Nile

:For alternative meanings of "Nile", see Nile (disambiguation)

Branches

There are two great branches of the Nile: the White Nile, from equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile, from Ethiopia. Both branches formed on the western flanks of the East African Rift, which is the southern African part of the Great Rift Valley.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

White Nile

Lake Victoria, which lies between Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania is considered to be the source of the Nile, although the lake itself has feeder rivers of considerable size from the other Great Lakes of Africa. In particular, the farthest headstream of the Nile is the Ruvyironza River in Burundi, which is an upper branch of the Kagera River. The Kagera flows for 690 km (429 miles) before reaching Lake Victoria.

Related Topics:
Lake Victoria - Uganda - Kenya - Tanzania - Great Lakes - Ruvyironza - Kagera

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Leaving Lake Victoria, the river is known as the Victoria Nile. It flows further for approximately 500 km (300 miles), through Lake Kyoga, until it reaches Lake Albert. After leaving Lake Albert, the river is known as the Albert Nile. It then flows into Sudan, where it becomes known as the Bahr al Jabal. At the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal with the Bahr el Ghazal, itself 720 km (445 miles) long, the river beomes known as the Bahr al Abyad, or the White Nile, from the clay suspended in its waters. From there, the river flows to Khartoum.

Related Topics:
Victoria Nile - Lake Kyoga - Lake Albert - Albert Nile - Sudan - Bahr al Jabal - Bahr el Ghazal - White Nile - Khartoum

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Blue Nile

Meanwhile, the Blue Nile (or Bahr al Azraq to Sudanese; Abbai to Ethiopians) springs from Lake Tana in the Ethiopian Highlands. The Blue Nile flows about 1,400 km (850 miles) to Khartoum, where the Blue Nile and White Nile join to form "the Nile." Most of the water carried by the Nile (about 83%) originates from Ethiopia, but this runoff only happens in summer, when the great rains fall on the Ethiopian Plateau; the rest of the year the great rivers draining Ethiopia to the Nile (Sobat, Blue Nile, and Atbara) flow weakly or are dry.

Related Topics:
Blue Nile - Lake Tana - Khartoum

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Nile

After the Blue and White Niles merge, the only remaining major tributary is the Atbara River, which originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana, and is approximately 800 km (500 miles) long. It joins the Nile approximately 300 km (200 miles) past Khartoum. The Nile is also unusual in that its last tributary (the Atbara) joins it approximately halfway to the sea. From that point north, the Nile diminishes because of evaporation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Nile in Sudan is distinctive for two reasons: 1) it flows over 6 groups of cataracts, from the first at Aswan to the sixth at Sabaloka (just north of Khartoum); and 2) it reverses course for much of its course, flowing back to the SW before returning to flow north again to the sea. This is the "Great Bend of the Nile".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Nile then reaches the man-made Lake Nasser, impounded behind the Aswan High Dam 270 km (170 miles) into Egypt from the Sudanese border. Since 1998 some of Lake Nasser's waters have spilt westward to form the Toshka Lakes. From Lake Nasser the main channel flows north through Egypt and into the Mediterranean Sea; a side channel, the Bahr Yussef, splits from the main channel downriver from the city of Asyut, and empties into the Fayum. Where the Nile meets the Mediterranean, the Nile Delta, is the eponym of all river deltas worldwide. Enrichment from Nile sediments carried eastward by currents nurture the fishing industries of the Eastern Mediterranean, or used to before the Aswan High Dam was built.

Related Topics:
Lake Nasser - Aswan High Dam - Egypt - Toshka Lakes - Mediterranean Sea - Bahr Yussef - Asyut - Fayum - Nile Delta - Eponym

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~