Khartoum is the capital city located at the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers. The meeting point, known as al-Mogran or al-Muqran, is where the two major tributaries join to form the Nile, which then flows north through Sudan and Egypt.
The White Nile approaches from the south, carrying water from the Lake Victoria basin, while the Blue Nile flows northwest from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Their convergence gives Khartoum an important geographic position and helps explain the city’s historic role as a political, commercial and transportation center.
Khartoum was founded in 1821 by Muhammad Ali Pasha’s forces. It later became the administrative center of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and was the scene of the famous 1884–1885 Siege of Khartoum during the Mahdist War. Sudan became independent in 1956, with Khartoum remaining the national capital.
A common mix-up is identifying Cairo, which lies farther downstream on the Nile. Cairo is also a Nile capital, but the Blue Nile and White Nile meet at Khartoum. The city’s name itself is often explained as referring to an elephant’s trunk, reflecting the shape of the river junction.