This is the Kagera River. Its remotest source was traced to the hills of Burundi in by the German Burckhard Waldecker. Their critics however pointed out that the Burundian source is much further south than the one in Rwanda. In the meantime the conclusion seems justified that the discussion about the real source of the Nile will go on for a while…. The report: 'The source of the Nile at Jinja'. Lake Victoria fed by thousands of streams from 3 countries.
W ith a surface area of about Its surface belongs to three countries: the northern half to Uganda, the southern half to Tanzania, and a small part of the northeastern sector to Kenya. Lake level is an ongoing issue The lake water is drained at a rate of about about m 3 per second at Jinja on the northern shore, into the Victoria Nile.
A combination of droughts and the growing needs for electricity generated from the Owen Falls Dam near Jinja has periodically lowered the water level in the Lake and discussions about lake levels between the East African countries sharing Lake Victoria is an ongoing issue. Lake Victoria receives its water primarily from direct precipitation and thousands of small streams.
The Kagera River is the largest stream flowing into the lake on the western shore. There are many isles in the lake, some of which are known for their beautiful landscape, health resorts and sightseeing places. Lake Victoria has, during its geological history, gone through changes ranging from its present shallow depression, through to what may have been a series of much smaller lakes.
These drying cycles are probably related to past ice ages, which were times when precipitation declined globally. Lake Victoria last dried out 17, years ago, and it refilled beginning about 14, years ago. Geologically, Lake Victoria is relatively young — about Reizen langs Rivieren Travelling along Rivers Impressies van bron tot monding Impressions from source to mouth. Nile River from source to mouth W ith an estimated length of almost 6.
In the meantime the conclusion seems justified that the discussion about the real source of the Nile will go on for a while… The report: 'The source of the Nile at Jinja' Lake Victoria fed by thousands of streams from 3 countries W ith a surface area of about During the Crusades the Ethiopian emperor Lalibela —who built a new Jerusalem in Ethiopia, safe from Muslim occupation in magnificent, underground rock-hewn churches—threatened retribution by diverting the Tekeze River from its pathway north into Sudan where it becomes the Atbara and then joins the Nile.
The first Egyptian to write about the potential for an Ethiopian diversion of the Nile was the 13th century Coptic scholar Jurjis al-Makin d. Nothing came of the plan. The climax came in at the Battle of Gura in present day Eritrea where the Ethiopians delivered a humiliating defeat to the Egyptian army.
Egypt was colonized by England in Egypt was prized for the Nile Delta, a region of unsurpassed agricultural productivity. For the British control of Egypt meant more profitable trade with India, its richest colony. For the French, the canal offered quicker access to Indochina, its most lucrative colony. In the late nineteenth century, since controlling Egypt was the key to Asian wealth, and since Egypt depended on the Nile, controlling the source of the Nile became a major colonial goal.
The French conceived of the idea of building a dam on the White Nile, so as to undermine British influence further downriver and establish east-west control of the continent.
They organized a stupendous pincer movement with one group of soldiers traveling from East Africa across Ethiopia and the other from West Africa across the Congo.
The British heard of the French expedition, and, having just captured Khartoum ordered a fleet of gun boats and steamers with soldiers under the leadership of General Horatio Herbert Kitchener upriver to Fashoda, the site of the proposed dam. With fewer than men, the French were embarrassed. In the two colonial powers reached an agreement which designated to France the frontiers of the Congo River and to England the frontiers of the White Nile.
Thinking that most of the Nile waters came from the equatorial lakes Victoria, Albert, Kyoga, and Edward , the English spent enormous energy on plans to increase White Nile water flows.
First called the Garstin Cut and later the Jonglei Canal, the British intended to create a channel that would maximize water transfer through the great swamp where half of it evaporated. If the mile-long Jonglei Canal had been completed, it would have increased water flows by nearly 4 billion cubic meters into the White Nile.
Treaty negotiations about Nile waters started during the colonial era as England tried to maximize agricultural productivity in the delta.
