Lake Nasser

Lake Nasser, large reservoir, 480 km (300 mi) long, on the Nile River, behind Aswān High Dam, in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Named for Gamal Abdel Nasser, president of Egypt from 1956 to 1970, the reservoir is used for hydroelectricity production, fishing, and irrigation. About 14 percent of the water contained in Lake Nasser evaporates, reducing the amount of Nile water downstream. Before Lake Nasser was formed, the area was the site of the temples of Abū Simbel, which were built by Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II in the 1200s bc. During the construction of the Aswān High Dam in the 1960s these temples were moved, but many other historic monuments were submerged. Also submerged is a portion of the historic lands of the Nubians, who lived along the Nile between Aswān and Khartoum, Sudan, for thousands of years.