Country facts
- Official name: Arab Republic of Egypt
- License plate: ET
- ISO-3166: EG, EGY (818)
- Internet domain:.eg
- Currency: 1 Egyptian pound (Egypt £) = 100 piastres = 1000 millièmes
- Area: 1,001,450 km²
- Population (2019): 100.4 million
- Capital: Cairo
- Official language (s): Arabic
- Form of government: Presidential Republic
- Administrative division: 27 districts (Governorate)
- Head of State: President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
- Head of Government: Mustafa Madbouly
- Religion (s) (2015): 90% Muslims; 10% Christians (including Copts)
- Time zone: Central European Time +1 hour
- National Day: July 23
Location and infrastructure
- Location (geographical): North Africa
- Position (coordinates): between 22 ° and 32 ° north latitude and 25 ° and 36 ° east longitude
- Climate: semi-desert and desert climate
- Highest mountain: Katrina (2,637 m)
- Road network (2017): 48,000 km (paved), 17,050 km (unpaved)
- Railway network (2014): 5 085 km
Population
- Annual population growth (2020): 2.3%
- Birth rate (2020): 27.2 per 1000 residents.
- Death rate (2020): 4.4 per 1000 residents.
- Average age (2020): 24.1 years
- Average life expectancy (2020): 73.7 years (men 72.3; women 75.3)
- Age structure (2020): 33.6% younger than 15 years, 4.4% older than 65 years
- Literacy rate (15 year olds and older) (2017): 71.2%
- Mobile phone contracts (pre-paid and post-paid) (2017): 106 per 100 residents
- Internet users (2017): 45 per 100 residents
Economy
- GDP per capita (2017): US $ 2,495
- Total GDP (2017): $ 236.5 billion
- GNI per capita (2019): US $ 2,690
- Education expenditure (2008): 3.8% of GDP
- Military expenditure (2019): 1.2% of GDP
- Unemployment rate (15 years and older) (2017): 12.1%
TERRITORY: HYDROGRAPHY
As a country starting with letter E according to Countryaah, Egypt is Hydrographically the Nile, in an exclusive way; of no importance are the uidians that come down from the eastern reliefs, while areica it is the whole western section of the country. The Nile covers 1508 km in Egyptian territory, a limited fraction of its long journey, but the “miracle” of Egypt is due to the wealth of water that the river manages to bring to a desert area so far from its sources. The regime of the Nile is notoriously determined by that of its two great spring branches: the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The floods occur when there is the conspicuous contribution of the Blue Nile, in the summer months: July 19 is considered the day of the beginning of the flood. The decrease begins in a consistent way towards the middle of October; in the lean period the waters of the White Nile arrive. The dams today totally control the river, whose waters in the past overflowed naturally fertilizing the soil. Indeed the control of the waters, albeit to a limited extent, it was also practiced in ancient times, but controlled irrigation on a large scale, interesting that is large agricultural areas, was imposed only in the nineteenth century, with the creation of large dams and extensive systems of canals. The first major barrage was that of Qalyūb, just upstream of the bifurcation of the delta branches of Rosetta and Damietta, followed by those of Isna, Asyût, Nag ʽHammādi; the most imposing dam is that of Aswân, built at the beginning of the twentieth century and enlarged several times, to which was subsequently added, 10 km upstream, the “high dam”, the most important construction in modern Egypt: it led to the formation of Lake Nasser (partly Sudanese, however), an element that has revolutionized the entire geography of the region. The largest irrigated area, however, always remains that of the delta, all interwoven with irrigation and drainage canals, the latter made necessary to keep the level of the water table low, which harms crops, and to desalinate the land.
CULTURE: GENERAL INFORMATION
The extraordinary importance that Egyptian civilization had in the past has inevitably influenced the modern and contemporary world of the country, where the Islamic tradition hardly coexists with the most recent thrusts of the Western world. In fact, the contradictions are still very marked, and outside the center of the capital, chaotic and dotted with skyscrapers, there are quarters of shacks, while in the desert one meets only small villages. The events also reflect this double face: between January and February, for example, the International Book Fair is held every year in Cairo, while in Luxor the athletes compete in the Egyptian Marathon. On February 22 and October 22, Abu Simbel celebrates the anniversary of the coronation and presumed birth of Ramses II: in those days the rays of the morning sun enter to illuminate the statues located in the inner temple. The monuments identified as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO are numerous: of course, most of them are the vast archaeological areas that preserve the great complexes of the pharaohs and the pyramids: the ancient Thebes and the necropolis (1979), Menfi, the areas of Giza and Dahshur (1979), the monuments of Nubia in Abu Simbel and Philae (1979). Also in 1979 the historic center of Cairo and the area of Abū Mīnā, near Alexandria, were also declared a World Heritage Site, which preserves an ancient Christian sanctuary dating back to the fifth century and since 2001 considered in danger because it risks sinking into marshy ground. Another extraordinary site is the monastery of Santa Caterina, in the Sinai region.
