Editing Nile (section)

== Courses ==
[[File:Nile_basin_map.png|thumb|left|The Nile's [[drainage basin]]<ref>{{Cite web |year=2011 |title=The Nile River |url=http://www.nilebasin.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=106&Itemid=120 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902204833/http://www.nilebasin.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=106&Itemid=120 |archive-date=2 September 2010 |access-date=1 February 2011 |publisher=Nile Basin Initiative }}</ref>]]

With a total length of about {{cvt|6,650|km|mi}}{{efn|name=length}} between the region of [[Lake Victoria]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea]], the Nile is among the longest rivers on Earth. The [[drainage basin]] of the Nile covers {{convert|3254555|km2|sp=us}}, about 10% of the area of Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://earthtrends.wri.org/maps_spatial/maps_detail_static.php?map_select=299&theme=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527111237/http://earthtrends.wri.org/maps_spatial/maps_detail_static.php?map_select=299&theme=2 |url-status=dead |title=EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal |archive-date=27 May 2012 }}</ref> Compared to other major rivers, though, the Nile carries little water (5% of that of the [[Congo River]], for example).<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 March 2019 |title=Bridging the Gap in the Nile Waters Dispute |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/ethiopia/271-bridging-gap-nile-waters-dispute |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418073900/https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/ethiopia/271-bridging-gap-nile-waters-dispute |archive-date=18 April 2019 |access-date=6 April 2019 |website=Crisis Group }}</ref> The Nile basin is complex, and because of this, the [[Discharge (hydrology)|discharge]] at any given point along the [[main stem]] depends on many factors including weather, diversions, [[evaporation]] and [[evapotranspiration]], and [[groundwater]] flow.

Upstream from [[Khartoum]] (to the south), the river is known as the [[White Nile]], a term also used in a limited sense to describe the section between [[Lake No]] and Khartoum. At Khartoum, the river is joined by the [[Blue Nile]]. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia. Both branches are on the western flanks of the [[East African Rift]].

=== Sources ===
{{Redirect|Source of the Nile|other uses|Source of the Nile (board game)|and|Source of the Nile Bridge}}

[[File:Source of Nile, Spring at Jinja, Lake Victoria.jpg|thumb|Spring at Lake Victoria]]

The source of the Blue Nile is [[Lake Tana]]<ref name="Vijverberg, Sibbing, Dejen">{{Cite book |last1=Vijverberg |first1=Jacobus |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-9726-3_9 |title=Lake Tana: Source of the Blue Nile, in, The Nile |last2=Sibbing |first2=Ferdinand A. |last3=Dejen |first3=Eshete |chapter=Lake Tana: Source of the Blue Nile |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9726-3 |series=Monographiae Biologicae |date=2009 |volume=89 |pages=163–192 |location=Dordrecht |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-9726-3_9 |ref=292 |access-date=23 May 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210523211656/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-9726-3_9%23citeas |archive-date=23 May 2021 |via=[[Google Books]] }}</ref> in the [[Gish Abay]] region<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haile |first1=A T |last2=Rientjes |first2=T H M |last3=Habib |first3=E |last4=Jetten |first4=V |last5=Gebremichael |first5=M |date=24 March 2011 |title=Rain event properties at the source of the Blue Nile River |url=https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/15/1023/2011/ |journal=Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=1023–1034 |bibcode=2011HESS...15.1023H |doi=10.5194/hess-15-1023-2011 |access-date=23 May 2021 |doi-access=free |archive-date=23 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523214122/https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/15/1023/2011/ |url-status=live }}</ref> in the [[Ethiopian Highlands]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Malone |first=Barry |date=9 December 2013 |title=Next on Egypt's to-do: Ethiopia and the Nile |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/12/next-egypt-do-ethiopia-nile-201312872410501805.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209221555/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/12/next-egypt-do-ethiopia-nile-201312872410501805.html |archive-date=9 December 2013 |work=Aljazeera }}</ref><ref name="Morbach et al.">{{Cite book |last1=Morbach |first1=M |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rEa9BAAAQBAJ&dq=Luvironza+River+source+of+Nile&pg=PA600 |chapter=Supporting the Development of Efficient and Effective River Basin Organisations in Africa: What Steps Can Be Taken to Improve Transboundary Water Cooperation Between Riparian States of the Nile? |title=Nile River Basin Ecohydrological Challenges, Climate Change and Hydropolitics |last2=Ribbe |first2=Lars |last3=Pedroso |first3=Lui |date=2014 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=9783319027203 |editor-last=Melesse |editor-first=Assefa M. |publication-date=13 February 2014 |page=600 |access-date=23 May 2021 |editor-last2=Setegn |editor-first2=Shimelis G. |editor-last3=Abtew |editor-first3=Wossenu |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210523203455/https://paste.pics/41768bbd88a96572dcba6c609e71d6ce |archive-date=23 May 2021 }}</ref>

