Egypt
The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, (Arabic: مصر, romanized Mişr or Maşr, in Egyptian dialect) is the most populous nation of northeastern Africa. Covering an area of about 1,020,000 km², it includes the Sinai Peninsula (considered part of Southwest Asia), whilst the majority of the country is located in North Africa. It shares land borders with Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, Israel to the North East. It is bordered to the North and East by the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea respectively. The vast majority of Egypt's population inhabit the banks along the length of the Nile river (about 40,000 km²) and the Suez Canal. Large areas of land are part of the Sahara Desert and sparsely inhabited. The country is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most stunning ancient monuments, including pyramids, Karnak temple and the Valley of the Kings. Today, Egypt is widely considered the main political and cultural center of the Arab world. The name Egypt came via Latin Aegyptus and Greek Αιγυπτος (Aiguptos) from Ancient Egyptian Hi-ku-ptah, which was the name of a temple of the god Ptah at Memphis.
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| National motto: — | |||||
| Location of Egypt | |||||
| Official language | Arabic | ||||
| Other widely spoken languages | English, French | ||||
| Capital and Largest City | Cairo | ||||
| President | Hosni Mubarak | ||||
| Prime Minister | Ahmed Nazif | ||||
| Area - Total - % water |
Ranked 29th 1,001,450 km² 0.6% |
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| Population - Total (2003) - Density |
Ranked 15th 74,718,797 75/km² |
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| Independence - Granted |
from the UK February 28, 1922 |
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| Currency | Egyptian pound (LE/£E/EGP) | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +2 (EET) | ||||
| National anthem | Bilady | ||||
| Internet TLD | .eg | ||||
| Calling Code | 20 | ||||
History
Main articles: History of Egypt Miṣr, the Arabic name for Egypt, is of Semitic origin, and possibly means a country or a state. For the origin of the name Egypt'', see Aegyptus.'' The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom arose circa 3200 BC by King Mina, and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 BC who dug the predecessor of the Suez canal and connected the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. Later Egypt fell to the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Persians again. It was the Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century changing Egypt into an "Arab" country once and for all. Arab rulers nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained in control for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub, but also fell heavily into debt. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II. In 1952 Gamal Abdel Nasser assumed power and nationalized the Suez Canal leading to the 1956 Suez Crisis. Between 1958 and 1961 Egypt was in a union with Syria known as the United Arab Republic. The age old Pyramids of Giza are at the heart of Egypt's thriving tourism industryPolitics
Main article: Politics of Egypt Egypt is a republic. Hosni Mubarak, has been President since October 14 1981, following Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat. President Mubarak is currently serving his fourth term in office. He is the leader of the ruling National Democratic Party. Egypt was the first Arab country to establish peace with Israel after the signing of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty (main point of the Camp David Accords). The permanent headquarters for the Arab League are located in Cairo. Egypt regularly holds multi-party elections, but there is expressed concern from international human rights observers concerning freedom of speech, government interference in local elections, etc.Governorates
Map of Egypt Main article: Governorates of Egypt Egypt is divided into 26 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah):
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Foreign relations
Alexandria is Egypt's second largest city and chief port. Here is that city's state-of-the-art library. Aswan is Egypt's southmost city. Main article: Foreign relations of Egypt Egypt is on good terms with most of its neighbours, and was the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel. It has a territorial dispute with Sudan over the Hala'ib Triangle.Economy
