document_title: Tropical rainforest

question_text: what climate type(s) is/are associated with a tropical rainforest biome

question_tokens: what climate type ( s ) is / are associated with a tropical rainforest biome

text: Tropical rainforest

text: Overview

text: Tropical rainforests can be characterized in two words: hot and wet. Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year.[4]  Average annual rainfall is no less than 1,680 mm (66 in) and can exceed 10 m (390 in) although it typically lies between 1,750 mm (69 in) and 3,000 mm (120 in).[5]  This high level of precipitation often results in poor soils due to leaching of soluble nutrients in the ground.

text: Tropical rainforests exhibit high levels of biodiversity. Around 40% to 75% of all biotic species are indigenous to the rainforests.[6]  Rainforests are home to half of all the living animal and plant species on the planet.[7] Two-thirds of all flowering plants can be found in rainforests.[5]  A single hectare of rainforest may contain 42,000 different species of insect, up to 807 trees of 313 species and 1,500 species of higher plants.[5] Tropical rainforests have been called the "world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered within them.[8][9] It is likely that there may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms  still undiscovered in tropical rainforests.

text: Tropical rainforests are among the most threatened ecosystems globally due to large-scale fragmentation as a result of human activity. Habitat fragmentation caused by geological processes such as volcanism and climate change occurred in the past, and have been identified as important drivers of speciation.[10]  However, fast human driven habitat destruction is suspected to be one of the major causes of species extinction.  Tropical rain forests have been subjected to heavy logging and agricultural clearance throughout the 20th century, and the area covered by rainforests around the world is rapidly shrinking.[11][12]

text: History

text: Tropical rainforests have existed on earth for hundreds of millions of years. Most tropical rainforests today are on fragments of the Mesozoic era supercontinent of Gondwana.[13] The separation of the landmass resulted in a great loss of amphibian diversity while at the same time the drier climate spurred the diversification of reptiles.[10] The division left tropical rainforests located in five major regions of the world: tropical America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and New Guinea, with smaller outliers in Australia.[13] However, the specifics of the origin of rainforests remain uncertain due to an incomplete fossil record.

text: Other types of tropical forest

text: Several biomes may appear similar-to, or merge via ecotones with, tropical rainforest:

text: Moist seasonal tropical forests receive high overall rainfall with a warm summer wet season and a cooler winter dry season. Some trees in these forests drop some or all of their leaves during the winter dry season, thus they are sometimes called "tropical mixed forest". They are found in parts of South America, in Central America and around the Caribbean, in coastal West Africa, parts of the Indian subcontinent, and across much of Indochina.

text: These are found in cooler-climate mountainous areas, becoming known as cloud forests at higher elevations. Depending on latitude, the lower limit of montane rainforests on large mountains is generally between 1500 and 2500 m while the upper limit is usually from 2400 to 3300 m.[14]

text: Tropical freshwater swamp forests, or "flooded forests", are found in Amazon basin (the Várzea) and elsewhere.

text: Forest structure

text: Rainforests are divided into different strata, or layers, with vegetation organized into a vertical pattern from the top of the soil to the canopy.[15] Each layer is a unique biotic community containing different plants and animals adapted for life in that particular strata. Only the emergent layer is unique to tropical rainforests, while the others are also found in temperate rainforests.

text: Forest floor

text: The forest floor, the bottom-most layer, receives only 2% of the sunlight. Only plants adapted to low light can grow in this region. Away from riverbanks, swamps and clearings, where dense undergrowth is found, the forest floor is relatively clear of vegetation because of the low sunlight penetration. This more open quality permits the easy movement of larger animals such as: ungulates like the okapi (Okapia johnstoni), tapir (Tapirus sp.), Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), and apes like the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), as well as many species of reptiles, amphibians, and insects.  The forest floor also contains decaying plant and animal matter, which disappears quickly, because the warm, humid conditions promote rapid decay. Many forms of fungi growing here help decay the animal and plant waste.

text: Understory layer

text: The understory layer lies between the canopy and the forest floor. The understory is home to a number of birds, small mammals, insects, reptiles, and predators.  Examples include leopard (Panthera pardus), poison dart frogs (Dendrobates sp.), ring-tailed coati (Nasua nasua), boa constrictor (Boa constrictor), and many species of Coleoptera.[5] The vegetation at this layer generally consists of shade-tolerant shrubs, herbs, small trees, and large woody vines which climb into the trees to capture sunlight. Only about 5% of sunlight breaches the canopy to arrive at the understory causing true understory plants to seldom grow to 3 m (10 feet). As an adaptation to these low light levels, understory plants have often evolved much larger leaves. Many seedlings that will grow to the canopy level are in the understory.

text: Canopy layer

text: The canopy is the primary layer of the forest forming a roof over the two remaining layers. It contains the majority of the largest trees, typically 30–45 m in height. Tall, broad-leaved evergreen trees are the dominant plants.  The densest areas of biodiversity are found in the forest canopy, as it often supports a rich flora of epiphytes, including orchids, bromeliads, mosses and lichens.  These epiphytic plants attach to trunks and branches and obtain water and minerals from rain and debris that collects on the supporting plants. The fauna is similar to that found in the emergent layer, but more diverse. It is suggested that the total arthropod species richness of the tropical canopy might be as high as 20 million.[16] Other species habituating this layer include many avian species such as the yellow-casqued wattled hornbill (Ceratogymna elata), collared sunbird (Anthreptes collaris), grey parrot (Psitacus erithacus), keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus), scarlet macaw (Ara macao) as well as other animals like the spider monkey (Ateles sp.), African giant swallowtail (Papilio antimachus), three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridactylus), kinkajou (Potos flavus), and tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla).[5]

text: Emergent layer

text: The emergent layer contains a small number of very large trees, called emergents, which grow above the general canopy, reaching heights of 45–55 m, although on occasion a few species will grow to 70–80 m tall.[15][17] Some examples of emergents include: Balizia elegans, Dipteryx panamensis, Hieronyma alchorneoides, Hymenolobium mesoamericanum, Lecythis ampla and Terminalia oblonga.[18] These trees need to be able to withstand the hot temperatures and strong winds that occur above the canopy in some areas. Several unique faunal species inhabit this layer such as the crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus), the king colobus (Colobus polykomos), and the large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus).[5]

text: However, stratification is not always clear. Rainforests are dynamic and many changes affect the structure of the forest. Emergent or canopy trees collapse, for example, causing gaps to form. Openings in the forest canopy are widely recognized as important for the establishment and growth of rainforest trees.  It’s estimated that perhaps 75% of the tree species at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica are dependent on canopy opening for seed germination or for growth beyond sapling size, for example.[19]

text: Ecology

text: Climate

text: Tropical rainforests are located around and near the equator, therefore having what is called an equatorial climate characterized by three major climatic parameters: temperature, rainfall, and dry season intensity.[20] Other parameters that affect tropical rainforests are carbon dioxide concentrations, solar radiation, and nitrogen availability. In general, climatic patterns consist of warm temperatures and high annual rainfall. However, the abundance of rainfall changes throughout the year creating distinct moist and dry seasons. Tropical forests are  classified by the amount of rainfall received each year, which has allowed ecologists to define differences in these forests that look so similar in structure.  According to Holdridge’s classification of tropical ecosystems, true tropical rainforests have an annual rainfall greater than 2 m and annual temperature greater than 24 degrees Celsius, with a potential evapotranspiration ratio (PET) value of <0.25.  However, most lowland tropical forests can be classified as tropical moist or wet forests, which differ in regards to rainfall. Tropical forest ecology- dynamics, composition, and function- are sensitive to changes in climate especially changes in rainfall.[20]

text: Soils

text: Soil types

text: Soil types are highly variable in the tropics and are the result of a combination of several variables such as climate, vegetation, topographic position, parent material, and soil age.[21] Most tropical soils are characterized by significant leaching and poor nutrients, however there are some areas that contain fertile soils. Soils throughout the tropical rainforests fall into two classifications which include the ultisols and oxisols. Ultisols are known as well weathered, acidic red clay soils, deficient in major nutrients such as calcium and potassium. Similarly, oxisols are acidic, old, typically reddish, highly weathered and leached, however are well drained compared to ultisols. The clay content of ultisols is high, making it difficult for water to penetrate and flow through. The reddish color of both soils is the result of heavy heat and moisture forming oxides of iron and aluminium, which are insoluble in water and not taken up readily by plants.

