Geography
Border Disputes Over Freshwater Resources
Quick fact
The Nile River Basin involves 11 countries, and agreements from the colonial era still influence disputes between upstream Ethiopia and downstream Egypt, including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Why this is interesting
More than 260 rivers and 270 groundwater basins cross international borders, yet there is no single global authority to decide who gets how much water. What happens when two countries both claim the same river?