TheBlue Nile[note 1]is ariveroriginating atLake TanainEthiopia.It travels for approximately 1,450 km (900 mi) through Ethiopia andSudan.Along with theWhite Nile,it is one of the two majortributariesof theNileand supplies about 85.6% of the water to the Nile during therainy season.
| Blue Nile (Abay) | |
|---|---|
 Blue Nile River in Ethiopia | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Countries | Ethiopia,Sudan |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Gilgel Abay |
| • location | Sekela,Ethiopia |
| • coordinates | 11°00′07″N37°13′30″E/ 11.002°N 37.225°E |
| • elevation | 2,560 m (8,400 ft) |
| Mouth | Nile River |
• location | Khartoum,Sudan |
• coordinates | 15°38′31″N32°30′18″E/ 15.642°N 32.505°E |
• elevation | 373 m (1,224 ft) |
| Length | 1,450 km (900 mi) |
| Basin size | 325,000 km2(125,000 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 1,548 m3/s (54,700 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Nile→Mediterranean Sea |
| River system | Nile |
Course
editThe distance of the river from itssourceto itsconfluencehas been variously reported between 1,460 and 1,600 kilometres (910 and 990 mi).[citation needed]This uncertainty might result from the fact that the river flows through a series of virtually impenetrable gorges cut in theEthiopian Highlandsto a depth of some 1,500 metres (4,900 ft).[citation needed]According to materials published by theCentral Statistical Agency,an Ethiopian government agency, the Blue Nile has a total length of 1,450 kilometres (900 mi), of which 800 kilometres (500 mi) are inside Ethiopia.[1]
In Ethiopia
editThe Blue Nile originates atLake Tanain Ethiopia (where it is called the Abay River). The river flows generally south before entering a canyon about 400 km (250 mi) long, about 30 km (19 mi) from Lake Tana, which is a tremendous obstacle for travel and communication between north and south Ethiopia. The canyon was first referred to as the "Grand Canyon" in 1968 by a British team that accomplished the first descent of the river from Lake Tana to the end of the canyon; subsequent river rafting parties called it the "Grand Canyon of the Nile".[2]TheBlue Nile Falls(Amharic:Tis Abay, literally "great smoke" ), one of Ethiopia's biggest tourist attractions, is located at the start of the canyon.
The river loops across northwest Ethiopia before being fed by numerous tributaries between Lake Tana and theEthiopia–Sudan border.Those on its left bank, in downstream order, include the Wanqa River, theBashilo River,theWalaqa River,theWanchet River,theJamma River,theMuger River,theGuder River,the Agwel River, the Nedi River, theDidessa Riverand theDabus River.Those on the right side, also in downstream order, include the Handassa, Tul, Abaya, Sade, Tammi, Cha, Shita, Suha,Muga,Gulla,Temcha,Bachat, Katlan, Jiba, Chamoga, Weter and theBeles.[3]
In Sudan
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The Blue Nile then heads northwest into Sudan. It travels for approximately 650 km (400 mi), flowing pastEr Roseiresand receiving theDinder Riveron its right bank atDinder.AtKhartoum,the Blue Nile joins theWhite Nileand, as theNile,flows throughEgyptto theMediterranean SeaatAlexandria.
Water flow
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The flow of the Blue Nile reaches maximum volume in the rainy season from June to September, when it supplies 80–86% of the water of the Nile proper. The river was a major source of theflooding of the Nilein Egypt that contributed to the fertility of the Nile Valley and the consequent rise ofAncient EgyptandEgyptian mythology.With the completion of theAswan Damin 1970, these floods stopped occurring in lower Egypt. During the summermonsoonseason, the Blue Nile floods erode a vast amount of fertile soil from the Ethiopian Highlands and carry it downstream assilt,turning the water dark brown or almost black.[4]
The Blue Nile is vital to the livelihood of Egypt: as the most significant tributary of the Nile, it contributes over 85% of the Nile's streamflow.[5]Though shorter than the White Nile, 59% of the water that reaches Egypt originates from the Ethiopian highlands via the Blue Nile.[citation needed]The river is also an important resource for Sudan, where theRoseires DamandSennar Damcontribute to the 80% of the country's electricity generation fromhydropower.These dams also help irrigate theGezira Scheme,which is most famous for its high-qualitycotton,as well aswheatand animal feed crop production in the area.
In November 2012, Ethiopia began construction of theGrand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam,a 6000-megawatt hydroelectric dam on the river. The dam is expected to be a boost for the Ethiopian economy. Sudan and Egypt, however, voiced their concerns over a potential reduction in water available.[6]Electricity generation began in February 2022.[7]
History
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Early European exploration
editThe first European known to have seen the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and the river's source wasPedro Páez,a SpanishJesuitwho reached the river's source on 21 April 1618.[8]However, the Portuguese João Bermudes, the self-described "Patriarch of Ethiopia," provided the first description of the Tis Abay River Falls in his memoirs published in 1565, and any number of Europeans who lived in Ethiopia in the late 15th century such asPêro da Covilhãcould have seen the river long before Páez, but not reached its source. The source of the Nile proper was also reached in 1629 by the Portuguese Jesuit missionaryJerónimo Loboand in 1770 by the Scottish explorerJames Bruce.