text: Soil chemical and physical characteristics are strongly related to above ground productivity and forest structure and dynamics. The physical properties of soil control the tree turnover rates whereas chemical properties such as available nitrogen and phosphorus control forest growth rates.[22] The soils of the eastern and central Amazon as well as the Southeast Asian Rainforest are old and mineral poor whereas the soils of the western Amazon (Ecuador and Peru) and volcanic areas of Costa Rica are young and mineral rich. Primary productivity or wood production is highest in western Amazon and lowest in eastern Amazon which contains heavily weathered soils classified as oxisols.[21] Additionally, Amazonian soils are greatly weathered, making them devoid of minerals like phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, which come from rock sources. However, not all tropical rainforests occur on nutrient poor soils, but on nutrient rich floodplains and volcanic soils located in the Andean foothills, and volcanic areas of Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central America.[23]

text: Oxisols, infertile, deeply weathered and severely leached, have developed on the ancient Gondwanan shields. Rapid bacterial decay prevents the accumulation of humus. The concentration of iron and aluminium oxides by the laterization process gives the oxisols a bright red color and sometimes produces minable deposits (e.g., bauxite). On younger substrates, especially of volcanic origin, tropical soils may be quite fertile.

text: Nutrient recycling

text: This high rate of decomposition is the result of phosphorus levels in the soils, precipitation, high temperatures and the extensive microorganism communities.[24] In addition to the bacteria and other microorganisms, there are an abundance of other decomposers such as fungi and termites that aid in the process as well. Nutrient recycling is important because below ground resource availability controls the above ground biomass and community structure of tropical rainforests. These soils are typically phosphorus limited, which inhibits net primary productivity or the uptake of carbon.[21] The soil contains microbial organisms such as bacteria, which break down leaf litter and other organic matter into inorganic forms of carbon usable by plants through a process called decomposition. During the decomposition process the microbial community is respiring, taking up oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. The decomposition rate can be evaluated by measuring the uptake of oxygen.[24] High temperatures and precipitation increase decomposition rate, which allows plant litter to rapidly decay in tropical regions, releasing nutrients that are immediately taken up by plants  through surface or ground waters.  The seasonal patterns in respiration are controlled by leaf litter fall and precipitation, the driving force moving the decomposable carbon from the litter to the soil. Respiration rates are highest early in the wet season because the recent dry season results in a large percentage of leaf litter and thus a higher percentage of organic matter being leached into the soil.[24]

text: Buttress roots

text: A common feature of many tropical rainforests is the distinct buttress roots of trees.  Instead of penetrating to deeper soil layers, buttress roots create a widespread root network at the surface for more efficient uptake of nutrients in a very nutrient poor and competitive environment. Most of the nutrients within the soil of a tropical rainforest occur near the surface because of the rapid turnover time and decomposition of organisms and leaves.[25] Because of this, the buttress roots occur at the surface so the trees can maximize uptake and actively compete with the rapid uptake of other trees. These roots also aid in water uptake and storage, increase surface area for gas exchange, and collect leaf litter for added nutrition.[25] Additionally, these roots reduce soil erosion and maximize nutrient acquisition during heavy rains by diverting nutrient rich water flowing down the trunk into several smaller flows while also acting as a barrier to ground flow. Also, the large surface areas these roots create provide support and stability to rainforests trees, which commonly grow to significant heights. This added stability allows these trees to withstand the impacts of severe storms, thus reducing the occurrence of fallen trees.[25]

text: Forest succession

text: Succession is an ecological process that changes the biotic community structure over time towards a more stable, diverse community structure after an initial disturbance to the community.  The initial disturbance is often a natural phenomenon or human caused event.  Natural disturbances include hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, river movements or an event as small as a fallen tree that creates gaps in the forest.  In tropical rainforests, these same natural disturbances have been well documented in the fossil record, and are credited with encouraging speciation and endemism.[10]

text: Biodiversity and speciation

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text: Tropical rainforests exhibit a vast diversity in plant and animal species. The root for this remarkable speciation has been a query of scientists and ecologists for years. A number of theories have been developed for why and how the tropics can be so diverse.

text: Interspecific competition

text: Interspecific competition results from a high density of species with similar niches in the tropics and limited resources available. Species which "lose" the competition may either become extinct or find a new niche. Direct competition will often lead to one species dominating another by some advantage, ultimately driving it to extinction. Niche partitioning is the other option for a species. This is the separation and rationing of necessary resources by utilizing different habitats, food sources, cover or general behavioral differences. A species with similar food items but different feeding times is an example of niche partitioning.[26]

text: Pleistocene refugia

text: The theory of Pleistocene refugia was developed by Jürgen Haffer in 1969 with his article Speciation of Amazonian Forest Birds. Haffer proposed the explanation for speciation was the product of rainforest patches being separated by stretches of non forest vegetation during the last glacial period.  He called these patches of rainforest areas refuges and within these patches allopatric speciation occurred. With the end of the glacial period and increase in atmospheric humidity, rainforest began to expand and the refuges reconnected.[27] This theory has been the subject of debate. Scientists are still skeptical of whether or not this theory is legitimate. Genetic evidence suggests speciation had occurred in certain taxa 1–2 million years ago, preceding the Pleistocene.[28]

text: Human dimensions

text: Habitation

text: Tropical rainforests have harboured human life for many millennia, with many Indian tribes in South- and Central America, who belong to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Congo Pygmies in Central Africa, and several tribes in South-East Asia, like the Dayak people and the Penan people in Borneo.[29] Food resources within the forest are extremely dispersed due to the high biological diversity and what food does exist is largely restricted to the canopy and requires considerable energy to obtain. Some groups of hunter-gatherers have exploited rainforest on a seasonal basis but dwelt primarily in adjacent savanna and open forest environments where food is much more abundant. Other people described as rainforest dwellers are hunter-gatherers who subsist in large part by trading high value forest products such as hides, feathers, and honey with agricultural people living outside the forest.[30]

text: Indigenous peoples

text: A variety of indigenous people live within the rainforest as hunter-gatherers, or subsist as part-time small scale farmers supplemented in large part by trading high-value forest products such as hides, feathers, and honey with agricultural people living outside the forest.[29][30] Peoples have inhabited the rainforests for tens of thousands of years and have remained so elusive that only recently have some tribes been discovered.[29] These indigenous peoples are greatly threatened by loggers in search for old-growth tropical hardwoods like Ipe, Cumaru and Wenge, and by farmers who are looking to expand their land, for cattle(meat), and soybeans, which are used to feed cattle in Europe and China.[29][31][32][33] On 18 January 2007, FUNAI reported also that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005. With this addition, Brazil has now overtaken the island of New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted tribes.[34] The province of Irian Jaya or West Papua in the island of New Guinea is home to an estimated 44 uncontacted tribal groups.[35]

text: The pygmy peoples are hunter-gatherer groups living in equatorial rainforests characterized by their short height (below one and a half meters, or 59 inches, on average). Amongst this group are the Efe, Aka, Twa, Baka, and Mbuti people of Central Africa.[36]  However, the term pygmy is considered pejorative so many tribes prefer not to be labeled as such.[37]

text: Some notable indigenous peoples of the Americas, or Amerindians, include the Huaorani, Ya̧nomamö, and Kayapo people of the Amazon. The traditional agricultural system practiced by tribes in the Amazon is based on swidden cultivation (also known as slash-and-burn or shifting cultivation) and is considered a relatively benign disturbance.[38][39] In fact, when looking at the level of individual swidden plots a number of traditional farming practices are considered beneficial. For example, the use of shade trees and fallowing all help preserve soil organic matter, which is a critical factor in the maintenance of soil fertility in the deeply weathered and leached soils common in the Amazon.[40]

text: There is a diversity of forest people in Asia, including the Lumad peoples of the Philippines and the Penan and Dayak people of Borneo. The Dayaks are a particularly interesting group as they are noted for their traditional headhunting culture.  Fresh human heads were required to perform certain rituals such as the Iban "kenyalang" and the Kenyah "mamat".[41] Pygmies who live in Southeast Asia are, amongst others, referred to as "Negrito".

text: Resources

text: Cultivated foods and spices

text: Yam, coffee, chocolate, banana, mango, papaya, macadamia, avocado, and sugarcane all originally came from tropical rainforest and are still mostly grown on plantations in regions that were formerly primary forest. In the mid-1980s and 1990s, 40 million tons of bananas were consumed worldwide each year, along with 13 million tons of mango. Central American coffee exports were worth US$3 billion in 1970.  Much of the genetic variation used in evading the damage caused by new pests is still derived from resistant wild stock. Tropical forests have supplied 250 cultivated kinds of fruit, compared to only 20 for temperate forests. Forests in New Guinea alone contain 251 tree species with edible fruits, of which only 43 had been established as cultivated crops by 1985.[42]

text: Ecosystem services

text: In addition to extractive human uses, rain forests also have non-extractive uses that are frequently summarized as ecosystem services. Rain forests play an important role in maintaining biological diversity, sequestering and storing carbon, global climate regulation, disease control, and pollination.[43]

text: Tourism

text: Despite the negative effects of tourism in the tropical rainforests, there are also several important positive effects.

