River Nile-A Digital Factfile By: Shriya, Muskan, Ramsai and Joshua

The Map of River Nile

The Nile flows through 10 countries: Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt. It’s the worlds longest river.

 Length: 6650 km (4130 miles)

Source to Mouth

The River begins a six month journey from Ethiopia, through Sudan and Egypt, and finally flows into the Mediterranean Sea.Melting snow and heavy summer rain in the Ethiopian mountains, sends  a torrent of water causing the banks of the River Nile in Egypt, to overflow on the flat desert land.When the floods go away,  it leaves a thick, rich, black mud called silt. This is excellent soil to plant seeds in after it has been ploughed.

Occupations on the Nile

Many such occupations thrive on the Nile for the dependency of their survival for example: fishing.

Farmers made channels from the river to water the crops

The Black Land and The Red Land

Food and Trade with Transport

The Nile also gave the ancient Egyptians food.

  They used spears and nets to catch fish. They would also use nets to catch birds that flew close to the surface of the water.  Some got breakfast, lunch and dinner from the river.  The Nile was the quickest and easiest way to travel from place to place. They made river boats to move large, bulky things.

Pollution

1. Chemical pollution: The need to use artificial fertilizers supplied by international corporations is controversial too, causing chemical pollution which the traditional river silt did not.
2. Salinization: Indifferent irrigation control has also caused some farmland to be damaged by waterlogging and increased salinity, a problem complicated by the reduced flow of the river, which allows salt water further into the delta.
3. Spread of disease: The dam has been implicated in a rise in cases of Schistosomiasis (bilharzia), due to the thick plant life that has grown up in Lake Nasser, which hosts the snails who carry the disease.
4. Affecting marine ecosystem: Mediterranean fish stocks are also impacted by the dam. The eastern basin of the Mediterranean is low in fertility, and traditionally the marine ecosystem depended on the rich flow of phosphate and silicates from the Nile outflow.

Papyrus

•Reeds called papyrus, grew along the banks of the Nile. The Egyptians made paper and boats from the reeds.