Egypt from outer space.

As far back as the fourth century B.C., Greek historian Herodotus observed that Egypt was “an acquired country, the gift of the Nile,” owing its very survival to the life-giving waters flowing down from a mysterious source, now identified as the Great Lakes region of central Africa and the Ethiopian Highlands. Even today the population of modern Egypt remains concentrated in the Nile Delta and a ribbon of fertile land snaking through the inhospitable desert. This photo—taken from the International Space Station by a member of the Russian-led Expedition 36 mission— gives an astronaut’s-eye view of it all.