Egypt

National name: Jumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah

Government
Republic.

 Geography
 Egypt, at the northeast corner of Africa on the Mediterranean Sea.
 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.

 Historical Background
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 B.C., and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C., who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. It was the Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and who ruled 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. 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.

Facts & Figures

Name

Egypt

Capital

Cairo

Government 

Military Junta, Emergency Law

Language 

Arabic

National Holiday

July 23 Revolution Day , May 1 Labour Day , January 25 National Police Day

Race/Ethnicity

99% Egyptians, 0.9% Nubians, 0.1% Greeks

Religion

90% Muslim

Literacy Rate

71% 

Area

1,002,450 km2 (30th) 387,048 sq mi

Population

Sept, 2010 - estimate 79,089,650

Currency

Egyptian pound