<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Basin features </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Basin size </Th> <Td> 3,400,000 km (1,300,000 sq mi) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Nile (Arabic: النيل ‎) is a major north - flowing river in northeastern Africa, and is commonly regarded as the longest river in the world, though some sources cite the Amazon River as the longest . The Nile, which is 6,853 km (4,258 miles) long, is an "international" river as its drainage basin covers eleven countries, namely, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Republic of the Sudan and Egypt . In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan . </P> <P> The river Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile . The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself . The Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the water and silt . The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, with the most distant source still undetermined but located in either Rwanda or Burundi . It flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan . The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast . The two rivers meet just north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum . </P>

Location of the nile river on a map