text:
In recent years ecotourism in the tropics has increased. While rainforests are becoming increasingly rare, people are travelling to nations that still have this diverse habitat. Locals are benefiting from the additional income brought in by visitors, as well areas deemed interesting for visitors are often conserved. Ecotourism can be an incentive for conservation, especially when it triggers positive economic change.[44] Ecotourism can include a variety of activities including animal viewing, scenic jungle tours and even viewing cultural sights and native villages. If these practices are performed appropriately this can be beneficial for both locals and the present flora and fauna.
An increase in tourism has increased economic support, allowing more revenue to go into the protection of the habitat. Tourism can contribute directly to the conservation of sensitive areas and habitat. Revenue from park-entrance fees and similar sources can be utilised specifically to pay for the protection and management of environmentally sensitive areas. Revenue from taxation and tourism provides an additional incentive for governments to contribute revenue to the protection of the forest.
Tourism also has the potential to increase public appreciation of the environment and to spread awareness of environmental problems when it brings people into closer contact with the environment. Such increased awareness can induce more environmentally conscious behavior. Tourism has had a positive effect on wildlife preservation and protection efforts, notably in Africa but also in South America, Asia, Australia, and the South Pacific.[45]

text: Conservation

text: Threats

text: Deforestation

text: Mining and drilling

text: Deposits of precious metals (gold, silver, coltan) and fossil fuels (oil and natural gas) occur underneath rainforests globally.  These resources are important to developing nations and their extraction is often given priority to encourage economic growth.  Mining and drilling can require large amounts of land development, directly causing deforestation.  In Ghana, a West African nation, deforestation from decades of mining activity left about 12% of the country's original rainforest intact.[46]

text: Conversion to agricultural land

text: With the invention of agriculture, humans were able to clear sections of rainforest to produce crops, converting it to open farmland. Such people, however, obtain their food primarily from farm plots cleared from the forest[30][47] and hunt and forage within the forest to supplement this. The issue arising is between the independent farmer providing for his family and the needs and wants of the globe as a whole. This issue has seen little improvement because no plan has been established for all parties to be aided.[48]

text: Agriculture on formerly forested land is not without difficulties. Rainforest soils are often thin and leached of many minerals, and the heavy rainfall can quickly leach nutrients from area cleared for cultivation. People such as the Yanomamo of the Amazon, utilize slash-and-burn agriculture to overcome these limitations and enable them to push deep into what were previously rainforest environments. However, these are not rainforest dwellers, rather they are dwellers in cleared farmland[30][47] that make forays into the rainforest. Up to 90% of the typical Yanamomo diet comes from farmed plants.[47]

text: Some action has been taken by suggesting fallow periods of the land allowing secondary forest to grow and replenish the soil.[49] Beneficial practices like soil restoration and conservation can benefit the small farmer and allow better production on smaller parcels of land.

text: Climate change

text: The tropics take a major role in reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide. The tropics (most notably the Amazon rainforest) are called carbon sinks.[citation needed] As major carbon reducers and carbon and soil methane storages, their destruction contributes to increasing global energy trapping, atmospheric gases.[citation needed] Climate change has been significantly contributed to by the destruction of the rainforests. A simulation was performed in which all rainforest in Africa were removed. The simulation showed an increase in atmospheric temperature by 2.5 to 5 degrees Celsius.[50]

text: Protection

text: Efforts to protect and conserve tropical rainforest habitats are diverse and widespread.  Tropical rainforest conservation ranges from strict preservation of habitat to finding sustainable management techniques for people living in tropical rainforests.  International policy has also introduced a market incentive program called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) for companies and governments to outset their carbon emissions through financial investments into rainforest conservation.[51]


document_title: Nile

question_text: who discovered the source of the nile river

question_tokens: who discovered the source of the nile river

root

text: Nile

text: Etymology and Names[edit]

text: In the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥ'pī or Iteru (Hapy), meaning "river". In Coptic, the word ⲫⲓⲁⲣⲱ, pronounced piaro (Sahidic) or phiaro (Bohairic), means "the river" (lit. p(h).iar-o "the.canal-great"), and comes from the same ancient name.

tag: p

text: The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος.[9][10] Beyond that, however, the etymology is disputed.[10][11] Hesiod at his Theogony refers that Nilus (Νεῖλος) was one of the Potamoi (river gods), son of Oceanus and Tethys.[12] Another possible etymology derives it from a Semitic Nahal, meaning "river".[13] The standard English names "White Nile" and "Blue Nile", to refer to the river's source, derive from Arabic names formerly applied only to the Sudanese stretches which meet at Khartoum.[14]

text: Courses[edit]

text: Above Khartoum, the Nile River is also known as the White Nile, a term also used in a limited sense to describe the section between Lake No and Khartoum. At Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia. Both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift.

text: The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers (1,256,591 sq mi), about 10% of the area of Africa.[16] The Nile basin is complex, and because of this, the discharge at any given point along the mainstem depends on many factors including weather, diversions, evaporation and evapotranspiration, and groundwater flow.

text: Sources[edit]

text: The source of the Nile River is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. The Kagera River, which flows into Lake Victoria near the Tanzanian town of Bukoba, is the longest feeder, although sources do not agree on which is the longest tributary of the Kagera and hence the most distant source of the Nile River itself.[17] It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi,[18] or the Nyabarongo, which flows from Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda.[19] The two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border.

text: In 2010, an exploration party[20] went to a place described as the source of the Rukarara tributary,[21] and by hacking a path up steep jungle-choked mountain slopes in the Nyungwe forest found (in the dry season) an appreciable incoming surface flow for many kilometres upstream, and found a new source, giving the Nile a length of 6,758 km (4,199 mi).

text: Gish Abay is reportedly the place where the "holy water" of the first drops of the Blue Nile develop.[22]

text: In Uganda's Nile River[edit]

text: The Nile River leaves Lake Nyanza (Victoria) at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda, as the Victoria Nile. It flows north for some 130 kilometers (81 mi), to Lake Kyoga. The last part of the approximately 200 kilometers (120 mi) river section starts from the western shores of the lake and flows at first to the west until just south of Masindi Port, where the river turns north, then makes a great half circle to the east and north until Karuma Falls. For the remaining part it flows merely westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the very northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta. The lake itself is on the border of DR Congo, but the Nile River is not a border river at this point. After leaving Lake Albert, the river continues north through Uganda and is known as the Albert Nile.

text: In South Sudan's Nile River[edit]

text: The Nile river flows into South Sudan just south of Nimule, where it is known as the Bahr al Jabal ("Mountain River"[23]). Just south of the town it has the confluence with the Achwa River. The Bahr al Ghazal, itself 716 kilometers (445 mi) long, joins the Bahr al Jabal at a small lagoon called Lake No, after which the Nile becomes known as the Bahr al Abyad, or the White Nile, from the whitish clay suspended in its waters. When the Nile floods it leaves a rich silty deposit which fertilizes the soil. The Nile no longer floods in Egypt since the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970. An anabranch river, the Bahr el Zeraf, flows out of the Nile's Bahr al Jabal section and rejoins the White Nile.

text: The flow rate of the Bahr al Jabal at Mongalla, South Sudan is almost constant throughout the year and averages 1,048 m3/s (37,000 cu ft/s). After Mongalla, the Bahr Al Jabal enters the enormous swamps of the Sudd region of South Sudan. More than half of the Nile's water is lost in this swamp to evaporation and transpiration. The average flow rate of the White Nile at the tails of the swamps is about 510 m3/s (18,000 cu ft/s). From here it soon meets with the Sobat River at Malakal. On an annual basis, the White Nile upstream of Malakal contributes about fifteen percent of the total outflow of the Nile River.[24]

text: The average flow of the White Nile at Lake Kawaki Malakal, just below the Sobat River, is 924 m3/s (32,600 cu ft/s); the peak flow is approximately 1,218 m3/s (43,000 cu ft/s) in October and minimum flow is about 609 m3/s (21,500 cu ft/s) in April. This fluctuation is due to the substantial variation in the flow of the Sobat, which has a minimum flow of about 99 m3/s (3,500 cu ft/s) in March and a peak flow of over 680 m3/s (24,000 cu ft/s) in October.[25] During the dry season (January to June) the White Nile contributes between 70 percent and 90 percent of the total discharge from the Nile.

text: In Sudan[edit]

text: Below Renk the White Nile enters Sudan, it flows north to Khartoum and meets the Blue Nile.

text: The course of the Nile in Sudan is distinctive. It flows over six groups of cataracts, from the sixth at Sabaloka just north of Khartoum northward to Abu Hamed. Due to the tectonic uplift of the Nubian Swell, the river is then diverted to flow for over 300 km south-west following the structure of the Central African Shear Zone embracing the Bayuda Desert. At Al Dabbah it resumes its northward course towards the first Cataract at Aswan forming the 'S'-shaped Great Bend of the Nile[26] already mentioned by Eratosthenes.[27]

text: In the north of Sudan the river enters Lake Nasser (known in Sudan as Lake Nubia), the larger part of which is in Egypt.

