The Nile is generally regarded as the longest river in Africa.
Flowing northward through northeastern Africa, the Nile empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Its basin spans 11 countries, including Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda. The river has supported dense settlement and agriculture for thousands of years, especially in otherwise arid Egypt and Sudan.
The Nile is formed by major tributaries including the White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile rises in the Great Lakes region, while the Blue Nile begins at Ethiopia’s Lake Tana and contributes much of the river’s seasonal flow and sediment. They meet at Khartoum in Sudan.
The Nile’s exact length is debated because researchers measure its headwaters and winding channels differently, and the Amazon is sometimes argued to be the world’s longest river. That dispute does not change the standard answer to this question: within Africa, the Nile is the accepted longest river. The Congo is generally regarded as Africa’s second-longest major river.