Egypt
1
EGŸPT
Geography
Egypt, at the northeast corner of Africa on the
Mediterranean Sea, is bordered on the west
by Libya, on the south by the Sudan, and on
the east by the Red Sea and Israel. It is nearly
one and one-half times the size of Texas. Egypt
is divided into two unequal, extremely arid
regions by the landscape's dominant feature,
the northward-flowing Nile River. The Nile
starts 100 mi (161 km) south of the
Mediterranean and fans out to a sea front of
155 mi between the cities of Alexandria and
Port Said.
History
Egyptian history dates back to about 4000 B.C.,
when the kingdoms of upper and lower Egypt,
already highly sophisticated, were united.
Egypt's golden age coincided with the 18th
and 19th dynasties (16th to 13th century B.C.),
during which the empire was established.
Persia conquered Egypt in 525 B.C., Alexander
the Great subdued it in 332 B.C., and then the
dynasty of the Ptolemies ruled the land until 30
B.C., when Cleopatra, last of the line,
committed suicide and Egypt became a
Roman, then Byzantine, province. Arab caliphs
ruled Egypt from 641 until 1517, when the
Turks took it for their Ottoman Empire.
Napoléon's armies occupied the country from
1798 to
1801. In 1805, Mohammed Ali, leader of a
band of Albanian soldiers, became pasha of
Egypt. After completion of the Suez Canal in
1869, the French and British took increasing
interest in Egypt. British troops occupied
Egypt in 1882, and British resident agents
became its actual administrators, though it
remained under nominal Turkish sovereignty.
In 1914, this fiction was ended, and Egypt
became a protectorate of Britain.
Egyptian nationalism, led by Zaghlul Pasha
and the Wafd Party, forced Britain to relinquish
its claims on the country. Egypt became an
independent sovereign state on Feb. 28, 1922,
with Fu'ad I as its king. In 1936, by an AngloEgyptian treaty of alliance, all British troops
and officials were to be withdrawn, except
from the Suez Canal Zone. When World War II
started, Egypt remained neutral.
Egypt
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Random Facts about Egypt
President: Hosni Mubarak (1981)
Prime Minister: Ahmed Nazif (2004)
Land area: 384,344 sq mi (995,451 sq km);
Total area: 386,662 sq mi (1,001,450 sq km)
Population (2008 est.): 81,713,517 (growth
rate: 1.6
Capital and largest city Cairo, 11,146,000
(metro. area), 7,629,866 (city proper)
Other large cities: Alexandria, 3,891,000; Giza,
2,597,600 (part of Cairo metro. area); Shubra el
Khema, 1,018,000 (part of Cairo metro. area); El
Mahalla el Kubra, 462,300
National name: Jumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah
Languages: Arabic (official), English and
French widely understood by educated classes
Ethnicity/race: Egyptian 98%, Berber, Nubian,
Bedouin, and Beja 1%, Greek, Armenian, other
European (primarily Italian and French) 1%
National Holiday: Revolution Day, July 23
Economic summary: GDP/PPP $404 billion.
Real growth rate: 7.1%.
Inflation: 11%.
Unemployment: 9.1%.
Arable land: 3%.
Agriculture: cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans,
fruits, vegetables; cattle, water buffalo, sheep,
goats.
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron
ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone,
gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc.
Exports: $27.42 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): crude
oil and petroleum products, cotton, textiles,
metal products, chemicals.
Imports: $40.48 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.):
machinery and equipment, foodstuffs,
chemicals, wood products, fuels.
Major trading partners: Italy, U.S., Syria,
Germany, Spain, France, China, UK, Saudi
Arabia (2004).
Religions
Islam
90%
Coptic
9%
Christian
1%
Other
6%