text: In Egypt[edit]

text: Below the Aswan High Dam, at the northern limit of Lake Nasser, the Nile resumes its historic course.

text: North of Cairo, the Nile splits into two branches (or distributaries) that feed the Mediterranean: the Rosetta Branch to the west and the Damietta to the east, forming the Nile Delta.

text: Tributaries of Nile[edit]

text: Atbara River[edit]

text: Below the confluence with the Blue Nile the only major tributary is the Atbara River, roughly halfway to the sea, which originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana, and is around 800 kilometers (500 mi) long. The Atbara flows only while there is rain in Ethiopia and dries very rapidly. During the dry period of January to June, it typically dries up. It joins the Nile approximately 300 kilometers (200 mi) north of Khartoum.

text: Blue Nile[edit]

text: The Blue Nile (Ge'ez ጥቁር ዓባይ Ṭiqūr ʿĀbbāy (Black Abay) to Ethiopians; Arabic: النيل الأزرق; transliterated: an-Nīl al-Azraq) springs from Lake Tana in the Ethiopian Highlands. The Blue Nile flows about 1,400 kilometres to Khartoum, where the Blue Nile and White Nile join to form the Nile.[29] Ninety percent of the water and ninety-six percent of the transported sediment carried by the Nile[30] originates in Ethiopia, with fifty-nine percent of the water from the Blue Nile (the rest being from the Tekezé, Atbarah, Sobat, and small tributaries). The erosion and transportation of silt only occurs during the Ethiopian rainy season in the summer, however, when rainfall is especially high on the Ethiopian Plateau; the rest of the year, the great rivers draining Ethiopia into the Nile (Sobat, Blue Nile, Tekezé, and Atbarah) have a weaker flow. In harsh and arid seasons and droughts the blue Nile dries out completely.[31]

text: The flow of the Blue Nile varies considerably over its yearly cycle and is the main contribution to the large natural variation of the Nile flow. During the dry season the natural discharge of the Blue Nile can be as low as 113 m3/s (4,000 cu ft/s), although upstream dams regulate the flow of the river. During the wet season the peak flow of the Blue Nile often exceeds 5,663 m3/s (200,000 cu ft/s) in late August (a difference of a factor of 50).

text: Before the placement of dams on the river the yearly discharge varied by a factor of 15 at Aswan. Peak flows of over 8,212 m3/s (290,000 cu ft/s) occurred during late August and early September, and minimum flows of about 552 m3/s (19,500 cu ft/s) occurred during late April and early May.

text: Bahr el Ghazal and Sobat River[edit]

text: The Bahr al Ghazal and the Sobat River are the two most important tributaries of the White Nile in terms of discharge.

text: The Bahr al Ghazal's drainage basin is the largest of any of the Nile's sub-basins, measuring 520,000 square kilometers (200,000 sq mi) in size, but it contributes a relatively small amount of water, about 2 m3/s (71 cu ft/s) annually, due to tremendous volumes of water being lost in the Sudd wetlands.

text: The Sobat River, which joins the Nile a short distance below Lake No, drains about half as much land, 225,000 km2 (86,900 sq mi), but contributes 412 cubic meters per second (14,500 cu ft/s) annually to the Nile.[32] When in flood the Sobat carries a large amount of sediment, adding greatly to the White Nile's color.[33]

text: Yellow Nile[edit]

text: The Yellow Nile is a former tributary that connected the Ouaddaï Highlands of eastern Chad to the Nile River Valley c. 8000 to c. 1000 BC.[34] Its remains are known as the Wadi Howar. The wadi passes through Gharb Darfur near the northern border with Chad and meets up with the Nile near the southern point of the Great Bend.

text: History[edit]

text: The Nile (iteru in Ancient Egyptian) has been the lifeline of civilization in Egypt since the Stone Age, with most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt resting along those parts of the Nile valley lying north of Aswan. However, the Nile used to run much more westerly through what is now Wadi Hamim and Wadi al Maqar in Libya and flow into the Gulf of Sidra.[35] As sea level rose at the end of the most recent ice age, the stream which is now the northern Nile pirated the ancestral Nile near Asyut,[36] this change in climate also led to the creation of the current Sahara desert, around 3400 BC.[37]

text: Eonile[edit]

text: The present Nile is at least the fifth river that has flowed north from the Ethiopian Highlands. Satellite imagery was used to identify dry watercourses in the desert to the west of the Nile. An Eonile canyon, now filled by surface drift, represents an ancestral Nile called the Eonile that flowed during the later Miocene (23–5.3 million years before present). The Eonile transported clastic sediments to the Mediterranean; several natural gas fields have been discovered within these sediments.

text: During the late-Miocene Messinian salinity crisis, when the Mediterranean Sea was a closed basin and evaporated to the point of being empty or nearly so, the Nile cut its course down to the new base level until it was several hundred metres below world ocean level at Aswan and 2,400 m (7,900 ft) below Cairo.[38] This created a very long and deep canyon which was filled with sediment when the Mediterranean was recreated. At some point the sediments raised the riverbed sufficiently for the river to overflow westward into a depression to create Lake Moeris.

text: Lake Tanganyika drained northwards into the Nile until the Virunga Volcanoes blocked its course in Rwanda. The Nile was much longer at that time, with its furthest headwaters in northern Zambia.

text: Integrated Nile[edit]

text: There are two theories about the age of the integrated Nile. One is that the integrated drainage of the Nile is of young age, and that the Nile basin was formerly broken into series of separate basins, only the most northerly of which fed a river following the present course of the Nile in Egypt and Sudan. Rushdi Said postulated that Egypt itself supplied most of the waters of the Nile during the early part of its history.[39]

text: The other theory is that the drainage from Ethiopia via rivers equivalent to the Blue Nile and the Atbara and Takazze flowed to the Mediterranean via the Egyptian Nile since well back into Tertiary times.[40]

text: Salama suggested that during the Paleogene and Neogene Periods (66 million to 2.588 million years ago) a series of separate closed continental basins each occupied one of the major parts of the Sudanese Rift System: Mellut rift, White Nile rift, Blue Nile rift, Atbara rift and Sag El Naam rift.[41] The Mellut Rift Basin is nearly 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) deep at its central part. This rift is possibly still active, with reported tectonic activity in its northern and southern boundaries. The Sudd swamps which form the central part of the basin may still be subsiding. The White Nile Rift System, although shallower than the Bahr el Arab rift, is about 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) deep. Geophysical exploration of the Blue Nile Rift System estimated the depth of the sediments to be 5–9 kilometers (3.1–5.6 mi). These basins were not interconnected until their subsidence ceased, and the rate of sediment deposition was enough to fill and connect them. The Egyptian Nile connected to the Sudanese Nile, which captures the Ethiopian and Equatorial headwaters during the current stages of tectonic activity in the Eastern, Central and Sudanese Rift Systems.[42] The connection of the different Niles occurred during cyclic wet periods. The River Atbara overflowed its closed basin during the wet periods that occurred about 100,000 to 120,000 years ago. The Blue Nile connected to the main Nile during the 70,000–80,000 years B.P. wet period. The White Nile system in Bahr El Arab and White Nile Rifts remained a closed lake until the connection of the Victoria Nile to the main system some 12,500 years ago.

text: Role in the founding of Egyptian civilization[edit]

text: The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that "Egypt was the gift of the Nile". An unending source of sustenance, it provided a crucial role in the development of Egyptians civilization. Silt deposits from the Nile made the surrounding land fertile because the river overflowed its banks annually. The Ancient Egyptians cultivated and traded wheat, flax, papyrus and other crops around the Nile. Wheat was a crucial crop in the famine-plagued Middle East. This trading system secured Egypt's diplomatic relationships with other countries, and contributed to economic stability. Far-reaching trade has been carried on along the Nile since ancient times.

text: Water buffalo were introduced from Asia, and Assyrians introduced camels in the 7th century BC. These animals were killed for meat, and were domesticated and used for ploughing—or in the camels' case, carriage. Water was vital to both people and livestock. The Nile was also a convenient and efficient means of transportation for people and goods. The Nile was an important part of ancient Egyptian spiritual life. Hapy was the god of the annual floods, and both he and the pharaoh were thought to control the flooding. The Nile was considered to be a causeway from life to death and the afterlife. The east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death, as the god Ra, the Sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each day as he crossed the sky. Thus, all tombs were west of the Nile, because the Egyptians believed that in order to enter the afterlife, they had to be buried on the side that symbolized death.

