zuula River Nile in Uganda

Zuula Nile River Facts

Lake Victoria, , is generally  known as the source of the River Nile. On the northern edge of this lake, water pours over a waterfall, known as the Ripon Falls; into a narrow opening which many people believe is the beginning of the River Nile. Ripon Falls is the starting-point of the water,  Lake Victoria is surrounded by mountains with streams tumbling on to the lake. The largest tributary of Lake Victoria is the River Kagera. The Kagera River and its tributary the Ruvubu, having its headwaters in Burundi, is now accepted as the true source of the River Nile. It is from here where the River Nile is measured as the world’s longest river.

The Nile River, considered the longest river in the world, is approximately 4,258 miles (6,853 kilometers) long, but its exact length is a matter of debate. Flowing northward through the tropical climate of eastern Africa and into the Mediterranean Sea, the river passes through 11 countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.

The Nile has two major tributaries: the longer White Nile, considered the prime stream and headwaters; and the Blue Nile, which carries about two-thirds of the river's water volume and most of the silt. 

The White Nile begins at Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake, which touches the countries of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. But Lake Victoria isn't necessarily the most distant and "true" source of the Nile River because the lake itself has many feeder rivers coming in from the surrounding mountains. In 2006, a British explorer named Neil McGrigor said he'd traveled to the Nile's most distant source at the beginning of the Kagera River, Lake Victoria's longest feeder river. 

§  The River Nile is formed from the ‘White Nile’, which originates at Lake Victoria and also the Blue Nile, which originates at Lake Tana inside Ethiopia. These rivers meet in Sudan and then go on their long journey northwards for the sea.

§  The White Nile is a lot bigger than the Azure Nile, but because of losses on the way it contributes only about 15% for the flow of the combined Nile. Whereas the Blue Nile, rising in Ethiopia, contributes about 85% to the flow of the Nile River that passes through Egypt to the Mediterranean.

Because it offered water, food, transportation and excellent soil for growing tasty food most Egyptians lived near the Nile

§  The Nile River flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

§  The largest supply of the Nile is the Victoria Lake.

§  The Nile includes a length of about 4, 160 miles or 6, 695 kilometers.

§  Nile River’s average discharge is 680, 000 gallons (3.1 mil liters) each second.

§  The Nile basin is huge and includes aspects of Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya and Congo (Kinshasa).

§  The name Nile originates from the Greek word “neilos”, which means river.

§  It does not take the place of the longest river in the globe. It is approximately 6, 670 km (5, 160 miles) long.

  

§  The river average floods is approximately 300 million cubic meters per day.

§  There are nine countries the Nile and tributaries flow through. These countries are Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzanian, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Sudan, Rwanda and Zaire.

§  Many parts on the Niles banks are full of Crocodiles. They are the biggest crocodiles in Africa.

§  Major dams built within the Nile River include the High Aswan Dam, Roseires Dam, Sennar Dam and Owen Falls Dam.

§  The Nile basin (the land area drained because of the river) is very big. It includes areas like Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, and Rwanda.

The Nile Delta is 100 miles long and 150 miles wide.

Credit: NASA

The Nile Delta

The Nile waters flow at an average volume of 300 million cubic meters (79.2 billion gallons) per day, according to Travelling Along Rivers, a Dutch bilingual travel magazine. It takes approximately three months for the waters near the town of Jinja, Uganda (the point where the Nile leaves Lake Victoria), to reach the Mediterranean Sea. 

The Nile Delta is approximately 100 miles (161 km) long from north to south, and it spreads out along about 150 miles (241 km) of Egyptian coastline, from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east. It is one of the world's largest river deltas with about 40 million inhabitants — approximately half of Egypt's population. Just before reaching the Mediterranean Sea, the river splits into two main branches, the Rosetta Branch (to the west) and the Damietta (to the east). 

Wildlife

The Nile River and its banks are abundant with many varieties of animal life. These include the rhinoceros, African Tigerfish (the "piranha of Africa"), Nile monitors, enormous Vundu catfish, hippopotamuses, wildebeests, baboons, frogs, mongooses, turtles, tortoises and over 300 species of birds. Hundreds of thousands of water birds spend their winters in the Nile Delta. This includes the world's largest concentrations of little gulls and whiskered terns.

Possibly the most well-known animal — and most feared — is the Nile crocodile. This fearsome predator has a reputation as a man eater and rightly so. Nile crocodiles can reach lengths of 18 to 20 feet, and unlike their American cousins, can be quite aggressive toward people. Estimates say that about 200 people a year are killed by these reptiles, according to