Although European explorers contemplated tracing the course of the Nile from the Blue Nile's confluence with the White Nile to Lake Tana, the Blue Nile Canyon has discouraged all attempts sinceFrédéric Cailliaud's attempt in 1821. The first serious attempt by a non-local to explore this reach of the river was undertaken by the American W.W. Macmillan in 1902, assisted by the Norwegian explorer B.H. Jenssen; Jenssen proceeded upriver from Khartoum while Macmillan sailed downstream from Lake Tana. However, Jenssen's boats were blocked by the rapids atFamakashort of the Sudan-Ethiopia border, and Macmillan's boats were wrecked shortly after they had been launched. Macmillan encouraged Jenssen to try to sail upstream from Khartoum again in 1905, but he was forced to stop 500 km (300 mi) short of Lake Tana.[9]Robert Cheesman,who records his surprise on arriving in Ethiopia at finding that the upper waters of "one of the most famous of the rivers of the world, and one whose name was well known to the ancients" was in his lifetime "marked on the map by dotted lines", managed to map the upper course of the Blue Nile between 1925 and 1933. He did this not by following the river along its banks and through its impassable canyon but by following it from the highlands above, travelling some 8,000 km (5,000 mi) by mule in the adjacent country.[10]
Present day
editIn the 1950s and 1960s, several kayakers paddled parts of the canyon. In 1968, at the request ofHaile Selassie,a team of 60 British and Ethiopian servicemen and scientists made the first full descent of the river from Lake Tana to a point near the Sudanese border led by explorerJohn Blashford-Snell.[11]The team used specially-builtAvon Inflatablesand modifiedRoyal Engineersassault boatsto navigate the formidable rapids. Subsequent rafting expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s generally only covered parts of the river canyon.
In 1999, writer Virginia Morell[12]and photographer Nevada Wier made the journey by raft from Lake Tana to Sudan, publishing a documentary about their journey afterwards.[13]In 2000, American and National Geographic reader, Kenneth Frantz, saw a photo taken by Nevada Wier forNational Geographicwhich would lead him to found the charityBridges to Prosperity.This photo showed a bridge broken during World War II, with 10 men on either side of the broken span pulling each other across the dangerous gap by rope. This historic bridge was built by EmperorFasilidesin approximately 1660 with Roman bridge technology brought to Ethiopia by Portuguese soldiers during the battle with the Muslim invaders in 1507.[14]In both 2001 and 2009, Bridges to Prosperity volunteers travelled from the United States to repair the broken bridge across the Blue Nile and later built a newsuspension bridgenot susceptible to flood.[15]
On 28 April 2004, geologist Pasquale Scaturro and his partner, kayaker and documentary filmmaker Gordon Brown, became the first known people to navigate the Blue Nile in its entirety. Though their expedition included several others, Brown and Scaturro were the only ones to remain on the expedition for the entire journey. They chronicled their adventure with anIMAXcamera and two handheld video cameras, sharing their story in the filmMystery of the Nileand in a book of the same title.[16]
On 29 January 2005, Canadian Les Jickling and his teammate New Zealander Mark Tanner completed the first fully human-powered transit of the entire Blue Nile and the Nile in the Sudan and Egypt. Their journey of over 5,000 km (3,100 mi) took five months and traveled through Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. They recount that they paddled through civil war conflict zones, regions known for bandits, and encountered multiple hazards and rapids.[17]
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^"Climate, 2008 National Statistics (Abstract)"Archived13 November 2010 at theWayback Machine,Table A.1. Central Statistical Agency website (accessed 26 December 2009)
- ^Engelking, Marina; McPherson-Ramirez, Gloria (15 April 2008).Breakthroughs: An Integrated Advanced English Program.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-542738-7– via Google Books.
- ^These lists are based on the compilation in G.W.B. Huntingford,Historical Geography of Ethiopia from the first century AD to 1704(London: British Academy, 1989), p. 34
- ^"Its Origin, Falls, and Gorge".Dinknesh Ethiopia Tour. Archived fromthe originalon 20 August 2015.Retrieved11 October2015.
- ^Mohamed Helmy Mahmoud Moustafa ElsanabaryElsanabary, Mohamed Helmy Mahmoud Moustafa (2012),Teleconnection, Modeling, Climate Anomalies Impact and Forecasting of Rainfall and Streamflow of the Upper Blue Nile River Basin,Canada:University of Alberta,doi:10.7939/R3377641M,hdl:10402/era.28151
- ^Ethiopia: Nile Dam Project a Hydropower Hope, but Regional Sore Point,Africa:Thomson Reuters Foundation,2012,archivedfrom the original on 14 July 2015,retrieved9 July2015
- ^"Ethiopia starts generating power from River Nile dam".BBC News.20 February 2022.
- ^R. E. Cheesman,Geographical Journal,71(1928), p. 361
- ^Alan Moorehead,The Blue Nile,revised edition (New York: Harper and Row, 1972), pp. 319f
- ^Cheesman, pp. 358–374.
- ^Snailham, Richard. 1970.The Blue Nile Revealed.London: Chatto and Windus.
- ^"Blue Nile: Ethiopia's River of Magic and Mystery - Bookreporter.com".bookreporter.com.Archivedfrom the original on 8 June 2011.Retrieved3 May2018.
- ^"Blue Nile @ nationalgeographic.com".Ngm.nationalgeographic.com. Archived fromthe originalon 6 October 2012.Retrieved27 January2013.
- ^Baynes, Thomas Spencer (1838). "Abyssinia".The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, Volume 1(Ninth ed.). Henry G. Allen and Company. p.65.
- ^"Envisioning a world where poverty caused by rural isolation no longer exists".Bridges to Prosperity.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2013.Retrieved27 January2013.
- ^Richard Bangs and Pasquale Scaturro,Mystery of the Nile.New York: New American Library, 2005
- ^"Department - Alumni Association".web.uvic.ca.Archivedfrom the original on 2 February 2018.Retrieved1 August2018.
External links
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