text: As the Nile was such an important factor in Egyptian life, the ancient calendar was even based on the 3 cycles of the Nile. These seasons, each consisting of four months of thirty days each, were called Akhet, Peret, and Shemu. Akhet, which means inundation, was the time of the year when the Nile flooded, leaving several layers of fertile soil behind, aiding in agricultural growth.[43] Peret was the growing season, and Shemu, the last season, was the harvest season when there were no rains.[43]

text: Search for the source of the Nile[edit]

text: Owing to their failure to penetrate the sudd wetlands of South Sudan, the upper reaches of the Nile remained largely unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Various expeditions failed to determine the river's source. Agatharcides records that in the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, a military expedition had penetrated far enough along the course of the Blue Nile to determine that the summer floods were caused by heavy seasonal rainstorms in the Ethiopian Highlands, but no European of antiquity is known to have reached Lake Tana.

text: The Tabula Rogeriana depicted the source as three lakes in 1154.

text: Europeans began to learn about the origins of the Nile in the 15th and 16th centuries, when travelers to Ethiopia visited Lake Tana and the source of the Blue Nile in the mountains south of the lake. Although James Bruce claimed to be the first European to have visited the headwaters,[45] modern writers give the credit to the Jesuit Pedro Páez. Páez's account of the source of the Nile[46] is a long and vivid account of Ethiopia. It was published in full only in the early 20th century, although it was featured in works of Páez's contemporaries, including Baltazar Téllez,[47] Athanasius Kircher[48] and by Johann Michael Vansleb.[49]

text: Europeans had been resident in Ethiopia since the late 15th century, and one of them may have visited the headwaters even earlier without leaving a written trace. The Portuguese João Bermudes published the first description of the Tis Issat Falls in his 1565 memoirs, compared them to the Nile Falls alluded to in Cicero's De Republica.[50] Jerónimo Lobo describes the source of the Blue Nile, visiting shortly after Pedro Páez. Telles also used his account.

text: The White Nile was even less understood. The ancients mistakenly believed that the Niger River represented the upper reaches of the White Nile. For example, Pliny the Elder wrote that the Nile had its origins "in a mountain of lower Mauretania", flowed above ground for "many days" distance, then went underground, reappeared as a large lake in the territories of the Masaesyli, then sank again below the desert to flow underground "for a distance of 20 days' journey till it reaches the nearest Ethiopians."[51] A merchant named Diogenes reported that the Nile's water attracted game such as buffalo.

text: Lake Victoria was first sighted by Europeans in 1858 when the British explorer John Hanning Speke reached its southern shore while traveling with Richard Francis Burton to explore central Africa and locate the great lakes. Believing he had found the source of the Nile on seeing this "vast expanse of open water" for the first time, Speke named the lake after the then Queen of the United Kingdom. Burton, recovering from illness and resting further south on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, was outraged that Speke claimed to have proved his discovery to be the true source of the Nile when Burton regarded this as still unsettled. A very public quarrel ensued, which sparked a great deal of intense debate within the scientific community and interest by other explorers keen to either confirm or refute Speke's discovery. British explorer and missionary David Livingstone pushed too far west and entered the Congo River system instead. It was ultimately Welsh-American explorer Henry Morton Stanley who confirmed Speke's discovery, circumnavigating Lake Victoria and reporting the great outflow at Ripon Falls on the Lake's northern shore.

text: European involvement in Egypt goes back to the time of Napoleon. Laird Shipyard of Liverpool sent an iron steamer to the Nile in the 1830s. With the completion of the Suez Canal and the British takeover of Egypt in the 1870s, more British river steamers followed.

text: The Nile is the area's natural navigation channel, giving access to Khartoum and Sudan by steamer. The Siege of Khartoum was broken with purpose-built sternwheelers shipped from England and steamed up the river to retake the city. After this came regular steam navigation of the river. With British Forces in Egypt in the First World War and the inter-war years, river steamers provided both security and sightseeing to the Pyramids and Thebes. Steam navigation remained integral to the two countries as late as 1962. Sudan steamer traffic was a lifeline as few railways or roads were built in that country. Most paddle steamers have been retired to shorefront service, but modern diesel tourist boats remain on the river.

text: Since 1950[edit]

text: The Nile has long been used to transport goods along its length. Winter winds blow south, up river, so ships could sail up river, and down river using the flow of the river. While most Egyptians still live in the Nile valley, the 1970 completion of the Aswan High Dam ended the summer floods and their renewal of the fertile soil, fundamentally changing farming practices. The Nile supports much of the population living along its banks, enabling Egyptians to live in otherwise inhospitable regions of the Sahara. The rivers's flow is disturbed at several points by the Cataracts of the Nile, which are sections of faster-flowing water with many small islands, shallow water, and rocks, which form an obstacle to navigation by boats. The Sudd wetlands in Sudan also forms a formidable navigation obstacle and impede water flow, to the extent that Sudan had once attempted to canalize (the Jonglei Canal) to bypass the swamps.[53][54]

text: Nile cities include Khartoum, Aswan, Luxor (Thebes), and the Giza – Cairo conurbation. The first cataract, the closest to the mouth of the river, is at Aswan, north of the Aswan Dam. This part of the river is a regular tourist route, with cruise ships and traditional wooden sailing boats known as feluccas. Many cruise ships ply the route between Luxor and Aswan, stopping at Edfu and Kom Ombo along the way. Security concerns have limited cruising on the northernmost portion for many years.

text: A computer simulation study to plan the economic development of the Nile was directed by H. A. W. Morrice and W. N. Allan, for the Ministry of Hydro-power of the Republic of the Sudan, during 1955–1957[55][56][57] Morrice was their Hydrological Adviser, and Allan his predecessor. M.P. Barnett directed the software development and computer operations. The calculations were enabled by accurate monthly inflow data collected for 50 years. The underlying principle was the use of over-year storage, to conserve water from rainy years for use in dry years. Irrigation, navigation and other needs were considered. Each computer run postulated a set of reservoirs and operating equations for the release of water as a function of the month and the levels upstream. The behavior that would have resulted given the inflow data was modeled. Over 600 models were run. Recommendations were made to the Sudanese authorities. The calculations were run on an IBM 650 computer. Simulation studies to design water resources are discussed further in the article on hydrology transport models, that have been used since the 1980s to analyze water quality.

text: Despite the development of many reservoirs, drought during the 1980s led to widespread starvation in Ethiopia and Sudan, but Egypt was nourished by water impounded in Lake Nasser. Drought has proven to be a major cause of fatality in the Nile River basin. According to a report by the Strategic Foresight Group around 170 million people have been affected by droughts in the last century with half a million lives lost.[58] From the 70 incidents of drought which took place between 1900 and 2012, 55 incidents took place in Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania.[58]

text: Water sharing dispute[edit]

text: The Nile's water has affected the politics of East Africa and the Horn of Africa for many decades. Countries including Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya have complained about Egyptian domination of its water resources. The Nile Basin Initiative promotes a peaceful cooperation among those states.[59][60]

text: Several attempts have been made to establish agreements between the countries sharing the Nile waters. It is very difficult to have all these countries agree with each other given the self-interest of each country and their political, strategic, and social differences. On 14 May 2010 at Entebbe, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda signed a new agreement on sharing the Nile water even though this agreement raised strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan. Ideally, such international agreements should promote equitable and efficient usage of the Nile basin's water resources. Without a better understanding about the availability of the future water resources of the Nile River, it is possible that conflicts could arise between these countries relying on the Nile for their water supply, economic and social developments.[4]

text: Modern achievements and exploration[edit]

text: White Nile[edit]

text: In 1951, the American John Goddard together with two French explorers became the first to successfully navigate the entire Nile river from its source in Burundi at the potential headsprings of the Kagera River in Burundi to its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, a journey of approximately 6800 kilometers. Their 9-month journey is described in the book ‘Kayaks down the Nile’.[61] [62]

text: The White Nile Expedition, led by South African national Hendrik Coetzee, navigated the White Nile's entire length of approximately 3,700 kilometres (2,300 mi). The expedition began at the White Nile's beginning at Lake Victoria in Uganda, on 17 January 2004 and arrived safely at the Mediterranean in Rosetta, four and a half months later.[63] On the 30th of April 2005 a team led by South Africans Peter Meredith and Hendrik Coetzee, following again in the footsteps of John Goddard, navigated the major remote source of the White Nile, the Akagera river that starts as the Ruvyironza in Bururi Province, Burundi, and ends at Lake Victoria, Uganda.

text: In April 2006, the Ascend the Nile Expedition including two explorers from Britain and one from New Zealand ascended the river from its mouth at Rosetta to one of its sources in Rwanda's Nyungwe Forest. The Team including Cam McLeay, Neil McGrigor and Garth MacIntyre spent 70 days travelling to the Rwandese source of the Nile covering approximately 6800 kilometres. During the Expedition they were ambushed by the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) lead by the notorious Joseph Kony, however post-attack six months later they returned to complete the expedition. They measured the length of the river with the help of GPS and claimed to have found the furthest source. Due to the unscientific approach of their expedition, their reluctance to release the GPS data, and not having measured the other contender for the true source of the Nile in Burundi, controversy has ensued.

