Egypt: Aswan High Dam

Aswan’s High Dam was the largest dam in the world for a very long time. Built between 1960 and 1972, the dam created a massive Lake Nasser and assured electricity for the entire country. Many archeological sites had to be moved at the danger of being submerged. The dam was built by the Soviet Union, that Egypt turned to after the USA financing offer came with arms sales restrictions and a 6% rate. The USSR offered a 2% rate with deferred payments in cotton and sugar. Today the dam is a sprawling complex of cement on the shores of the lake, a soviet-style brutalist monument attesting to the Soviet-Egyptian friendship.