The source of the White Nile, even after centuries of exploration, remains in dispute. The most remote source that is indisputably a source for the White Nile is of the [[Kagera River]]; however, the Kagera has multiple tributaries that are in contention for the farthest source of the White Nile. Two start in Burundi: the [[Ruvyironza River]] (also known as the Luvironza) and the [[Rurubu River]].<ref name="core.ac.uk/Aziz">{{Cite web |last=Aziz, Yehia Abdel |title=Irrigation Management Transfer: Development and Turnover to Private Water User Associations in Egypt |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6764832.pdf |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210523195629/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6764832.pdf |archive-date=23 May 2021 |access-date=23 May 2021 |website=core.ac.uk, USAID·assisted Irrigation Improvement Project. Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources (MPWWR), Cairo, Egypt }}</ref><ref name="Morbach et al." /> In addition, in 2010, an exploration party in Rwanda<ref>Described in ''[[Joanna Lumley]]'s Nile'', 7 pm to 8&nbsp;pm, [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], 12 August 2011.</ref> went to a place described as the source of the [[Rukarara River|Rukarara]] tributary,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Journey to the source of the Nile |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activityandadventure/734885/Journey-to-the-source-of-the-Nile.html |url-status=live |access-date=6 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503050656/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activityandadventure/734885/Journey-to-the-source-of-the-Nile.html |archive-date=3 May 2012 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and by hacking a path up steep jungle-choked mountain slopes in the [[Nyungwe Forest]] found (in the [[dry season]]) an appreciable incoming surface flow for many kilometres upstream, thence finding a new source, giving the Nile a length of {{cvt|6758|km}}.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

=== In Uganda ===
[[File:White Nile Fishermen (18156464842).jpg|thumb|[[White Nile]] in Uganda]]

The White Nile leaves [[Lake Victoria]] at [[Ripon Falls]] near [[Jinja, Uganda]], as the "Victoria Nile." It flows north for some {{convert|130|km|sigfig=2|sp=us}} to [[Lake Kyoga]]. The last part of the approximately {{convert|200|km|sigfig=2|sp=us}} river section starts from the western shores of the lake and flows at first to the west until just south of [[Masindi Port]], where the river turns north, then makes a great half circle to the east and north to [[Karuma Falls]]. For the remaining part, it flows westerly through the [[Murchison Falls]] until it reaches the northern shores of [[Lake Albert (Africa)|Lake Albert]] where it forms a significant river delta. Lake Albert is on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the Nile is not a border river at this point. After leaving Lake Albert, the river continues north through Uganda and is known as the [[White Nile#Albert Nile|Albert Nile]].

=== In South Sudan ===
The White Nile flows into South Sudan just south of [[Nimule]], where it is known as the ''Bahr al Jabal'' ("Mountain River"{{refn|Arabic ''bahr'' can refer to either seas or large rivers.{{sfn|Garstin|Cana|1911|p=693}}}}). Just south of the town is the [[confluence]] with the [[Achwa River]]. The [[Bahr el Ghazal River|Bahr al Ghazal]], {{convert|716|km|sp=us}} long, joins the Bahr al Jabal at a small lagoon called [[Lake No]], after which the Nile becomes known as the ''Bahr al Abyad'', or the White Nile, from the whitish [[clay]] suspended in its waters. When the [[Flooding of the Nile|Nile floods]] it leaves a rich silty deposit which fertilizes the soil. The Nile no longer floods in Egypt since the completion of the [[Aswan Dam]] in 1970. An [[anabranch]] river, the [[Bahr el Zeraf]], flows out of the Nile's Bahr al Jabal section and rejoins the White Nile.

