The Nile River has two major branches, the Blue Nile and the White Nile. Both branches are named for the color of their water. The Blue Nile is a bright blue at its source, and begins to darken when it reaches the Sudan, while the White Nile’s water is a whitish-gray (Hoyt, 2008). The White Nile is longer and travels through Egypt, Uganda, and meets the Blue Nile in the Sudan. Though the Blue Nile is shorter than the White, it supplies most of the water, beginning in Ethiopia and flowing until it meets the White Nile in the Sudan. The two branches of the Nile snake through the countries of Rwanda, Tanzania, Egypt, Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda (Tignor, 2010). –Tignor writes that the Blue Nile is the critical source of 4/7 of the river’s capacity, much of it during the flood season, while the White Nile provides Egypt with a critical, stable source of water year-round (2010).