Tina Cunningham, age 14, of Greenville, Miss., for her question:

HOW LARGE IS THE ASWAN HIGH DAM?

Near the city of Aswan and across the Nile River in southern Egypt is the gigantic Aswan High Dam. The dam holds back the water of one of the largest reservoirs in the world. The dam has an embankment of 365 feet that extends almost 3,280 feet across the river.

Construction started in 1960, and the cost was more than $1 billion. One third of the cost was underwritten by the Soviet Union. Soviet technicians were employed. Construction was completed in mid 1968, although the last of the 12 Soviet built turbines weren't installed until 1970.

The artificial lake behind the dam is called Lake Nasser in honor of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. The lake covers an area more than 300 miles long and 10 miles wide. The project has a generating capacity of 2,100 megawatts of electricity.

The Aswan High Dam is about four miles upstream from the Aswan Dam, which was completed in 1902. Hydroelectric installations were added in 1960 to the Aswan Dam.