Main article: Economy of Egypt Egypt's economy depends mainly on agriculture, media, petroleum exports, and tourism; there are also more than 5 million Egyptians working abroad, mainly in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf area, and Europe. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to ready the economy for the new millennium through economic reform and massive investment in communications and physical infrastructure, much financed from U.S. aid. Egypt is the second largest recipient of such funds from the United States after Israel. Economic conditions are starting to improve considerably after a period of stagnation due to the adoption of more liberal economic policies by the government, as well as increased revenues from tourism and a booming stock market.Demographics
Egypt has a burgeoning youth population. Main article: Demographics of Egypt Egypt is the most populous Arab country, at about 73,000,000 people. Nearly all the population is concentrated along the River Nile, notably Alexandria and Cairo, and along the Nile Delta and near the Suez Canal. Like other North Africans, Egyptians are not blacks. Northern Egyptians have on vast part maintained their reddish-white till reddish-brown skin. Nevertheless, Egyptians living south of Cairo are usually darker than those in Northern Egypt. The Egyptians were a fairly homogeneous people. Mediterranean and Arab influences appear in the north, and there is some mixing in the south with the Nubians of northern Sudan. Many theories has been proposed on the origins of the Egyptians, however none are conclusive, and the most widely accepted theory is that Egyptian society was the result of a mix of east african and asiatic people who moved to the Nile Valley after the ice age. The bulk of Modern Egyptian society still maintains a homogenous genetic tie to the the ancient Egyptian society which has always been regarded as rural and most populous compared to the neighboring demographics. The Egyptian people spoke only languages from the Afro-Asiatic family (previously known as Hamito-semitic) throughout their history starting with Old Egyptian, to modern Arabic.Culture
Main article: Culture of Egypt Most Egyptians are devout [[Muslims]] Egypt's capital [[Cairo is the largest city in both Africa and the Middle East]] Christian faith as members of the Coptic Church]] The capital city, Cairo, is Africa's largest city and has been renowned for centuries as a center of learning, culture and commerce. Egypt also hosts two major religious institutions. Al-Azhar University, the oldest Islamic institution for higher studies (founded around 970 CE) with its corresponding mosque Al-Azhar. The head of Al-Azhar is traditionally regarded as the supreme leader of Sunni Muslims all over the world. Egypt also has a strong Christian heritage as evidenced by the existence of the Coptic Orthodox Church headed by the Patriarch of Alexandria, which claims a following of 50 million Christians worldwide (one of the famous Coptic Orthodox Churches is Saint Takla Haimanot Church in Alexandria http://www.St-Takla.org). Though considered a low-income country, Egypt has a thriving media and arts industry, with more than 30 satellite channels and more than 100 motion pictures produced a year. To bolster its media industry, especially with the keen competition from the Persian Gulf states and Lebanon, it has built a large media city that it has promoted as the "Hollywood of the East". Egypt has the only Opera House amongst Arab countries. Some famous Egyptians include: Gamal Abdel Nasser (former president), Boutros Boutros-Ghali (former Secretary General of the United Nations), Naguib Mahfouz (Nobel Prize-winning novelist), Umm Kulthum (singer), Omar Sharif (actor), Ahmed Zewail (Nobel Prize-winning chemist), Mohamed ElBaradei (Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency), Sir Magdi Yacoub (leading heart surgeon in the world), Anwar Sadat (former president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize),See also
- List of famous Egyptian people
- List of writers from Egypt
- Egyptian mythology
- Islam in Egypt
- Coptic Christianity
- Music of Egypt
- Military of Egypt
- Communications in Egypt
- Transportation in Egypt
- List of Egypt-related topics
External links
| Countries and Territories in the Middle East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain | Cyprus > Egypt | Gaza Strip > Iran | Iraq > Israel | Jordan > Kuwait | Lebanon > Oman | Qatar > Saudi Arabia | Syria > Turkey | United Arab Emirates > West Bank | Yemen |
| Angola > Benin | Botswana > Burkina Faso | Burundi > Cameroon | Cape Verde > Central African Republic | Chad > Comoros | Democratic Republic of the Congo > Republic of the Congo | Djibouti | Egypt > Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea > Ethiopia | Gabon > The Gambia | Ghana > Guinea | Guinea-Bissau > Kenya | Lesotho > Liberia | Libya > Madagascar | Malawi > Mali | Mauritania > Mauritius | Morocco > Mozambique | Namibia > Niger | Nigeria > Rwanda | São Tomé and Príncipe > Senegal | Seychelles > Sierra Leone | Somalia > South Africa | Sudan > Swaziland | Tanzania > Togo | Tunisia > Uganda | Zambia > Zimbabwe | Western Sahara |
| Réunion > Saint Helena |