Aswan High Dam

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this image of the Aswan High Dam. Located in southern Egypt, it is one of the largest earthen embankment dams in the world. It is 3,830 meters (12,565 feet) long, nearly 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) wide, and holds back 132 cubic kilometers (31.7 cubic miles) of water in Lake Nasser. The dam generates 2.1 gigawatts of hydropower and has almost eliminated the threat of flooding downstream in the Nile Valley.