text: Blue Nile[edit]

text: The Blue Nile Expedition, led by geologist Pasquale Scaturro and his partner, kayaker and documentary filmmaker Gordon Brown became the first people to descend the entire Blue Nile, from Lake Tana in Ethiopia to the beaches of Alexandria on the Mediterranean. Their approximately 5,230 kilometres (3,250 mi) journey took 114 days: from 25 December 2003 to 28 April 2004. Though their expedition included others, Brown and Scaturro were the only ones to complete the entire journey.[64] Although they descended whitewater manually the team used outboard motors for much of their journey.

text: On 29 January 2005 Canadian Les Jickling and New Zealander Mark Tanner completed the first human powered transit of Ethiopia's Blue Nile. Their journey of over 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) took five months. They recount that they paddled through two war zones, regions notorious for bandits, and were arrested at gunpoint.[65]

text: Crossings[edit]

text: Crossings from Khartoum to the Mediterranean Sea[edit]

text: [clarification needed] The following bridges cross the Blue Nile and connect Khartoum to Khartoum North:

text:
Mac Nimir Bridge
Blue Nile Road & Railway Bridge
Burri Bridge
Elmansheya Bridge
Soda bridge

tag: ul

text: The following bridges cross the White Nile and connect Khartoum to Omdurman:

text:
White Nile Bridge
Fitayhab Bridge
Al Dabbaseen Bridge (under construction)[when?]
Omhuraz Bridge (proposed)[citation needed]

text: the following bridges cross from Omdurman: to Khartoum North:

text:
Shambat Bridge
Halfia Bridge

text: The following bridges cross to Tuti from Khartoum states three cities

text:
Khartoum-tuti Bridge
Omdurman-Tuti Suspension Bridge (proposed)[citation needed]
Khartoum North-tuti Bridge (proposed)[citation needed]

text: Other bridges

text:
Shandi Bridge, Shendi
Atbarah Bridge, Atbarah
Merowe Dam, Merowe
Merowe Bridge, Merowe
Aswan Bridge, Aswan
Luxor Bridge, Luxor
Suhag Bridge, Suhag
Assiut Bridge, Assiut
Al Minya Bridge, Minya
Al Marazeek Bridge, Helwan
First Ring Road Bridge (Moneeb Crossing), Cairo
Abbas Bridge, Cairo
University Bridge, Cairo
Qasr al-Nil Bridge, Cairo
6th October Bridge, Cairo
Abu El Ela Bridge, Cairo (removed in 1998)
New Abu El Ela Bridge, Cairo
Imbaba Bridge, Cairo
Rod Elfarag Bridge, Cairo
Second Ring Road Bridge, Cairo
Banha Bridge, Banha
Samanoud Bridge, Samanoud
Mansoura 2 Bridges, Mansoura
Talkha Bridge, Talkha
Shirbine high Bridge
Shirbine Bridge
Kafr Sad – Farscor Bridge
International Coastal Road Bridge
Damietta high Bridge, Damietta
Damietta Bridge, Damietta
Kafr El Zayat Bridges, Kafr El Zayat
Zefta Bridge, Zefta

text: Crossings from Rwanda to Khartoum[edit]

text:
Nalubaale Bridge, Jinja, Uganda (Formerly Owen Falls Bridge)
Karuma Bridge, Karuma, Uganda
Pakwach Bridge, Uganda

text: Images and media of the Nile[edit]

text:
Riverboat on the Nile, Egypt 1900

Marsh along the Nile

A river boat crossing the Nile in Uganda

Murchison Falls in Uganda, between Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga

The Nile in Luxor

The river Nile flows through Cairo, here contrasting ancient customs of daily life with the modern city of today.

text: Annotated bibliography[edit]

text: The following is an annotated bibliography of key written documents for the Western exploration of the Nile.

text: 17th century

text: Historia da Ethiopia, Pedro Páez (aka Pero Pais), Portugal, 1620

text: Voyage historique d'Abissinie, Jerónimo Lobo (aka Girolamo Lobo), Piero Matini, Firenze; 1693

text: 18th century

text: Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in the Years – 1768, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773, James Bruce of Kinnaird. J. Ruthven for G. GJ. and J. Robinson et al., Edinburgh, 1790 (5 Volumes)

text: Egypt And Mohammed Ali, Or Travels In The Valley of The Nile, James Augustus St. John, Longman, London, 1834

text:
Travels in Ethiopia Above the Second Cateract of the Nile; Exhibiting the State of That Country and Its Various Inhabitants Under the Dominion of Mohammed Ali; and Illustrating the Antiquities, Arts, and History of the Ancient Kingdom of Meroe, G. A.Hoskins. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, London; 1835.
Modern Egypt and Thebes: Being a Description of Egypt; Including Information Required for Travelers in That Country, Sir Gardner Wilkinson, John Murray, London, 1843

text: Lake Regions of Central Equatorial Africa, with Notices of The Lunar Mountains and the Sources of the White Nile; being The Results of an Expedition Undertaken under the Patronage of Her Majesty's Government and the Royal Geographical Society of London, In the Years 1857–1859, Sir Richard Burton. W. Clowes, London; 1860

text: Travels, researches, and missionary labours, during eighteen years' residence in eastern Africa. Together with journeys to Jagga, Usambara, Ukambani, Shoa, Abessinia, and Khartum; and a coasting voyage from Mombaz to Cape Delgado. With an appendix respecting the snow-capped mountains of eastern Africa; the sources of the Nile; the languages and literature of Abessinia And eastern Africa, etc. etc., Rev Dr. J. Krapf, Trubner and Co, London; 1860; Ticknor and Fields, Boston; 1860

text: Egypt, Soudan and Central Africa: With Explorations From Khartoum on the White Nile to the Regions of the Equator, Being Sketches from Sixteen Years' Travel, John Petherick. William Blackwood, Edinburgh; 1861

text: Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile, John Hanning Speke. William Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1863; Harper & Brothers, New York; 1864


document_title: Orders, decorations, and medals of Nigeria

question_text: the national honour award was established by nigerian government in the year

text: Nigerian National Honours are a set of orders and decorations conferred upon Nigerians and friends of Nigeria every year. They were instituted by the National Honors Act No. 5 of 1964, during the First Nigerian Republic, to honour Nigerians who have rendered service to the benefit of the nation.

text: Honours[edit]

text: The Nigerian National Honours, in descending order of importance, are:

text:
Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR)
Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON)
Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR)
Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON)
Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR)
Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON)
Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR)
Member of the Order of the Niger (MON)

text: The GCFR and GCON are customarily respectively bestowed on former occupants of the office of President of Nigeria and Vice President of Nigeria including former military heads of state of Nigeria and Chiefs of General Staff. The GCON is also customarily bestowed on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President of the Nigerian Senate during their first year in office, while the CON is customarily bestowed on Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria


document_title: I Know What You Did Last Summer

question_text: who is the bad guy in i know what you did last summer

text: I Know What You Did Last Summer

text: Plot[edit]

text: On the Fourth of July 1996 in Southport, North Carolina, high school graduates Julie James, Ray Bronson, Helen Shivers, and Barry Cox drive to the beach after a night of partying. While driving along a coastal byway, they accidentally hit a pedestrian. Julie's friend Max passes by them on the road. Julie reassures Max that everything is all right, and he leaves. After some arguing, the group decides to dispose of the body, dumping it in the water. They agree to never again discuss what had happened.

text: A year later, Julie returns home from her college in Boston for the summer. Since the incident, the friends have gone their separate ways. Julie receives a letter with no return address, stating, "I know what you did last summer!" Disturbed, Julie tracks down Helen, who has returned to Southport to work at her family's department store after a failed attempt at an acting career in New York City. The girls take the note to Barry, who immediately suspects Max. They confront Max on the docks, and Barry threatens him with a hook. Julie meets Ray, who is now working as a fisherman; he unsuccessfully tries to reconcile with her. Later, Max is killed by a figure in a rain slicker wielding a hook. Barry discovers a note in his gym locker saying, "I know." He is then ambushed by the same assailant driving Barry's car.

text: Meanwhile, Julie researches newspaper articles which lead her to believe the man they ran over was a local named David Egan. Helen and Julie go to visit with David's sister Missy at her home. Missy explains to them that their family was devastated by David's death; she also mentions that a friend of David's named Billy Blue also visited her to pay his last respects. Later that night, the killer sneaks into Helen's house, cuts off her hair while she sleeps, and writes "Soon" in lipstick on her vanity mirror.

