|
2.11.3
The River Nile [fig 2.11.3(a)]
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:
fig
2.11.3(a)
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.
 Fig
2.11.3(b)
This picture shows
the River Nile at Aswan.
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).
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. [fig
2.11.3(c)]
Fig 2.11.3(c)
Agricultural
land by the banks of the Nile
|
