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floodplain

(Encyclopedia)floodplain, level land along the course of a river formed by the deposition of sediment during periodic floods. Floodplains contain such features as levees, backswamps, delta plains, and oxbow lakes. ...

Mansurah, Al

(Encyclopedia)Mansurah, Al äl mänso͞orˈä [key], city (1986 pop. 317,508), N Egypt, a port in the Nile River delta. It is an agricultural market and industrial center. Manufactures include ginned cotton, cotton...

Bubastis

(Encyclopedia)Bubastis byo͞obăsˈtĭs [key], ancient city, NE Egypt, in the Nile delta, near the modern Zagazig. Capital of Egypt in the XXII and XXIII dynasties, it began to decline after the second Persian conq...

Virunga

(Encyclopedia)Virunga vēro͝ongˈgä [key], volcanic range of mountains, E Congo, N Rwanda, and SW Uganda, central Africa, NE of Lake Kivu. It extends along the eastern rim of the Great Rift Valley and separates t...

Zagazig, Az

(Encyclopedia)Zagazig, Az zäkäzēkˈ [key], city (1986 pop. 244,354), capital of Sharqiyah governorate, N Egypt, in the Nile River delta. It is a leading cotton market, as well as a trade center for grain and a r...

Sahara

(Encyclopedia)Sahara səhârˈə [key] [Arab.,=desert], world's largest desert, c.3,500,000 sq mi (9,065,000 sq km), N Africa; the western part of a great arid zone that continues into SW Asia. Extending more than ...

Edward, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Edward, Lake, or Edward Nyanza nīănˈzə, nē– [key] 830 sq mi (2,150 sq km), in the Great Rift Valley, central Africa, on the Congo-Uganda border. It lies at an altitude of c.3,000 ft (910 m), is...

Idfu

(Encyclopedia)Idfu ĕdˈ– [key], town (1986 pop. 45,737), S central Egypt, on the Nile River. It is an agricultural trade center and has paper mills and a sugar refinery. Idfu was the capital of a predynastic upp...

Heliopolis, ancient city, Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Heliopolis hēlēŏpˈəlĭs [key] [Gr.,=city of the sun], ancient city, N Egypt, in the Nile delta, 6 mi (10 km) below modern Cairo. It was noted as the center of sun worship, and its god Ra or Re wa...

Murchison Falls

(Encyclopedia)Murchison Falls, rapids on the lower Victoria Nile River, NW Uganda, 22 mi (35 km) E of Lake Albert (see Albert, Lake). The river, narrowing to about 20 ft (6 m) wide, flows through precipitously clef...