How Long is the Nile River?

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The Nile is a great north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It rises south of the Equator (Lake Victoria) and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile river is the longest river in the world at 6,650 kilometers (4,135 miles). The Nile is longer than the distance from New York City to London.

The drainage basin of the Nile reaches 3.3 million square kilometers or 1,3 square miles. It is about 10 percent of the area of Africa.

The basin of the Nile River includes parts of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, the DR Congo, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the cultivated part of Egypt.

How the Nile has changed its course over the past 5000 years

The length of the Nile river was not constant. It changed as the course changed.

Below is a map which shows how the Nile River has changed its course over the past 5,000 years (in relation to Old and Middle Kingdom pyramid sites).

The map displays wavy colors to represent the Nile River in different periods, dots to mark settlements, and squares to symbolize pyramids.