Location
River Nile is located in Africa and it starts its journey to the Mediterranean Sea in Uganda. It is the longest in Africa and in the world.
On its 6,650 km long journey from Uganda to the Mediterranean Sea, the river runs through Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan, The Republic of Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt. The Nile ends in a large delta that empties into the Mediterranean Sea.
Source of Nile
Ripon Falls is considered the source of the Nile but the many streams that flow into Lake Victoria could claim to be the true source. The largest tributary of Lake Victoria is the Kagera River with River Ruvubu as its major tributary. The source Ruvubu River is in Burundi and Burundi is now considered to be the true source of the Nile. It is from here that the Nile is measured as the world’s longest river.
Tributaries
The River Nile has two tributaries that is the White Nile and Blue Nile, which originate from Lake Victoria in Uganda and Lake Tana in Ethiopia respectively. The two rivers meet in Sudan on the way to the sea. The Blue Nile and White Nile contribute 85% and 15% respectively of the flow of the combined Nile. The White Nile looses most of its watwer before it joins the Blue Nile.
Egyptian Civilization
The Egyptians’ civilization has depended on the River Nile since ancient times of the shadoof. Most of the population, cities of Egypt and nearly all the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt are found along riverbanks. The ancient Egyptians lived and farmed along the Nile, using the soil to produce food for themselves and their animals. The Egyptians used the Nile for trade through travelling from place to place.
Egyptian Spiritual life
The Nile was an important part of ancient Egyptian spiritual life. Hapy was the god of the annual floods, and both he and the pharaoh were thought to control the flooding. The Nile was considered to be a causeway from life to death and the afterlife. The east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death, as the god Ra, the Sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each day as he crossed the sky. Thus, all tombs were west of the Nile, because the Egyptians believed that in order to enter the afterlife, they had to be buried on the side that symbolized death. As the Nile was such an important factor in Egyptian life, the ancient calendar was even based on the 3 cycles of the Nile.
Wildlife
The Nile is the home of the Nile crocodiles, hippopotamus, the Nile fish, Nile Monitor, frogs, turtles, tortoises, mongooses and several hundred thousand water birds.
Activities around the Nile River include:
Fishing
Bird seeing
Camping
Game watching
Boat cruising