The flow rate of the Bahr al Jabal at [[Mongalla, South Sudan|Mongalla]] is almost constant throughout the year and averages {{cvt|1048|m3/s|sp=us}}. After Mongalla, the Bahr Al Jabal enters the enormous swamps of the [[Sudd]] region. More than half of the Nile's water is lost in this swamp to [[evaporation]] and [[transpiration]]. The average flow rate of the White Nile at the tails of the swamps is about {{cvt|510|m3/s|sigfig=2|sp=us}}. From here it meets with the [[Sobat River]] at [[Malakal]]. On an annual basis, the White Nile upstream of Malakal contributes about 15% of the total outflow of the Nile.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hurst H.E. |display-authors=etal |year=2011 |title=The Nile Basins &#124;volume 1 The Hydrology of the Blue Nile and Akbara and the Main Nile to Aswan, with some Reference to the Projects Nile control Dept. paper 12 |url=http://www.ielrc.org/content/a0509.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726172514/http://www.ielrc.org/content/a0509.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2011 |publisher=Government Printing office |location=Cairo }}</ref>

The average flow of the White Nile at Lake Kawaki Malakal, just below the Sobat River, is {{cvt|924|m3/s|sp=us}}; the peak flow is approximately {{cvt|1218|m3/s|sp=us}} in October and minimum flow is about {{cvt|609|m3/s|sp=us}} in April. This fluctuation is caused by the substantial variation in the flow of the Sobat, which has a minimum flow of about {{cvt|99|m3/s|sp=us}} in March and a peak flow of over {{cvt|680|m3/s|sp=us}} in October.<ref>{{Cite book |last=J. V. Sutcliffe & Y.P. Parks |title=The Hydrology of the Nile |publisher=IAHS Special Publication no. 5 |year=1999 |page=161 |chapter=12 |chapter-url=http://iahs.info/bluebooks/SP005/BB_005_0161.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124102107/http://iahs.info/bluebooks/SP005/BB_005_0161.pdf |archive-date=24 November 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> During the [[dry season]] (January to June) the White Nile contributes between 70% and 90% of the total discharge from the Nile.

=== In Sudan ===
Below [[Renk, South Sudan|Renk]], the White Nile enters Sudan, it flows north to Khartoum and meets the Blue Nile.

The course of the Nile in Sudan is distinctive. It flows over [[Cataracts of the Nile|six groups of cataracts]], from the sixth at [[Sabaloka Game Reserve|Sabaloka]] just north of Khartoum northward to [[Abu Hamad]]. The tectonic uplift of the [[Nubian Swell]] diverts the river south-west for over 300&nbsp;km, following the structure of the [[Central African Shear Zone]] embracing the [[Bayuda Desert]]. At [[Al Dabbah, Sudan|Al Dabbah]] it resumes its northward course towards the first cataract at [[Aswan]] forming the S-shaped Great Bend of the Nile<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stern |first1=Robert J. |last2=Abdelsalam |first2=Mohamed Gamal |year=1996 |title=The Origin of the Great Bend of the Nile from SIR-C/X-SAR Imaginary |journal=Science |volume=274 |issue=5293 |pages=1696–1698 |bibcode=1996Sci...274.1696S |doi=10.1126/science.274.5293.1696 |pmid=8939856 |s2cid=30460159 }}</ref> mentioned by [[Eratosthenes]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/17A1*.html |title=LacusCurtius • Strabo's Geography — Book XVII Chapter 1 (§§ 1‑10) |website=penelope.uchicago.edu |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=13 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013061712/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/17A1%2A.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the north of Sudan, the river enters [[Lake Nasser]] (known in Sudan as Lake Nubia), the larger part of which is in Egypt.

=== In Egypt ===
Below the [[Aswan Dam]], at the northern limit of Lake Nasser, the Nile resumes its historic course. North of [[Cairo]], the Nile splits into two branches (or distributaries) that feed the Mediterranean: the [[Rosetta]] Branch (an anglicized version of the name [[Rosetta|Rashid]]) to the west and the [[Damietta]] to the east, forming the [[Nile Delta]].

=== Sediment transport ===
[[File:Nile River and delta from orbit.jpg|thumb|[[Nile Delta]] from space]]

The annual sediment transport by the Nile in Egypt has been quantified.<ref name="hani">{{Cite journal |last=Hanibal Lemma |first=and colleagues |date=2019 |title=Bedload transport measurements in the Gilgel Abay River, Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia (Table 7) |journal=Journal of Hydrology |volume=577 |pages=123968 |doi=10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.123968 |s2cid=199099061 }}</ref>
* At [[Aswan]]: 0.14 million tonnes of [[suspended load|suspended sediment]] and an additional 28% of [[bed load|bedload]]
* At [[Beni Sweif]]: 0.5 million tonnes of suspended sediment and an additional 20% of bedload
* At [[Qena]]: 0.27 million tonnes of suspended sediment and an additional 27% of bedload
* At [[Sohag]]: 1.5 million tonnes of suspended sediment and an additional 13% of bedload