Fodor's Expert Review Aswan High Dam
One of the world's largest embankment dams, the Aswan High Dam gave the Egyptians control over the annual Nile floods for the first time in history. With financing from the Soviet Union, construction of the dam, a keystone project of then-president Gamal Abdel Nasser, started in 1960 and was completed in 10 years, thanks to the sweat of 30,000 Egyptians working around the clock.
The Aswan High Dam created Lake Nasser, one of the world's largest artificial lakes, which has a storage capacity of 5.97 trillion cubic feet. The dam's 12 turbines generate 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity yearly.
Ironically, damming the Nile has actually made Egypt's land less fertile because the silt gets caught in the lake, and farmers must now apply chemical fertilizers. An incalculable loss is the homeland of the Lower Nubians, one of Africa's oldest civilizations. The dam displaced 100,000 Nubians, who were forced to relocate and only started to receive government compensation for... READ MORE
One of the world's largest embankment dams, the Aswan High Dam gave the Egyptians control over the annual Nile floods for the first time in history. With financing from the Soviet Union, construction of the dam, a keystone project of then-president Gamal Abdel Nasser, started in 1960 and was completed in 10 years, thanks to the sweat of 30,000 Egyptians working around the clock.
The Aswan High Dam created Lake Nasser, one of the world's largest artificial lakes, which has a storage capacity of 5.97 trillion cubic feet. The dam's 12 turbines generate 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity yearly.
Ironically, damming the Nile has actually made Egypt's land less fertile because the silt gets caught in the lake, and farmers must now apply chemical fertilizers. An incalculable loss is the homeland of the Lower Nubians, one of Africa's oldest civilizations. The dam displaced 100,000 Nubians, who were forced to relocate and only started to receive government compensation for their lost homes and villages in 2019.
Display panels at the dam tell the story of its construction, and a stylized lotus monument commemorates the Soviet–Egyptian partnership. If you're short on time, this sight is one to skip. Most visitors spend only 15 minutes here en route to elsewhere.
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