The Nile River-Egypt

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Recommended: The importance of the Nile river to the ancient Egyptian society

The Nile River is arguably one of the most important water sources in the world and has an extremely rich history dating back thousands of years. Without the Nile, the ancient Egyptian civilization would have never existed. Egypt is basically a whole lot of sand and not much else, except they have the Nile River flowing through it, on it’s way to the Mediterranean sea. The ancient Egyptians lived along the Nile River and it provided them with abundant water, food (fish) and the opportunity to develop agriculture along it’s banks. The Nile River was also used for transportation and trade with other regions because land travel was more difficult than floating on the river. The Ancient Egyptians were at the mercy of the seasonal flooding and droughts but learned to work within the natural system of the River and weather cycles (Carnegie Museum of Natural History). Modern people, however were more interested in conquering nature, rather than living in harmony with it.
When we think of the Nile River, we typically do think of Ancient Egypt but the Nile River actually flows through 11 countries, now that South Sudan has become an independent nation. pg.2/Streets It is 6,600km long and the Nile River Basin is home to 160 million people. Due to high fertility rates, that number is on track to double in the next 25 years (United Nations Environment Programme). That means that there will soon be 320 million people to support in the Nile River Basin.

Population

Egypt itself currently has a population of approximately 87 million people and a Total Fertility Rate of 2.87 (Central Intelligence Agency). The population of Egypt is projected to be 100 million in 2025 and nearly 126 million in 2050 (Population Reference Bureau). This is a m...

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Pottinger, Lori. "Environmental Impacts of Large Dams: African Examples." International Rivers. N.p., 1 Oct. 1996. Web. 04 May 2014.
Struggle Over the Nile. Al Jazeera, 2011. Web. 3 May 2014.
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"The World Factbook - Egypt." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.

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