The Nile is traditionally considered the longest river in the world, stretching roughly 6,650 kilometers northward through northeastern Africa to the Mediterranean Sea. It has two major tributaries: the White Nile, which begins at Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile, which begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. These two rivers meet in Khartoum, Sudan. For millennia, the Nile has been the primary source of water for Egypt and Sudan, facilitating the rise of one of the world's earliest civilizations. The annual flooding of the Nile deposited nutrient-rich silt onto the surrounding land, allowing for productive farming in an otherwise desert region. Today, the river remains a focal point of geopolitical tension, particularly concerning the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.