The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main branches of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile.
It rises from Lake Victoria as the Victoria Nile, then flows north and westwards through Uganda, Lake Kyoga, and Lake Albert. The stream exiting Lake Albert is known as the Albert Nile; it flows north to Nimule where it enters Sudan and becomes known as the Mountain Nile. It then flows over rapids entering the Sudan plain, through the vast swamps of the Sudd, and via Lake No before meeting with the Blue Nile at Khartoum in Sudan and forming the Nile. From Lake Victoria to Khartoum, the length of the river is approximately 3700 kilometers (2300 miles).
The 19th century search for the source of the Nile was mainly focused on the White Nile, which disappeared into the depths of what was then known as Darkest Africa. The discovery of the source of the White Nile thus came to symbolise modern civilisation's penetration of unknown jungle in order to finally map and tame the wild and 'barbaric' source of the most influential of early civilisations.
The Nile in Sudan is distinctive for two reasons: 1) it flows over 6 groups of cataracts, from the first at Aswan to the sixth at Sabaloka (just north of Khartoum); and 2) it reverses course for much of its course, flowing back to the SW before returning to flow north again to the sea.
The Nile (iteru in Ancient Egyptian) was the lifeline of the ancient Egyptian civilization, with most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt resting along those parts of the Nile valley lying north of Aswan.
Satellite imagery was used to identify dry watercourses in the desert to the west of the Nile.
The triangular delta of the Nile, described by Greek geographers, is the eponym of all river deltas worldwide.
The Nile (iteru in Ancient Egyptian) was the lifeline of the ancient Egyptian civilization, with most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt in the Nile valley.
The source of the Nile was unknown until the 19th century, when John Hanning Speke was the first to identify it as Lake Victoria.
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