text: The following morning, Julie finds Max's corpse wearing Barry's stolen jacket in the trunk of her car. When she calls the others, the body is missing. Julie, Helen, and Barry confront Ray about the recent events. Ray claims to have received a threatening letter as well. Julie goes back to visit Missy, while Barry and Helen go to participate in the Fourth of July parade. Missy reveals David allegedly committed suicide out of guilt for the death of his girlfriend Susie in a car accident and shows David's suicide note to Julie. As the writing matches that of the note she received, Julie realizes it was not a suicide note, but a death threat.

text: At the Croaker Beauty Pageant, Helen witnesses Barry being murdered on the balcony. She rushes upstairs with a police officer but finds no sign of the killer or Barry. A police officer escorts Helen home, but the killer lures him into an alley and murders him. Helen flees to her nearby family store, where her sister Elsa is closing for the night. The killer enters the store and murders Elsa. Helen is chased to the third floor of the building and escapes through a window, falling to a long alleyway. She manages to run toward the street, but the killer stops her and slashes her to death, her screams being drowned out by the sound of the oncoming parade.

text: Julie finds an article mentioning Susie's father, Ben Willis, and realizes that Ben was the man they ran over, moments after he had killed David to avenge his daughter. She then goes to the docks to tell Ray, but he refuses to believe her. Julie notices Ray's boat is called Billy Blue and runs away. Ben appears, knocking Ray unconscious, and invites Julie to hide on his boat. On the boat, she finds photos and articles about her friends and her, and pictures of Susie. Ben's boat leaves the docks, and he begins tormenting Julie, chasing her below deck; there, she uncovers the bodies of Helen and Barry in the boat's ice box. Ray regains consciousness and steals a motorboat to rescue Julie. He ultimately uses the rigging to sever Ben's hand and send him overboard. When the police question them, they deny knowing why Ben attempted to kill them, but they are relieved not to have actually killed anybody the previous summer, and reconcile.

text: A year later, Julie is in college in Boston. As she enters the shower, she notices the words "I still know" on the mirror. Moments later, a dark figure crashes through it.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Helen Shivers
Ryan Phillippe as Barry Cox
Freddie Prinze Jr. as Ray Bronson
Bridgette Wilson as Elsa Shivers
Anne Heche as Missy Egan
Muse Watson as Ben Willis
Johnny Galecki as Max Neurick
Stuart Greer as Officer Caporizo

text: Production[edit]

text: Screenplay[edit]

text: I Know What You Did Last Summer was a screenplay penned by Kevin Williamson several years beforehand, which was then rushed into production by Columbia Pictures upon the success of the Williamson-written Scream (1996).[9] It was based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan,[10] a youth-oriented suspense novel about four young people who are involved in a hit-and-run accident involving a young boy.[11] Producer Erik Feig pitched the idea of a screen adaptation to Mandalay Entertainment, and subsequently appointed Williamson to retool the core elements of Duncan's novel, rendering a screenplay more akin to a 1980s slasher film.[4][11] Inspired by his father, who had been a commercial fisherman, Williamson changed the setting of the novel to a small fishing village, and made the villain a hook-wielding fisherman.[5]

text: The killer's arming of himself with a hook is a reference to the urban legend "The Hook," which the four main characters recount at the beginning of the film around a campfire.[11] According to Williamson, he wrote the scene as a way of indicating what was to come: "Basically what I was doing was I was setting the framework to say, 'Alright, audience: That's that legend. Now here's a new one.'"[11] Unlike Williamson's screenplay for the film's contemporary, Scream (1996), which incorporated satire of the slasher film, I Know What You Did Last Summer was written more as a straightforward slasher film.[11] Gillespie commented in 2008: "The joy of this film for me as a filmmaker was in taking [the] elements that we've seen before, and saying to the audience: 'Here's something you've seen before'—knowing that they're saying 'We've seen this before'—and still getting them to jump."[11] Gillespie also claimed that he felt Williamson's screenplay did not resemble a "slasher horror movie," and that he saw it rather as simply "a really good story" with a morality tale embedded within it.[11]

text: Casting[edit]

text: According to producer Stokely Chaffin, the producers sought out actors who were "beautiful, but likable."[11] Director Gillespie recalled that, though he had been unfamiliar with the screenplay's source material, that "roughly 60 to 65%" of the young women auditioning had read the novel as children.[12] Jennifer Love Hewitt, who at the time was mainly known for her role on the television series Party of Five, was cast in the lead of Julie James based on her "ability to project vulnerability," which the producers, director Gillespie, and writer Williamson unanimously agreed upon.[11] Initially, Hewitt was considered for the role of Helen.[11] For the role of Barry, the crew had envisioned an actor with a "6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) quarterback" appearance, as the character had been written as an intimidating figure.[11] Ryan Phillipe was ultimately cast in the part based on his audition, despite the fact that he was not as physically tall as the script had called for.[11] Director Gillespie chose Freddie Prinze, Jr. for the role of Ray, because he felt Prinze himself had an "everyman" quality much like the character.[11]

text: Sarah Michelle Gellar was the last of the lead performers to be cast in the role of Helen.[11] Like Hewitt, Gellar was also known to American audiences at the time for her roles in television, primarily as the titular Buffy Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.[11] Gillespie commented on casting Gellar: "I wanted an actress that had a warmth to her, but could still come off as being a bitch."[11] For the supporting role of Missy, Gillespie sought an actress with significant screen presence, as the character, despite appearing in only two scenes, is central to several major plot points.[11] Anne Heche was cast in the role, which she recalled as being two days' worth of work that required her to "be scary."[11]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Scottish director Jim Gillespie was hired to direct the film after being suggested by writer Williamson.[11] Star Hewitt would later state in 2008 that Gillespie was to date her "favorite director [she's] ever worked with."[11] Principal photography began on March 31, 1997[13] and took place over a period of ten weeks[14] throughout the late spring-early summer of 1997.[i] Approximately seven weeks of the ten-week shoot took place at night, which Gillespie says was difficult for the cast and crew, and also created commotion in primary small-town locations in which they shot.[13] Gillespie devised a color scheme with cinematographer Denis Crossan which was marked by heavy blues throughout, and a notable lack of bright colors.[16]

text: For the beginning of the film, coastal areas of Sonoma County, California stood in for North Carolina, where the film is set. The opening shots of the sun setting on a rugged coast were filmed at Kolmer Gulch, just north of the town of Jenner, on Highway 1.[17] The car crash scene was also filmed on Highway 1 in the same area. The scene in which the four friends are seated around a campfire on the beach next to a wrecked boat was inspired by a painting Gillespie had seen in a reference book; to achieve the image, the art department purchased an old boat in Bodega Bay, cut it in half, and placed it at the beach location.[18]

text: The remaining scenes were filmed primarily around the town of Southport, North Carolina.[17] Specific sites included the Amuzu Theater, where the beauty pageant is held, the Old Yacht Basin and Southport Fish Company.[19] Julie's house is on Short Street just north of Southport Marina.[20] The daytime sequences shot on the marina show multiple vessels traversing the water; though real vessels, the boat traffic was orchestrated by a marine traffic coordinator to make the waterway appear lively.[21] The Shivers Department Store setting in the film was discovered on location in Southport by director Gillespie, who was so impressed by the location that he reworked elements of the script in order to incorporate it into the film; it eventually became the primary setting for Helen's extended chase sequence with the killer.[11] The exterior sequences of Julie's Boston college campus were in fact shot at Duke University,[22] while the hospital sequence was filmed at Southport's Dosher Memorial Hospital in an unused wing of the hospital.[23]

text: The final sequence on the boat was shot on an actual water-bound vessel on the Cape Fear River, which proved difficult for the actors and crew.[11] According to Gillespie, the filmmakers nearly lost the boat while attempting to dock it due to the volatile waters, after which they were forced to leave and shoot other footage until the following day.[11]

text: Post-production[edit]

text: Gillespie chose to film virtually no onscreen blood as he did not want the film to be overly gratuitous in terms of violence.[13][11] The scene in which Elsa has her throat slashed while standing against a glass door had originally been shot from behind without any blood appearing on the glass; however, producer Feig worried that the scene appeared "medically impossible," after which Gillespie re-shot it (post-principal photography) with a visual effect of blood spattering across the glass.[11] Upon test screenings of the film, Gillespie and the producers decided that a death sequence needed to occur earlier in the film to establish a sense of legitimate danger for the main characters.[11] The scene in which Max is murdered in the crab factory was subsequently filmed and implemented into the final cut to achieve this (in the original script, his character was not killed).[11]

text: The original ending of the film featured a sequence in which Julie receives an email reading: "I Still Know."[13] This ending was scrapped for the more dramatic ending featured in the final cut of the film, in which Julie finds the same message scrawled on a shower stall just before the killer comes crashing through the glass.[13] This footage was also shot after principal photography, on a soundstage next-door to where Hewitt was filming Party of Five.[24]

