Aswān High Dam

Aswān High Dam, dam across the Nile River in southern Egypt, located near the city of Aswān. The dam impounds Lake Nasser, one of the largest reservoirs in the world. The High Dam has an embankment 111 m (365 ft) high that extends 3,600 m (11,800 ft) across the river. Named in honor of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Lake Nasser covers an area more than 480 km (300 mi) long and 16 km (10 mi) wide. The water is used to irrigate farmland and has enabled Egypt to double its agricultural production since the dam was completed. During the rainy season the dam also controls the yearly flooding of the Nile.

Construction on the mammoth dam began in 1960, and the total cost was estimated at more than $1 billion. One-third of the cost was underwritten by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and 400 Soviet technicians were employed. By mid-1968 construction was essentially completed. The last of the 12 Soviet-built turbines was installed in 1970, and the dam was formally inaugurated in 1971. The dam has a generating capacity of 2,100 megawatts of electricity.

Although the Aswan High Dam has provided many benefits to the area, it also has caused problems. The formation of Lake Nasser inundated many villages along the Nile in both Egypt and Sudan, forcing thousands of people to relocate. Farmland along the Nile is becoming less fertile and productive because it no longer receives the fertilizing silt from the river’s floodwaters. Farmers have attempted to use chemical fertilizers instead, but these are not as effective.

The Aswān High Dam is about 6 km (about 4 mi) upstream from the much smaller Aswān Dam, which was completed in 1902. Hydroelectric installations were added to the Aswān Dam in 1960.