The Nile flows through Egypt before reaching the Mediterranean Sea.
The Nile is one of the world’s longest river systems and has supported Egyptian civilization for thousands of years. In northern Egypt, it divides into distributaries that form the fertile Nile Delta before emptying into the Mediterranean. Most of Egypt’s population and farmland are concentrated along this narrow river corridor.
The modern Nile system is formed chiefly by the White Nile and 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, and the combined river continues north through Egypt.
The Aswan High Dam, completed in 1970, regulates floods and generates electricity, but it also reduced the natural delivery of silt to the delta. Ancient Egyptians depended on the river’s seasonal flooding for agriculture.