7 Incredible Fun Facts about the Nile River

1. The “Nile” name, comes from Greek

Ancient Egyptians did not give the Nile its current name: they were instead calling it Ḥꜥpy (Hapy) meaning simply “river”,  or Jtrw (Iteru), meaning “great river”.

The name was not also given to other populations living far southern on the banks of the Nile such as the Coptic (which called the river “Piaro”, also here meaning “the river”. 

While it seems silly at first to call a river simply “river”, we need to realize that in this arid and warm part of Africa, geographically speaking the Nile is the only river around!

The name “Nile” was so given to the river many years after the ancient Egyptian empire, when the Greeks reached the Northern coast of Africa and, surprised by the lush greens of the vegetation around the river, decided to call the river “Νεῖλος” (Neilos), meaning “river valley”.

From Neilos, the name turned to Nilus, which trickled down to Latin first, and then English later 🙂

 2. The Nile is the Longest River in the World!

The debate about the longest river in the world is an ongoing debate that lasted for decades.

Of course, the two contenders are the Nile in Africa and the Amazon river in Latin America.

Two different rivers, two different shapes, two different stories.

While experts are still arguing today about which tributaries should be included in the measurement and which not, as of today most of them agree the Nile to be about 6,650 kilometers-long (4,130 miles), just 75km (48mi) longer than the Amazon river.

The Nile is way way longer than most people expect, and its by no mean a river that belongs to Egypt only (as many foreigners believe!).

The river indeed touches a whooping 11 countries: these are Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea, and Egypt.

All in all, the Nile crosses more than half of Africa when measuring its latitudes! 😀

3. The Nile flows Northwards!

This is a fun fact that surprises many: the Nile is one of the few major rivers in the world that flows from south to north!

While the direction of a river is a matter of altitude and not latitude, it is strangely uncommon how so few rivers flow northwards: the next “big” rivers flowing toward North would be the Ob River, the Lena River and the Yenisei river (all in Russia, and all much shorter than the Nile!).

Back to our hero of today, the Nile starts in two different points: one main tributary called the “White Nile” – because of the colour of its waters – starts in Burundi; while a second tributary called the “Blue Nile” starts in  Lake Tana in Ethiopia.

Ancient Egyptians view the world according to the flow of the Nile, with the “upstream” south, and the “downstream” north, and this still is perceived in local culture today (which can be quite confusing for first-time visitors).

  4. Ancient Egypt Owed Its Existence

to the Nile and its Fertile Banks

Without the Nile, Egypt would be a desert.

Have you ever realized that almost every capital city in the world is crossed by a river? Think: Paris, London, Tokyo, Rome, Athens, Dublin, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro… rivers played a key role in the evolution of mankind, way bigger than people would believe today!

Egypt was no different!

The Nile River flooded semi-predictably every year, depositing rich black silt along its banks, perfect for growing crops like wheat and barley.

These floods enabled one of the world’s first great civilizations to flourish, leading to incredible advances in writing (thanks also to the autochthonous Papyrus plant), architecture, and governance.

Herodotus famously said, “Egypt is the gift of the Nile”—and he wasn’t wrong.

A fun fact though, is that Ancient Egyptians rarely saw any rain (Egypt is sitting on a very desertic region!), and because of that, they considered the Nile a holy gift given by gods such as Hapi and Osiris.

Of course, today we know that the Nile floods are fed by pouring rainfalls in jungle regions much much southern!

Extra fun fact: The Blue Nile contributes most of the silt and water during the rainy season, while the White Nile provides a steady flow year-round. This partnership is essential to the river’s life-giving rhythm.

5. The Nile has been a trade route for Millenia,

and it was also used to transport stones for the Pyramids!

6. In Modern Days, cruising the Nile River,

is the experience of a Lifetime! 

We said before that the Nile is the “highway of Egypt”. 

So what better way to visit the beauty of its cities and temples than to join a cruise on the Nile? 🙂

Personally, I took my first Nile River Cruise at the age of 13 with my parents, and it’s a memory I’m treasuring even today.

As commerce on the Nile River grew with modernization, so grew tourism and the offers by local companies to travel the Nile in comfort: as of today, there are more than 200 estimated river boats!

Being most of Egypt all developed within few kilometers from the Nile river, navigate its water is the most obvious solution for hopping on and off and enjoy a complete adventure to its many attractions.

Some of the sites that you could (and should!) touch while on a Nile river cruise are the Aswan dam, the ancient temple of Kom Ombo, Tutankhamun tomb in the Kings valley, The temple of Horus near Edfu, and the gorgeous cities of Luxor and Il Cairo.

7.  The Nile is still populated by rhinos and crocodiles!

If you’re getting ready for a cruise, and you’re wondering whether you could also wet yourself in the Nile waters…well, I would give you this extra bit of curiosity before you jump! 😉

In the Nile as of today, there are an estimated 250.000 to 500.000 specimens of crocodiles: to make sense of these numbers, consider a city bigger than Venice all made of crocodiles! 😉

(I am starting to put away your swimming suit, but wait for it…)

In fact, almost all the entirety of those crocodiles live south of the Aswan High dam (the gigantic dam built near the border between Egypt and Sudan between the 1960 and the 1970), while in the Egyptian part of the Nile the crocodiles are basically extinct.

Said that, because there are no crocos, it doesn’t mean you should swim in the Nile: given the pollution of the river, the autochtonous Bilharzia parasite which attacks liver and bladder and the strong seasonal and artificially created currents (with the dams), swimming in the Nile is not recommended and in most places straight out illegal!

In conclusion, if you want to use your bathing suit while cruising the Nile, your best bet is to use the safe and convenient rooftop pool of your boat ;D

Conclusions 🙂

And here we are at the end of our curiosity article about the Nile river 😀

I truly hope you enjoyed the reading and that you learned something new from our article 🙂

Which fact surprised you the most?

Do you know other curiosities about the Nile that you would like to share with us?

Let us know in the comments below! 😀

Hereafter I will leave you a few articles that you might be also interested in checking out:

•  7 World-Class Museums You Never Heard Of
• Destinations of the World: Discover More Cool Destinations!
• Travel Italy: All you Need to Discover the Bel Paese!

Thank you for reading, and see you in the next article!