THE NILE RIVER: A JOURNEY FROM SOURCE TO MOUTH

Mr. Herneisen 2008-09

VOCABULARY TO KNOW

Hydroelectric Potential Electrical power generated from flowing water

Perennial Irrigation System of year-round watering for crops

River Basin The area drained by a river and its tributaries

Water Cycle Movement of water from Earth to the atmosphere and back again

WATER CYCLE

THE NILE RIVER

World’s Longest River!

Two Branches White Nile

4,160 miles long! Blue Nile

870 miles long

Uses: Food Hygiene Transportation Energy

BLUE NILE

Source: Lake Tana, Ethiopia

Source not discovered until 1615 by Spain

WHITE NILE Source:

Lake Victoria, Uganda

Source discovered in 1850s by England

KHARTOUM, SUDAN

Meeting place of the two branches (confluence)

THE GREAT BEND

800 mile “S-curve” Cataracts of the Nile:

6 major rapids or low waterfalls

Major barriers to travel up and down the Nile River

THROUGH THE DESERT Nile River creates a lifeline

for the Sahara Desert – largest desert in the world.

Lake Nasser & Aswan High Dam One of largest reservoirs in the

world (man-made lake)

Uses Nile River to create electricity

Controls flow of river to prevent flooding, help river travel, and provide perennial irrigation.

EGYPT’S NILE RIVER DELTA 95% of all Egyptians live along the Nile

River

Richest farmland in all of Africa

Nile pours into Mediterranean Sea