text: Release[edit]

text: Promotion[edit]

text: In anticipation of the film's release, distributor Columbia Pictures began a summer marketing campaign that presented the film as being "From the creator of Scream."[13] Miramax Pictures subsequently filed a lawsuit against Columbia, arguing the claim was inaccurate as the director of Scream was Wes Craven, not Williamson.[13] The week following the film's theatrical release, a federal judge awarded Miramax an injunction requiring that Columbia remove the claim from their advertising campaign.[25] Williamson had requested its removal prior after seeing it on a theater poster.[26]

text: Miramax won a subsequent lawsuit against Columbia during a March 1998 hearing; in a press release, executive Bob Weinstein noted plans to "vigorously pursue" damage claims against Columbia Pictures for their use of the claim.[26]

text: Box office[edit]

text: I Know What You Did Last Summer opened theatrically in North America on October 17, 1997.[27] In its opening weekend, it grossed $15,818,645 in 2,524 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking number one; it remained in the number one position for an additional two weekends.[27] By the end of its theatrical run in December 1997, it had grossed $72,586,134 domestically[4] and $53 million internationally for a worldwide total of $126 million.[3][27]

text: According to data compiled by Box Office Mojo, I Know What You Did Last Summer is the sixth highest-grossing horror slasher film as of 2018.[27]

text:
Release date
(United States)
Budget
(estimated)
Box office revenue[27]
Box office ranking[27]

United States
Foreign
Worldwide
Release year
All time U.S.
Worldwide (1997)

October 17, 1997
$17 million[4]
$72,586,134
$53,000,000
$125,586,134
#20
#1,043
#33

Note(s): Box office ranking as of April 2018.

tag: table

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: The film received mixed reviews upon release, inevitably drawing both positive and negative comparisons to Scream, also written by Williamson. Mick LaSalle thought it inferior to Scream,[28] but Richard Harrington compared it favorably, stating that it was "...a smart, sharply drawn genre film with a moral center and a solid cast of young actors to hold it."[29] Variety was also enthusiastic, calling it a "polished genre piece with superior fright elements that should perform at better than average theatrical levels."[30] Critic Roger Ebert gave the film one of four stars and wrote in his review, "The best shot in this film is the first one. Not a good sign."[31] An Entertainment Weekly columnist praised Hewitt's performance, noting that Hewitt knows how to "scream with soul."[32]

text: Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times wrote of the film: "This isn't real life. It's the Grand Guignol of I Know What You Did Last Summer, laying its claim to succeed Scream as a high-grossing, blood-drenched date-night crowd-pleaser. And why shouldn't it?"[33] James Kendrick of the Q Network wrote that 'Williamson's characters are all generic types, but they're still believable as people and they react realistically according to the situations," adding that the film was "head and shoulders above earlier "dead teenager movies.""[34] TV Guide's Maitland McDonagh awarded the film two out of five stars, noting: "Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson takes a step back and writes the kind of movie Scream mocks. You can see him now, soaking up videos of Friday the 13th and Halloween—not to mention the lesser likes of He Knows You're Alone, Terror Train, and My Bloody Valentine—and saying, "I can do that!" And he can."[35]

text: Critic James Berardinelli credited the film (along with Scream) as igniting a new boom of slasher films, adding: "There is one minor aspect of the plot that elevates I Know What You Did Last Summer above the level of a typical '80s slasher flick -- it has an interesting subtext. I'm referring to the way the lives and friendships of these four individuals crumble in the wake of their accident. Guilt, confusion, and doubt build in them until they can no longer stand to be with each other or look at themselves in the mirror. Sadly, this potentially-fascinating element of the movie is dismissed quickly to facilitate a higher body count. And, as I said before, a few extra deaths can only make a slasher movie better, right?"[36]

text: Film scholar Adam Rockoff notes in his book Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978–1986 that at the time of its release, many critics branded I Know What You Did Last Summer as an imitation of Scream; however, he contends that it is a "much different film," even in spite of the fact that their respective screenplays were penned by the same writer:

text: Whereas Scream relied heavily on self-conscious references and its pop culture veneer, Last Summer was a throwback to the slasher films of the early '80s. While, like Scream, it employed the services of a group of young, sexy and almost impossibly good-looking actors, Last Summer played its horror straight. Those looking for a good old-fashioned slasher film were pleasantly surprised.[2]

text: On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 35% approval rating.[37] Metacritic reported an aggregate score of 52 out of 100 based on 17 reviews.[38] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.[39]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year
Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

1997
ASCAP Award
Top Box Office Films
John Debney
Won

1998
Saturn Award
Best Horror Film
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Nominated

Blockbuster Entertainment Award
Favorite Female Newcomer
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Won

Favorite Actress

Favorite Supporting Actress – Horror
Sarah Michelle Gellar

Favorite Actor – Horror
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Nominated

Favorite Actress – Horror
Jennifer Love Hewitt

Favorite Supporting Actor
Ryan Phillippe

International Horror Guild Award
Best Movie
I Know What You Did Last Summer

MTV Movie Awards
Best Breakthrough Performance
Sarah Michelle Gellar

Young Artist Award
Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress
Jennifer Love Hewitt

text: Music[edit]

text: The film produced two soundtracks. One of them featured the score composed by John Debney, while the other contained various rock songs found in the film.

text:
I Know What You Did Last Summer (Original Motion Picture Score)

Film score (Digital download)/Audio CD by John Debney

Released
October 7, 1997

Genre
Film score

Length
50:44

Label
Super Tracks Music Group

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
I Know What You Did Last Summer (The Album)

Soundtrack album (Digital download)/Audio CD by Various

Released
October 7, 1997

Genre
Alternative rock, alternative metal[40]

Length
51:14

Label
Columbia Records

text:
No.
Title
Artist
Length

1.
"Hush"
Kula Shaker
2:55

2.
"Summer Breeze"
Type O Negative
4:57

3.
"D.U.I."
The Offspring
2:26

4.
"Kid"
Green Apple Quick Step
3:17

5.
"This Ain't the Summer of Love""
L7
3:09

6.
"Losin' It"
Soul Asylum
3:01

7.
"Hey Bulldog"
Toad the Wet Sprocket
2:31

8.
"My Baby's Got the Strangest Ways"
Southern Culture on the Skids
3:59

9.
"Waterfall"
The Din Pedals
3:47

10.
"Clumsy"
Our Lady Peace
4:27

11.
"One Hundred Days"
Flick
3:40

12.
"Great Life"
Goatboy
3:50

13.
"2Wicky"
Hooverphonic
4:44

14.
"Don't Mean Anything"
Adam Cohen
3:43

15.
"Proud"
Korn
3:17

text: Additional songs featured in the film (but not on a soundtrack):[41]

text:
"Forgotten Too" by Ugly Beauty
"Wake Up Call" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
"Where Did You Sleep Last Night" by Lead Belly
"You're a Grand Old Flag" by George M. Cohan
"Beautiful Girl" by Bing Crosby
"Free" by Ultra Naté

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on DVD by Columbia TriStar Home Video in the US on June 16, 1998. Special features included a theatrical trailer and filmmaker's commentary.[42]

text: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray for the first time on July 22, 2008, with additional special features including the director's short film, Joyride.[43] On September 30, 2014, Mill Creek Entertainment re-released the film on Blu-ray as a budget disc, featuring the film alone with no bonus materials.[44]

text: Related works[edit]

text: The film was followed by two sequels: I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006), which went direct-to-video. Both were critically panned. In the first sequel, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Muse Watson reprise their roles. The second sequel has very little relation to the first two, other than the premise, the villain, and the producers. It featured new characters and a different setting.

text: On September 14, 2014, Sony reported that they have plans to remake the film; Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard are writing a script. In a June 1, 2016, Blumhouse.com "Shockwaves" podcast, writer Mike Flanagan revealed and further confirmed this new iteration and reimagination of the franchise would not have any inventions of the Lois Duncan novel (the antagonist being a central character) nor the 1997 feature (the fisherman Ben Willis and four primary protagonists Julie James, Helen Shivers, Barry Cox, and Ray Bronson). Further, the new direction and scope of the film necessitates an estimated budget of $15–20 million. Sony also states that the film is a high priority and is set for a release somewhere between 2017 and 2020.[45]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: I Know What You Did Last Summer has been referenced in various films and television series, and its central plot was parodied at length in the spoof film Scary Movie (2000).[46]

text: It was also spoofed in The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror X."[47]

text: Notes[edit]

text: Jump up ^ Gillespie notes in his 1998 audio commentary for the film that the California-shot scenes were filmed in June 1997.[15] In the same commentary, he states that the shoot lasted ten weeks.[14] According to Adam Rockoff, principal photography commenced on March 31, 1997.[13]

tag: ol