Lake Nasser was formed when waters of the Nile River were blocked by the Aswan High Dam in Egypt. It was named for Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was president of Egypt. The dam, which began operating in 1968, is 425 miles (684 kilometers) south of Cairo. The lake completely filled in 1981. It covers about 1,550 square miles (4,014 square kilometers). Water from the lake is used to irrigate land and generate hydroelectric power. The Abu Simbel temples, built by the pharaoh Ramses II, were cut out of cliffs along the Nile and moved to higher ground to escape the rising waters (see Abu Simbel, Temples of).
