210
Egypt
AFRICA
FACTFILE
OFFICIAL NAME: Arab Republic of Egypt
DATE OF FORMATION: 1936
CAPITAL: Cairo
POPULATION: 83 million
TOTAL AREA: 386,660 sq. miles
(1,001,450 sq. km)
DENSITY: 216 people per sq. mile
LANGUAGES: Arabic*, French, English,
Berber
RELIGIONS: Muslim (mainly Sunni) 94%,
Coptic Christian and other 6%
ETHNIC MIX: Egyptian 99%, other (Nubian,
Armenian, Greek, Berber) 1%
GOVERNMENT: Presidential system
CURRENCY: Egyptian pound = 100 piastres
Occupying the northeast corner of Africa, Egypt is divided
by the highly fertile Nile Valley. Its essentially pro-Western, military-
backed regime is being challenged by Islamic fundamentalists.
GEOGRAPHY
Fertile Nile Valley separates arid
Libyan Desert from smaller semiarid
eastern desert. Sinai peninsula has
mountains in south.
CLIMATE
Summers are very hot, but winters
are cooler. Rainfall is negligible, except
on the coast.
PEOPLE & SOCIETY
Despite a long tradition of ethnic
and religious tolerance, the rise of Islam
has sparked clashes between Muslims
and Copts (Coptic Christianity is one of
the Church’s earliest branches). Women
play a full part in education and the
economy, though this is threatened by
Islamism. Rapidly growing population is
a problem. Poverty is rife around Cairo.
THE ECONOMY
Oil and gas. Cotton. Tolls from the
Suez Canal. Successful tourist industry, in
spite of terrorist attacks. High birth-rate
and rural poverty.
INSIGHT: In 450 BCE Herodotus
visited the already-ancient pyramids
2000m/6562ft
1000m/3281ft
500m/1640ft
200m/656ft
Sea Level
Below Sea Level200 km200 miles00JORDANLIBYAISRAELSUDANR
ed(^) S
e
a
Mediterranean Sea Nile Delta
Political border
Administrative
border
Libyan
Desert
Sinai
Nil
e^
Suez Canal
Munkhafaç
al Qaœœára
Lake Nasser
Al Iskandaríyah
Al Jízah
Bur Sá’íd
Asyú√
As Suways
Al Ismá‘ílíya
Al Minyá
Aswán
Al Uq§ur
Sawháj Qiná
Hurghada
CAIRO