<P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P>

What is the end of the nile river called