Where is the source of the Nile River?
One of the world's greatest rivers, the Nile,in the territory of Uganda and Ethiopia, carries its waters from the south to the north through the sands of the Sahara, forms a vast delta when it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The mysterious appearance of the watercourse among the mountains and lakes of East Africa, its high water content, have been for a long time the subjects of scientific disputes. Where is the source of the Nile? Scientists have argued on this subject for 2500 years, since the days of Herodotus and Ptolemy.
The Riddle of the Nile
In contrast to the ancient Greek titansthoughts, modern researchers and tourists have the opportunity to climb upstream to the very source. Only they are not alone, but two, which still puzzles travelers. What river or brook is taken for the source of the Nile River? She belongs to the second place in the world ranking of the longest watercourses.
Everything that concerns the sources, the channel and the mouth of the river,takes a huge scale. Thus, the length from the source to the place where it enters the sea is more than 6,650 km. This is slightly smaller than the length of the Amazon in South America, to which the Nile is inferior to the palm tree.
The source of the Nile
Place of origin of the watercourse is disputedAfrican countries of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. These states are washed by Lake Victoria, in its northern part, the picturesque Ripa waterfall is overthrown. Here, in the territory of Uganda, one of the two main tributaries, the White Nile, begins.
Far to the north-east of these places, in Ethiopia,located a small lake Tana, where the second source of the Nile - the Blue Nile - is located. Merge two sleeves near the Egyptian city of Khartoum. Further, the river carries its waters strictly to the north - to the Mediterranean Sea.
The main source of the Nile is the White or Blue tributaries?
Travelers of antiquity, arriving from the north -from Europe - could not rise upstream to the sources of the river. The rapid current, the abundance of rapids and waterfalls, impenetrable evergreen forests made this task almost insoluble. The Egyptians deified the Nile, portraying it as a creature with a draped head - they did not know where the source was.
About 150 years ago, researchers in Africa D. Livingston, D. Speke, R. Burton and journalist G. Stanley are the closest to the solution of the centuries-old puzzle. Since then, the length of the Nile has been counted from Lake Victoria. But large rivers flow into it, which can be considered the sources of the Nile.
The modern solution to the riddle of the source of the Nile
Scientists have chosen the beginning of the mostlong watercourse - r. Rukarara. This sleeve r. Kagera begins south of the equator among the mountains of East Africa, lies at an altitude of more than 2000 m. The entire river artery, the length of which is part of the geographical directories and guides, looks like a chain of watercourses of different scale: p. Rukarara, where the source of the Nile is located, → p. Kagera → p. White Nile → p. Nile.
The total length of this river system reaches 6670 km. The catchment area reaches almost 3.5 million m2, covers parts of the territories of 9 countries. The indicator of 5600 km characterizes the length of the Nile from the lake. Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea.
Nile is one of the 7 natural wonders of Africa
After combining the two sleeves - White andThe Blue Nile - the river flows through the greatest desert of the world. Sands of the Sahara not only did not absorb the source and mouth of the Nile River over the past centuries, on the contrary, come to life thanks to a constant watercourse. Even in the time of the Pharaohs of Egypt, this fact astounded the population. With the deep-water Nile, hopes for a rich harvest of rice were associated, and too much flooding of the river after heavy rains in the headwaters promised starvation to ordinary people.
The confluence of the Nile on the Mediterranean coastThe sea also surprises with its appearance and origin. For thousands of years the river carries the smallest fragments of rocks from south to north. Sand and clay are deposited in the Nile delta, annually increasing its area.
River cruises along the Nile
The popularity of water cruises along the river with eachthe year is growing. Swimming became much safer than in antiquity. The dams that blocked the channel created conditions for a more even flow. The water rose and concealed many dangerous rapids. Unfortunately, waterfalls have become lower, but their beauty and unusualness from this almost did not suffer.
In addition to a river cruise, there are more risky speciesrelaxation on the river - rafting, kayaking and swimming downstream on a canoe. Another entertainment near the beautiful waterfalls in the territory of Uganda - bungee jumping (jumping from height with insurance). On the banks of the Victoria-Nile near the waterfall of Cabarega is the eponymous national park. Its inhabitants - African elephants, wildebeest, buffaloes, gazelles - there are more than 76 species of wild animals.