As the controlling imperial power in East Africa, agreements with Kenya, Tanganika, Sudan, and Uganda were pro forma , internal colonial matters. The Ethiopian monarch was not consulted—at least in part because no one understood how much Nile water actually came from Ethiopia. The Nile Waters Agreement between Egypt and Sudan was completed before all the upriver states achieved independence: Tanganika , Uganda , Rwanda , Burundi , and Kenya The signatories of the Agreement allocated Egypt He negotiated the divorce of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church from the Orthodox Church in Alexandria, ending years of institutional marriage.
Department of Reclamation resulting in a seventeen volume report completed in and titled Land and Water Resources of the Blue Nile Basin: Ethiopia. Ethiopia won the war with Somalia in and retained the Ogaden.
Its 30 year war with Eritrea, an Egyptian ally, came at a tremendous cost. Haile Selassie was overthrown in , and after Eritrea won independence and Ethiopia became a landlocked country—although it still possessed the headwaters of the Blue Nile. In the middle of the s, rains failed in the Ethiopian highlands, causing a serious water crisis upriver and downriver.
One million Ethiopians died as a result of drought and famine—made worse by Civil War with Eritrea. As a result, Egyptians came to understand that their great Aswan Dam had not solved their historic dependency on upriver Nile water. In , after years of hostile rhetoric, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Ethiopian President Haile Mariam Mengistu replaced the language of threat and confrontation with words of conciliation and cooperation.
International water law has not resolved differences about ownership of Nile Waters. Egypt and Sudan rejected the agreement because it challenged their historic water rights. One lesson from the last century of mega-dam building is that upriver countries have the most power when negotiating water rights.
China and Tibet control waters on multiple rivers flowing downstream to India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. Another lesson is that mega-dams have enormous and unanticipated environmental impacts. The Aswan High Dam has disrupted the ecosystems of the river, the delta, and the Mediterranean with results of reduced agricultural productivity and fish stocks. Although late to mega-dam building, Ethiopia is now making up for lost time. One of the tallest dams in the world was completed in on the Tekeze River in northern Ethiopia.
Three major dams on the Omo and Gibe Rivers in southern Ethiopia are either completed or nearly so. Ethiopians hope these water projects—which extend to with other Nile tributaries and river systems—will lift their country out of poverty. With nearly 90 million people it is the most populous landlocked country in the world. Sudan is and Egypt This index rates countries based on life expectancy, education, and income, among other criteria.
Ethiopia is already leasing land in its southern regions to Saudi Arabia, India, and China for large irrigated water projects—despite severe land shortage in its northern regions—because it does not have the funds to develop this land on its own. If Ethiopia cannot use its elevation and seasonal rains for hydro-electric power and irrigation, what is it to do?
The state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation optimistically reports that the Grand Renaissance Dam will be completed in at a cost of nearly 5 billion dollars. The Tekeze dam was well over its predicted budget and years behind schedule. The World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Chinese Import-Export Bank, and the African Development Bank provided financing for some of the other dams; but concerns about the environmental and political impact of this latest dam have discouraged lenders.
Nevertheless the Ethiopian government insists that it will stick with its schedule and finance the project domestically. The Ethiopians argue that the Grand Renaissance Dam could be good for everyone. They contend that storing water in the deep Blue Nile Gorge would reduce evaporation, increasing water flows downstream. Rivers are found on every continent and on nearly every kind of land. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students.
Skip to content. Image women and children on the banks of the nile The Nile River has been a central feature of life in northeast Africa for thousands of years. Photograph by David Boyer. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. The Nile River flows over 6, kilometers 4, miles until emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. For thousands of years, the river has provided a source of irrigation to transform the dry area around it into lush agricultural land.
Today, the river continues to serve as a source of irrigation, as well as an important transportation and trade route. Blue Nile. Also called linseed. Nile River. White Nile. Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.
Media If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. Text Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Interactives Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. Related Resources. Ancient Egypt. View Collection. Anatomy of the Nile.
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