The
Nile (Arabic: an-nil), in Africa, is one
of the two longest rivers on Earth. The
word "Nile" comes from the word
Neilos, a Greek name for the Nile. Another
Greek name for the Nile was Aigyptos which
itself is the source of the name "Egypt".
The Nile is usually considered the longest
river in the world, but whether the Nile
is actually longer than South America's
Amazon still remains the subject of much
debate. This is, for the most part, due
to two reasons: first, the lengths of
rivers vary over time and, second, the
point from which the length of a river
is measured is not always agreed upon.
The Nile also carries far less water than
the Amazon. East Africa, showing the course
of the River NileThere are two great branches
of the Nile: the White Nile, from equatorial
East Africa, and the Blue Nile, from Ethiopia.
Both branches formed on the western flanks
of the East African Rift, which is the
southern African part of the Great Rift
Valley.
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