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Introduction:
The Nile is the longest river in the world, stretching north from 4,000 miles from East Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.
From its major source, Lake Victoria in East Central Africa, the White Nile flows generally north through Uganda and into
Sudan where it meets the Blue Nile, which rises in the Ethiopian Highlands, at Khartoum. From the confluence of the White
and Blue Nile, the river continues to flow northwards into Egypt and on to the Mediterranean Sea. The White Nile, one of
the upper branches of the Kagera River, is regarded as the ultimate source of the Nile. The Kagera follows the boundary
of the Rwanda northward, turns where the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania meet and drains into Lake Victoria. On leaving
Lake Victoria at the site of the no-submerged Falls, the Nile rushes for 483 km over rapids and cataracts, at first northwest
and then west until it enters Lake Albert. The section between the two lakes is called the Victoria Nile. The river leaves
the northern end of Lake Albert as the Albert Nile, flows through nothern Uganda and at the Sudan border becomes Bahr Al-Jabal(
Al-Jabal Sea). At its junction with Balhr Al-Ghazal, the river becomes the Bahr Al-Abyad, or the White Nile. Various tributaries
flow through the Bahr Al-Ghazal district. At Khartoum,Capital of Sudan, the White Nile is joined by the Blue Nile, or Bahr
Al-Azraq. These names were given because of the color of the water. The Blue Nile is 1529 km long gathers its volume mainly
from Lake T'ana in the Ethiopian Highlands, it's also known as the Abbai in Ethiopia. The Blue Nile rises at spring site
upstream of the Lake T'ana in Ethiopia, 2,150 m above sea level. The river flows west then north until it eventually meets
the White Nile at Khartoum. A length of 800 km is navigable during high water times. Some 80% of Sudan's electricity is
provided by hydroelectric schemes at Roseires and Sennar Dams in Sudan. These dams provide irrigation water for over 10,000
sq. km to different plains in Sudan.
From Khartoum, the Nile flows northeast, 322 km. Before Khartoum it is joined by the Atbarah River. The black build
up brought down by the Atbarah and Blue Nile Rivers used to settle in the Nile delta making it very fertile. This process
historically occurred during the annual flooding of the Nile in the summer months. However, the opening of the Aswan High
Dam in Egypt in the early 1970s allowed for control of the flooding and reduced build up deposits in the river as these now
settle in Lake Nasser in Egypt. During its course from the confluence of the Atbarah through the Nubian Desert, the river
makes two deep bends. From Khartoum to Aswan there are six cataracts. The water level behind the Aswan Dam fell from 170
m in 1979 to 150 m in 1988, threatening Egypt's hydroelectric power generation.
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