The Nile has a total area of 3,254,555 square kilometers, which is about 10% of the area of Africa. It is 6,853 km long. The Nile runs through eleven countries; Egypt, south Sudan, Republic of Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Eritrea. The Nile starts at two areas. Its sources are the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The river empties into the Mediterranean Sea. As you know, many people think that the Nile is the longest river in the world, but a few Brazilian scientists proved the Amazon is a few hundred kilometers longer. The Nile runs through many countries that use it and live next to it. Many people use the Nile River for water, food, and for agriculture. Most people live near the Nile rather than anywhere else since it is easier to then grow crops and to get food since most of the countries the Nile runs on are poor. Ethiopia is now building a dam on the Nile called the Renaissance Dam. This has caused a conflict between Ethiopia and all the countries that come after it. All of the countries think that the dam will block their water source and they will lose all their water. This is a problem because they use the Nile water for almost everything and millions of people’s lives are at stake. The problem is mostly between the three countries that have the most water, Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. For many years, Egypt has had political influence over the Nile. When England took over Egypt for a while, they mad the other countries of the Nile sign an agreement, called the 1929 agreement, that said Egypt had more access to the Nile and can prevent other nation’s that are part of the Nile water basin from building on it. This agreement was never repealed which means that Egypt should still have the same power. This means that Egypt should be able to stop them from building it, but the Ethiopians seem to still be building it.