The Nile is the river that flows through Egypt and empties into the Mediterranean Sea after crossing northeastern Africa.
The Nile system is formed chiefly by the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile rises in the Great Lakes region of East Africa, while the Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. They meet at Khartoum in Sudan before the river continues northward.
The river’s broad delta in northern Egypt spreads into the Mediterranean. For thousands of years, seasonal flooding and fertile alluvial soil supported agriculture and helped sustain ancient Egyptian civilization. The Aswan High Dam, completed in the 1960s, greatly changed the river’s flooding and sediment patterns.
The Nile is commonly described as the world’s longest river, although some measurements comparing it with the Amazon produce debate. Its importance to Egypt remains enormous because most of the country is desert and its population is concentrated along the river and delta.