Where did the Nile River get its name from?

The Nile River gets its name from the Latin word nilus, which means "river valley." The word Nile is English and in ancient Egypt, the Egyptians called the river Ar, which meant black. This was due to the sediment in the river giving the it a blackish hue at times.

In Egypt, the river is referred to by a few names including Bahr Al-Nil or Nahr Al-Nil. The Nile River flows northward, one of only a handful of such rivers in the world. It is the longest river in the world at 4,132 miles. It begins in Lake Victoria in Uganda and ends at the Mediterranean Sea.