Page "Geography of Egypt" Paragraph 16

The Nile enters Egypt a few kilometres north of Wadi Halfa, a Sudanese town that was completely rebuilt on high ground when its original site was submerged in the reservoir created by the Aswan High Dam.

As a result of the dam's construction, the Nile actually begins its flow into Egypt as Lake Nasser, which extends southwards from the dam for 320 km to the border and for an additional 158 km within Sudan.

Lake Nasser's waters fill the area through Lower Nubia ( Upper Egypt and northern Sudan ) within the narrow canyon between the cliffs of sandstone and granite created by the flow of the river over many centuries.

Below Aswan the cultivated floodplain strip widens to as much as twenty km.

North of Isna ( 160 km north of Aswan ), the plateau on both sides of the valley rises to as much as 550 m above sea level ; at Qina ( some 90 km north of Isna ) the 300-m limestone cliffs force the Nile to change course towards the southwest for about 60 km before it turns northwest for about 160 km to Asyut.

Northward from Asyut, the escarpments on both sides diminish, and the valley widens to a maximum of 22 km.