Nile

Nile, longest river in the world, c.4,160 mi (6,695 km) long from its remotest headstream, the Luvironza River in Burundi, central Africa, to its delta on the Mediterranean Sea, NE Egypt. The Nile flows northward and drains c.1,100,000 sq mi (2,850,000 sq km), about one tenth of Africa, including parts of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Congo (Kinshasa). Its waters support practically all agriculture in the most densely populated parts of Egypt, furnish irrigation for nearly all of Sudan's cash crops, and are widely used throughout the basin for navigation and hydroelectric power.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Course and Navigability
• Irrigation along the Nile
• The Search for the Nile's Source
• Bibliography

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