Nile

At 4,145 miles, the Nile River is the longest in the world.

The Nile got its name from the Greek word ‘Neilos’, which means ‘valley’.

The River Nile has fed waterways to maintain life in Egypt since the earliest times. By 3000 BC aided by advances in irrigation techniques, the Nile's floodwaters were ensuring that the land along its banks was very fertile. The Ancient Egyptians cultivated and traded wheat, flax, papyrus and other crops around the river.

Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile was a causeway from life to death to afterlife as they thought people’s spirit traveled down the Nile after they perished.

In Ancient Egypt, the tax system was linked to water levels of the River Nile. It was used to predict farmers' wealth each year.

Despite many years of speculation, the source of the river still remains a mystery. Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda have been touted as possible sources.

The River Nile flows north.

While the Nile is the world's longest river, its discharge is surprisingly small—representing only about 1% of the Amazon's volume—because it loses the majority of its water to evaporation and irrigation while trekking through the Sahara Desert.

The river and its basin supports half of Egypt's 80 million population as it is heavily used for irrigation for farming and fishing.

Rover Nile at Aswan, Egypt

It is popular with white water rafters and adventure travelers in Uganda where the Nile becomes a roaring rush of water.

People who live near the River Nile consider flooding to be a blessing as the flooding of the river means that crops and riverbeds can finally be cultivated after a long dry spell.

Source Pulse.ng