a communications post for Allied forces in Africa. By 1956, the town had grown to a population of 11,000. On 8 November 1959, the signing of the Sudanese-UAR Nile Water Agreement brought the area into much debate, given that the agreement to flood the area upon the creation of the Aswan Dam would directly affect some 52,000 people in the area who would have to be resettled over a four-year period from 1960. Worst affected were the Nubians who demonstrated in Wadi Halfa on 23–24 October 1960 against being resettled, and on 26 October demonstrations took place in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, which had to be dispersed by police using tear gas. The government was quick to suppress the agitation, placing Wadi Halfa under martial law and terminating communications with the rest of the country. Protests in Khartoum, mainly by students, led to the temporary closure of the Khartoum campus of Cairo University and about 50 arrests. The old town was completely destroyed after the construction of the Aswan High Dam due to flooding in 1964. Most of the town was relocated, and by 1965 the population of New Halfa was just 3,200. During the 1970s, the area was under intense scrutiny by archaeologists working to protect ancient Nubian monuments. Wadi Halfa was featured in part four, entitled "Shifting Sands", of the eight part Michael Palin television documentary series Pole to Pole released by the BBC in 1992. In 2005 a museum and interactive Nubian village were planned for Wadi Halfa but by 2014 nothing had been done. Climate Wadi Halfa has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) typical of the Nubian Desert. Wadi Halfa receives each year the highest mean amount of bright sunshine, with an extreme value of 4,300 h which is equal to 97–98 % of possible sunshine. In addition to this, the town receives a mean annual amount of rainfall of 0.5 mm and many years usually pass without any rainfall falling on the ground. Wadi Halfa experiences long, hot summers and short, warm winters. The annual mean temperature is about 27 °C. From May to September, inclusively, the averages highs exceed 40 °C. The annual mean rate of potential evaporation is also among the highest found throughout the world, with as much as 5,930 mm. Economy Agriculture plays an important role in local economy. The Chinese have invested in a fish processing plant