Egypt is an Arab state on the African continent. Land of deserts and sand dunes. It is hard to believe that life, and especially crowded cities, could have appeared in such a bare and arid area. However, this happened, and the river flowing through Egypt played a decisive role here. What is this river? What other bodies of water are there in the country? Let's find out about them right now.
Where is Egypt on the map?
The state is located immediately on two continents of the planet. It occupies northeast Africa and the Sinai Peninsula of Eurasia. It is surrounded by Libya, the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Sudan. Egypt shares the border with Jordan and Saudi Arabia by sea.
It covers an area of 1,001,450 square kilometers. The country lies in tropical and subtropical desert zones. The climate in it is very arid. In summer, in the shade, the temperature can reach 50 degrees, in winter it drops to 20 degrees. At night, the temperature drops sharply down to zero.
The relief of Egypt is mostly flat, only in the south of the Sinai Peninsula and on the western coast of the Red Sea there are low and medium-altitude mountains. The highest point of the country is the peak of Katerin (2642 meters). The rest of the territory is represented by small hills (from 100 to 600 meters) and hollows, in which oases are usually located.
In Egypt there are no forests at all, in most of it almost no vegetation is present, and occasionally there are cereals, acacias and shrubs. After precipitation in the desert expanses, ephemeral plants and ephemeroids, for example buttercups, poppies, etc. appear briefly. The vegetation by the river of Egypt and the Mediterranean coast look much more diverse.
Egyptian waters
Knowing where Egypt is located on the map and the features of its climate, it can be assumed that there is little water. So it is, because 95% of the country is covered by the Sahara desert. It has spread throughout North Africa and continues to increase in size. About 25 mm of precipitation falls here annually, and only in a small area in the north of the country do they reach 200 mm.
Life in Egypt could have become completely unbearable, if not for its reservoirs. In the east, the country is washed by the Red Sea - the most saline of those that are connected to the oceans. In the north it is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. Both of them are connected by the Suez Canal, which is the shortest shipping route from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean.
The main feature of Egypt is the Nile River. It crosses the entire camp from north to south and is the only inland flowing body of water. The remaining rivers are just its sleeves and ducts. Near the Nile there are many lakes. Most of them are salty (Manzala, Maryut, Idku), others are saturated with soda (Wadi Natrun).
In the south of the country, on the border with Sudan, is the Nasser reservoir, formed on the river from the construction of the Aswan Dam. Its area is about 5 thousand kilometers, and the greatest depth is 130 meters.
Main river of egypt
Stretching for approximately 6850 kilometers, the Nile forms one of the largest river systems in the world. For the primacy in length, he argues with the Amazon. The South American artery is estimated to be 140 kilometers longer.
The main river of Egypt crosses seven more states: Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. It begins in Equatorial Africa on the East African Plateau. A more accurate definition of its source is a controversial topic. Some reckon the beginning of the Rukarara River, which flows into Kageru, and then into Lake Victoria, others - directly from the lake.
The river flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The difference in elevation between the source and the mouth of the Nile is approximately 1300 meters. In the place where the river ends its path, the height above sea level is 0 meters.
Character nile
The entire Nile basin covers up to 3,400,000 km 2 . Egypt accounts for only a quarter of the river, and its basin occupies about 5% of the country. Before Khartoum, the river bears various names, in Sudan its two large tributaries, the Blue and White Nile, merge, after which it continues its path as, in fact, the Nile.
In Egypt, the river begins with the Nasser flesh reservoir to the city of Aswan. Further, it flows along the depression of the limestone plateau to Cairo itself. The river valley varies in width from 1 km to 25 km. It is widest at the Mediterranean Sea. The mouth of the Nile forms a huge delta with numerous arms, covering an area of 24 thousand km 2 .
Throughout the country, the river has no permanent tributaries. Due to the intense heat, they all dry out quickly. Every year, starting in June, the Nile is bottled, leaving behind a large amount of fertile silt. Having reached a peak in September, the water level gradually decreases until May.
Source of Life
Africa's largest river has become a real salvation for the local nature. There are a lot of fish in its waters, for example, catfish, tiger fish, eels, perches, multi-feathers. Previously, they were full of hippos and crocodiles, but human activity greatly reduced their number.
Along the banks of the river there are giraffes, monkeys, turtles, antelopes, cobras and other snakes. More than 300 species of birds fly here : ibis, pelicans, flamingos, storks and herons, raptors. Many of them stay here for the wintering period.
The natural plants of the Nile Valley have long been replaced by plantations of cotton, cereals and date palms. Nevertheless, various types of palm trees can be found along the banks of the river; tamarisk, oleander, fig tree, papyrus grow in the delta.
Value for people
A few millennia BC the only river in Egypt was Africa's most important resource. It not only made life possible in the harsh conditions of the desert, but also caused the emergence of one of the oldest civilizations on the planet. On the fertile lands of the Nile Valley, agricultural land developed on which the economy of Ancient Egypt was built .
So far, nothing has changed. The river is still the center of local life. Egypt is home to 96 million people, most of whom live in the delta and valley of the Nile. Here is Cairo, Helwan, Beni-Sueif, Minia, Alexandria, Aswan. The river is used for shipping, water supply, fishing and agriculture, as well as hydropower.