaire, Tanzania, and Rwanda. The flow of the river is from south to north. The part of the river Nile, which flows through Egypt, is White Nile. The While Nile has its source in the Victoria Lake in Uganda. The annual overflow of the Nile River, which is now controlled by the various dams, is chiefly due to the melting snow during the summer season followed by the rains.

The Egyptian Civilization and the Nile River

The whole of the fabulous civilization of Egypt owes its prosperity to the River Nile. Had Africa not been blessed by this river, the world would have missed a great civilization. All ancient civilizations grew up on the banks of rivers, which had fertile banks. The annual floods due to the Nile River deposited fertile black silt, which was the key factor behind the successful agriculture. It was this agricultural success and excess of food that led the nomadic tribes to settle down into a proper civilization. However, when, dams were not built, the flood would cause much damage to the life and property situated on the bank of the Nile.

To tackle this, dams were built. This served two purposes. First, the floods were prevented and secondly, the reserved water could be used in the drier seasons to prevent drought. The present dams on the Nile River include Aswan high dam, the Roseires dam, Owen falls dam and the Sennar dam.