Geography of Ancient Egypt

Describe the geography of Ancient Egypt.

How did the geography affect their everyday life?

What countries are located in this area today? 

Geography Team (list member first names & last initial)

• Nicole P.

• Louis P.

• Michael M.

• Michael I.

• Andrew K.

• Sean G

• Joe R

Egypt: Geography

Location: the northeast corner of the continent of Africa

Size: approximately 997,740 sq. km

Capital: Cairo

Official language (today): Arabic

Official language (ancient): combination Semitic and Hamitic

Major river: The Nile divides Egypt in half

Deserts: Sahara ,Libyan, Nubian, and Eastern. They were barriers of protection, shielding the people against invasion by surrounding civilizations

Topography: The highest lands are in the south and the land slopes gently toward the Mediterranean Sea. There are some mountains located on the southern Sinai peninsula. Some of these reach over 2600 meters (8530 feet high). The land at the Mediterranean is at sea level.

Climate: very dry; there is almost no rainfall on a regular basis. The people depend on the annual summer floods of the Nile River for water. The floods begin in June and end in October. Without the Nile, there would likely be no Egypt

                                                         The Nile

Length: (From White Nile Source to Mouth) 6695km (4184 miles).

Name: The Nile gets its name from the Greek word "Nelios", meaning River Valley.

Sources: The White Nile: Lake Victoria, Uganda. The Blue Nile: Lake Tana, Ethiopia.

Countries: The Nile and its tributaries flow though nine countries. The White Nile flows though Uganda, Sudan, and Egypt. The Blue Nile starts in Ethiopia. Zaire, Kenya, Tanzanian, Rwanda, and Burundi all have tributaries, which flow into the Nile or into lake Victoria Nyanes.

Cities: The major cities that are located on the edge of the Nile and White Nile are: Cairo, Gondokoro, Khartoum, Aswan, Thebes/Luxor, Karnak, and the town of Alexandria lies near the Rozeta branch.

Major Dams: The major dams on the Nile are Roseires Dam, Sennar Dam, Aswan High Dam, and Owen Falls Dam.

Flow Rate: The Nile River's average discharge is about 300 million cubic metres per day. To get a more accurate idea about how much water actually flows in the nile look at this image: