![Map of the Blue Nile.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Blue_nile_map.png?itok=UzkqRBEE)
The Blue Nile originates in the heart of Ethiopia at Lake Tana.
![Map showing the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/365px-White_and_Blue_Nile-en.svg_.png?itok=yQRiK-98)
The confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile is also the location of Khartoum, capital of the Republic of Sudan.
![Blue Nile Falls.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/800px-Blue_Nile_Falls_02.jpg?itok=RcszI2UV)
The Blue Nile Falls fed by Lake Tana near the city of Bahar Dar, Ethiopia forms the upstream of the Blue Nile.
![A topographic map of the Nile River watershed.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/285px-Nile_watershed_topo.png?itok=wFD1pEuA)
A topographic map of the Nile River watershed with political boundaries in red
![Map of the Fashoda Incident.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/741px-Fashoda_Incident_map_-_en.svg_.png?itok=cuxeYF68)
The Fashoda Incident, 1898, was the climax of imperial territorial disputes during the "scramble for Africa."
![Map of Eritrea.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/800px-Un-eritrea.png?itok=HO125Mzk)
Ethiopia lost its Red Sea coastline when a civil war resulted in the secession of Eritrea.
![Toshka Canal construction.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/220px-Toshka_syphon_construction_site.jpg?itok=fRhK9mlW)
The Toshka Canal, one of the world’s most expensive and ambitious irrigation projects, would take 10% of waters in Lake Nasser to irrigate Egypt’s sandy Western Desert, increasing Egypt’s need for Nile water.
![Map of Egypt showing the location of Lake Nasser and the Toshka Lakes.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/240px-Lake_Nasser_location.png?itok=kVQvEEYO)
Map of Egypt showing the location of Lake Nasser and the Toshka Lakes
![Beginning of the Blue Nile River by its outlet from Lake Tana.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/800px-Blue_Nile.jpg?itok=dluoqz9l)
Beginning of the Blue Nile River by its outlet from Lake Tana. Photo by Ondřej Žváček.
![The Sudd.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/600px-Sudd_swamp.jpg?itok=O6WgxCc_)
The Sudd, a swamp in South Sudan, contributes to the Nile's historic lack of navigability.