How long is the Nile river?

The Nile is the longest river in Africa and flows northward crossing 10 countries: Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia.

1 . The Nile river

The Nile is 6,695 kilometres long. It used to be considered the longest river in the world, followed by the Amazon. However, a scientific expedition found the Amazon is actually 105 kilometres longer than the Nile, with a total length of 6,800 kilometres. Therefore, the Nile is the second longest river in the world, after the Amazon and before the Yangtze and the Missouri rivers.

The river basin has a surface area of 3,349,000 square kilometres, about 10% of the land area of the African continent.

2 . Where is the source of the Nile river?

The source of the Nile is considered to be in western Tanzania. Sometimes its source is thought to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has several feeder rivers. Therefore, the main source of the Nile could be considered to be the Kagera river. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea forming the great Nile Delta.

3 . The Nile’s hydrological regime

The Nile’s hydrological regime is irregular in the summer, when the discharge volume increases and floods take place, due to heavy tropical rainfall in Ethiopia. The highest flows occur in mid-September.

In November and December, the river flow decreases rapidly and gradually the discharge volume declines during the winter. From March to May, the water flow is lower.