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Figure 6.

The Nile River and its delta. The green area along the river is the only fertile strip until the delta is reached to the north. Due to major upstream damming at Aswan (near the bottom of the image) that has caused both water and sediment deficit, the Nile Delta is no longer an “active” delta, but rather a transgressive shore along its northern edge. Inset: Nile Delta at night. A 2010 image from space shows the heavy population pressure in the delta—the brightly lit area in the upper middle is the location of greater Cairo, a megapolis of over 20 million inhabitants. Credit: NASA archives.

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