Egypt's Reliance on the Nile River

Deserts encompass most of EGYPT, a North African country always in the news thanks to ongoing political turmoil, yet one major river has sustained a network of cities on both sides of it with enough water and agricultural capabilities to sustain populations. This important waterway for transportation, travel, and irrigation is the longest river in the world, the Nile River. Look at any satellite imagery of Egypt and you may notice a vast difference in color between the deserts and the small vertical strip of verdant green land surrounding the Nile. The river empties into the large Nile River Delta, the area with major cities like Alexandria, Cairo (Egypt's capital), and Damietta.