Nile River

Nile Delta

The fifth, and final, region encompassing the Nile River is the Nile Delta, a large triangular river delta (about 22,000 km) that extends from Cairo to the Mediterranean Sea. The river splits into two major distributaries (channels) within the delta: the Rosetta branch and the Damietta branch. The total volume of the delta (including the submerged portions) is about 150,000 km. The delta was created over several million years, built-up from sediment carried down the river from upstream. Since the Aswan High Dam was completed in 1970, the delta has begun to shrink because of erosion from currents in the Mediterranean Sea. In the past, erosion was balanced by new soils arriving in the form of sediment carried by the river; but the dam traps sediment in its reservoir, preventing new soil from reaching the delta.