

So how is the government going to decide who gets paid and who doesn't? MARTIN: Which is like the way a lot of families live, right? I mean, if you don't have enough money to pay all your bills, you prioritize some over the others. And if the government can't borrow more money, some bills are going to go unpaid.

Keep in mind, tax revenue covers only about 75 cents of every dollar the government spends. But the government has tens of billions of dollars in other bills that it's supposed to pay before that, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says it's very likely the government will not have enough money to cover all those bills unless Congress raises the debt limit soon. And interest isn't due until the middle of June anyway. The government almost certainly will keep making those payments. HORSLEY: If all you're concerned about is making interest payments on the government's debt, she is right. MARTIN: So let me briefly fact-check that. We're not going to run out of money to pay the interest on the debt because we get 11 times the interest on the debt and tax revenues year over year. MARTIN: So let me start with Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina. MARTIN: NPR's Scott Horsley has been asking what that might look like. The Treasury Department says that's the earliest date at which the U.S.

But hardly more than a week remains before June 1. INSKEEP: McCarthy said after the meeting, I believe we can get it done. We both know we have a significant responsibility. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: We still have some disagreements, but I think we may be able to get where we have to go. Congress needs to do that in order to meet its legal obligations. They met yesterday to negotiate over raising the federal debt limit. President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy keeps saying not to worry about that. The Nile River also continues to be an important trade route, connecting Africa with markets in Europe and beyond.What happens if the government runs out of money to pay its bills? As a result, the water is becoming more polluted. These floods were necessary to flush and clean the water of human and agricultural waste. In addition, routine annual flooding no longer occurs along parts of the Nile. Instead of growing in size through the soil deposits, the delta is now shrinking due to erosion along the Mediterranean Sea. However, the silt and sediment that used to flow north, enriching the soil and building the delta, is now building up behind the dam instead. Dams, such as the Aswân High Dam in Egypt, have been built to help to tame the river and provide a source of hydroelectric power. Today, some residents of El Qâhira (Cairo) have begun using private speed boats, water taxis, or ferries to avoid crowded streets. The Nile also has served as an important transportation route for thousands of years. The Nile supports agriculture and fishing. Canals bring water from the Nile to irrigate farms and support cities. Today, 95 percent of Egyptians live within a few kilometers of the Nile. Besides using the river's natural resources for themselves and trading them with others, early Egyptians also used the river for bathing, drinking, recreation, and transportation. Ancient Egyptians used the papyrus plant in many ways, such as making cloth, boxes, and rope, but by far its most important use was in making paper. The Nile River delta was also an ideal growing location for the papyrus plant. Beans, cotton, wheat, and flax were important and abundant crops that could be easily stored and traded. Ancient Egyptians developed irrigation methods to increase the amount of land they could use for crops and support a thriving population. From space, the contrast between the Nile's lush green river banks and the barren desert through which it flows is obvious.įor millennia, much of Egypt's food has been cultivated in the Nile delta region. The banks of the Nile all along its vast length contain rich soil as well, thanks to annual flooding that deposits silt. The soil of the Nile River delta between El Qâhira (Cairo) and the Mediterranean Sea is rich in nutrients, due to the large silt deposits the Nile leaves behind as it flows into the sea. Its three main tributaries are the White Nile, the Blue Nile, and the Atbara. In addition to Egypt, the Nile runs through or along the border of 10 other African countries, namely, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

The Nile River was critical to the development of ancient Egypt. It begins in the rivers that flow into Lake Victoria (located in modern-day Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya), and empties into the Mediterranean Sea more than 6,600 kilometers (4,100 miles) to the north, making it one of the longest river in the world. The Nile River flows from south to north through eastern Africa.
