El Nabatat Island or Kitchener's IslandState Information Service of Egypt - Elnabatat's Island
aswan.gov.eg - جزيرة النباتات
( Geziret En Nabatat (''Plant Island'') or the Botanical Island) is a small, oval-shaped island in the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city ha ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. It is less than a kilometer long and its width is less than ½ a kilometer. The Aswan Botanical Garden is located on the island.

Geography

El Nabatat Island is one of two major islands on the

in the vicinity of Aswan, the other one being

Elephantine Elephantine ( ; ; ; ''Elephantíne''; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological site, archaeological digs on the island became a World Heritage Site in 1979, along with other examples of ...

. Elephantine is the larger one, and is located between El Nabatat Island and the city of Aswan (east bank). Therefore, it can be hard to see the smaller El Nabatat Island from Aswan: "Aswan disappears behind Elephantine Island".

History

The island was previously known as Kitchener's Island, named after Lord Kitchener who owned it. He was gifted the island when he served as Consul-General in Egypt from 29 September 1911 to June 1914. With the aid of the Ministry of Irrigation, Kitchener rapidly transformed the small long island into a paradise of exotic trees, many from India, and plants in gardens with view walkways. It later passed into the property of the Egyptian government and was used as a research station called the Botanical Research Institute, Aswân Botanic Island.

Aswan Botanical Garden

The island, as a whole, constitutes the Aswan

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

. One can view the many types of

subtropic The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 3 ...

al, exotic, and rare plantings and trees such as the

royal palm ''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the royal palm, Cuban royal palm, or Florida royal palm, is a species of Arecaceae, palm native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida, and parts of Central America. A large and attractive palm, it has been plan ...

tree and the sabal palm tree. The collection was begun by Lord Kitchener and has been cared for since. The

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s are popular among the local people and tourists as a place to go for a quiet afternoon away from the noise of the city, and for weekend picnics. The island and gardens can be reached by

felucca A felucca is a traditional wooden sailing boat with a single sail used in the Mediterranean, including around Malta and Tunisia. However, in Egypt, Iraq and Sudan (particularly along the Nile and in the Sudanese protected areas of the Red Sea), ...

that reach the southeastern side of the small island.

Gallery

Image:Aswan, Kitchener's Island, east bank, Egypt, Oct 2004.jpg, A view to the inbound felucca wharf on El Nabatat Island Image:Aswan, Kitchener's Island, palm trees, Egypt, Oct 2004.jpg, Palm trees at Aswan Botanical Garden Image:Aswan, Kitchener's Island, felucca wharf, Egypt, Oct 2004.jpg, An outbound felucca wharf on El Nabatat Island Image:P1010131-2.jpg, A view to the Nile's west bank from El Nabatat Island

References

{{Islands of Egypt Islands of the Nile River islands of Egypt Botanical gardens in Egypt Parks in Egypt Aswan Tourist attractions in Egypt