The Nile

1 Geo Factsheet www.curriculum-press.co.uk Number 282 Troubled Waters? Is there conflict ahead over the future of the River Nile? The 6,700 km-long Nile is the world’s longest river. It has two major sources: the White Nile whose source is Lake Luvironzo... More

1 Geo Factsheet www.curriculum-press.co.uk Number 282 Troubled Waters? Is there conflict ahead over the future of the River Nile? The 6,700 km-long Nile is the world’s longest river. It has two major sources: the White Nile whose source is Lake Luvironzo near Lake Tanganyika, which subsequently flows into Lake Victoria, through Uganda and into the Sudan, and the Blue Nile which rises in the Ethiopian highlands. Their confluence is found at Khartoum, from where the river continues to flow northwards into the desert state of Egypt and on to its delta in the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile Basin covers an area of 2.9 million km² in extent – about 10% of the African continent (see Figure 1) Figure 1 Map of the Nile Basin There are both physical and human factors which could trigger conflict over the Nile’s waters. Hydrology of the River Nile Eleven countries compete for the Nile’s water and yet with a measured flow of 84 billion cubic metres the Nile has a very modest discharge compared to oth Less