Aswan Aswan is as much an ethnic frontier as it is a geographic one. Its Egyptian Arabic culture gives way to black Africa and the Nubian/Sudanese culture that runs along the Nile to Khartoum. At dusk, the setting sun conjures colorful highlights from the Nile's waters in a natural show that defies description, as egrets and kingfishers soar along the river's flyway, sending birders for their field glasses. Dam across the Nile River in southern Egypt, located near the city of Aswan. The High Dam has an embankment 111 m high that extends 3,600 m across the river. Named in honor of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Lake Nasser covers an area more than 480 km long and 16 km wide. The water is used to irrigate farmland and has enabled Egypt to double its agricultural production since the dam was completed. During the rainy season the dam also controls the yearly flooding of the Nile.