White Nile
White Nile is also a state of Sudan.The
White Nile (
Arabic: النيل الأبيض,
transliterated:
an-Nīl al-Ābyað) is a
river of
Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the
Nile, the other being the
Blue Nile.
It rises from
Lake Victoria as the
Victoria Nile, then flows north and westwards through
Uganda,
Lake Kyoga, and
Lake Albert. The stream exiting Lake Albert is known as the
Albert Nile; it flows north to
Nimule where it enters
Sudan and becomes known as the
Mountain Nile. It then flows over rapids entering the Sudan plain, through the vast swamps of the
Sudd, and via
Lake No before meeting with the Blue Nile at
Khartoum in
Sudan and forming the
Nile. From Lake Victoria to Khartoum, the length of the river is approximately
3700 kilometers (2300 miles).
The
19th century search for the
source of the Nile was mainly focused on the White Nile, which disappeared into the depths of what was then known as
Darkest Africa. The discovery of the source of the White Nile thus came to symbolise modern civilisation's penetration of unknown jungle in order to finally map and tame the wild and 'barbaric' source of the most influential of early civilisations.
