River Nile

(Local Name: Bahr el-Nil) The Nile is the longest river in Africa and, after the Mississipi-Missouri river system, the longest watercourse in the world. Garnering great masses of water from the Ethiopian Highlands and rain-rich tropics, it traverses the very different world of the northeast African desert plateau to end in the Mediterranean after a course of 4,145mi/6,671km. In striking contrast to the green valley bottom are the yellow and reddish scarps of the desert plateau through which the river has carved a passage: and along the verges of the plateau stand the temples and pyramids which bear witness to an age-old culture.