The Nile river discharges its water into which water body?

The Nile flows north through north-eastern Africa and ends in a large, fan-shaped delta on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of Cairo.

Key facts about the Nile:

• It is about 6,650 km long and is traditionally regarded as the longest river in the world.
• Its basin covers about one-tenth of the African continent and parts of 11 countries.
• It is one of the few major rivers that flows from south to north.

Its two main branches:

The White Nile is the longer branch. Its most distant headwaters lie in the highlands of Burundi and Rwanda, and it flows out of the Lake Victoria region.

The Blue Nile rises at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Though shorter, it supplies most of the Nile's water and silt during the summer monsoon floods.

The two branches meet at Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

The Atbara is the last major tributary to join, also from Ethiopia.

The lower Nile:

The river flows through the Sahara Desert of Sudan and Egypt, forming a narrow, fertile green strip.

The ancient Egyptian civilisation grew along this strip, depending on the river's annual floods. The Greek historian Herodotus called Egypt "the gift of the Nile".

The Aswan High Dam, completed in 1970, created Lake Nasser, one of the world's largest artificial lakes. It controls floods and produces hydroelectric power, but it also stopped much of the silt that used to enrich the fields.

The delta:

The Nile delta, one of the world's largest, begins near Cairo. Its two main branches reach the sea at Rosetta (where the famous Rosetta Stone was found) and Damietta. Alexandria lies at its western edge.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The Red Sea lies east of Egypt and receives no major river.
• ✗The Atlantic Ocean receives rivers such as the Congo and Niger.
• ✗The Indian Ocean receives African rivers such as the Zambezi and Limpopo.