The Nile flows through Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
The river runs northward through northeastern Africa before reaching the Mediterranean Sea. Cairo developed on its banks, and the Nile remains central to Egypt’s population, agriculture, transport, and cultural identity. The city stands near the boundary between the river valley and the broad Nile Delta.
The Nile has two principal tributaries commonly discussed in geography: the White Nile, whose headwaters are associated with the Lake Victoria region, and the Blue Nile, which rises in Ethiopia. They meet at Khartoum in Sudan. A common mix-up is the claim that the Nile is always the world’s longest river; measurements and definitions have produced a long-running comparison with the Amazon. Regardless of that debate, the Nile is unquestionably one of Africa’s great rivers and the historic foundation of Egyptian civilization.