Aswan High Dam on the Nile River Aswan-- On 15 January 1971,
Egypt celebrated the completion of the High Dam, whose funding
was the center of a Cold War dispute that led to the 1956 Suez
War. Located on the Upper Nile, around 1000km downstream from
Cairo, the gigantic mountain of concrete and steel is among the
20th century's most elaborate engineering work. Aswan High Dam
on the Nile River is located at the north end of Lake Nasser.
The construction of the High Dam began in 1960, and it was
officially inaugurated ten years later, at a cost of US$1
billion, much of which was provided by the former Soviet Union.
The dam stores 160 billion cubic meters of water, and the
reservoir behind it, named Lake Nasser, stretches some 350km
into Egypt and 150km into Sudan. It is a symbol for Egyptians
patience and challenge. The Suez Crisis began on 26 July 1956
when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez
Canal. The move was in response to a decision by the United
States and Britain to withdraw financ