Why doesn’t Egypt divert water from the Nile River, the world’s longest river, into the desert and turn the desert into an oasis?

Copywriting planner and producer: Yuan Zaiyu; copywriting: Xu Maona

Speaking of rivers, as a native Chinese, I will think of it like my mother? The Yellow River. The Yellow River is located in the north of China. It originates from the Bayan Har Mountains in China and flows through many provinces before finally flowing into the Bohai Sea. Such a great river has a total length of 5464 kilometers, making it the sixth longest river in the world. With a total length of 5,464 kilometers, it is still only the sixth longest river. So wouldn’t the longest river in the world be even more powerful? Today our protagonist is the longest river in the world.

The longest river in the world is called the Nile. It is 6,670 kilometers long. It originates from the Burundi Plateau in northeastern Africa and passes through Rwanda, Kenya, Sudan, Egypt and other African countries. Finally, the river Its body is divided into many small tributaries, and finally merges into the Mediterranean Sea. Such a big river also brings many resources to the people along its banks.

It is said that water is the source of life. For many African countries that are already short of water, the Nile River is their mother river. And such a great river no longer only belongs to a small country, it is the property of a continent or even the entire world.

So, for this river that exudes the breath of life, countries that regard it as their mother river must try their best to make good use of it, right? And among these countries that want to use it, there must be a country called Egypt.

Egypt is located in the lower reaches of the Nile River. When we first mention this country, most of the images that pop up in our minds are hot weather, strange sphinxes, mysterious pyramids, and yellow sand everywhere. Yes, Egypt has a tropical desert climate, with high temperatures all year round and very little precipitation, and 90% of Egypt is desert. Seeing this, and thinking about our hazy Jiangnan and Sichuan where the night rain pours, everyone will definitely sigh: "This country is so thirsty." ?

How did these Egyptian people who were constantly experiencing thirst survive? Thanks to the Nile. Although Egypt covers an area of ??one million square kilometers, due to limited water resources, most Egyptians live on both sides of the Nile River. It is undeniable that the Nile River is also a mother-like existence to the Egyptians, and it can even be regarded as a life-saving river.

So when these Egyptians saw the yellow sand all over the land and the slowly flowing river water, did they ever think about using this moist water source to nourish the dry land? Of course it happened, but in the end it didn't work out.

In the 1940s and 1950s, due to the lack of rainfall and the dry desert, Egyptian leaders came up with the idea of ??diverting river water to irrigate the desert. A dream that turns a desert into an oasis. They thought that the river that passed through their land was the lower reaches of the river. In this way, using the water source would not affect other countries, and they were attracted by the real benefits.

But they forget that the Nile is an international river, and they are not the only ones downstream. As soon as they started to implement this idea, they were stopped by the Sudan, who was also downstream. For a time, armed conflicts and violent attacks occurred one after another, and Egypt's dream was shattered.

Of course, there are other reasons why river water is not used to irrigate the desert. For example, the Nile River is originally located in Africa, where evaporation is extremely high. Although the length is amazing, the actual amount of water is not much. If all the water sources downstream are used If it were used to irrigate the desert, the amount of water eventually flowing into the Mediterranean Sea would be greatly reduced, and the fertile areas located at the estuaries would suffer from salinization and seawater erosion.

Coincidentally, the fertile land at the mouth of the sea is the territory of Egypt. This fragile country will definitely not give up what it already owns and may be the only one for the sake of that illusory dream. The possession is fertile.

Of course, these two reasons are external reasons, and what hinders them most is actually their own problems. Egypt is a developing country. It is not rich. In addition to tourism, agriculture is probably what supports the country's economy. The income is low, and the local finance is really not able to come up with money.

Maintaining the stability of the national economy is a difficult problem, let alone developing science and technology. Therefore, it is also extremely lacking in water diversion irrigation and desert transformation technology. Even if the people go to great lengths to divert the river water to the desert, they may not be able to turn the bare desert into an oasis. On the contrary, it will cause disputes and affect the country.

In the end, due to these reasons, Egypt gave up introducing the Nile River water into the desert. The desert has not turned into an oasis, and the Liluo River is still flowing slowly in its original position, quietly looking at this humble and pitiful land.

Encountering many obstacles and yellow sand everywhere, this was originally a difficulty given to them by nature. But it is also the obstacle that people give to Egypt. If we have technology, if we have money, if we have influence, we will not be hit by reality, and we will have more ways to turn the desert into an oasis.

So, I am glad that we were born into a strong country and do not have to face the same dryness and disputes as Egypt.

Reference materials: Encyclopedia entry? Yellow River?

Encyclopedia entry? Nile River?

Why doesn’t Egypt lead the Nile water into the desert and turn the desert into an oasis? ?The kite flies to the sky