General information about Egypt
The official name is the Arab Republic of Egypt, ARE (The Arab Republic of Egypt).
Located in northeast Africa and partly in Asia (Sinai Peninsula). The area is 1001.5 thousand km2, the population is 70.62 million people. (2002). The official language is Arabic. The capital is Cairo (7.8 million inhabitants, together with the suburbs – 15 million). Public holiday – Revolution Day July 23 (since 1952). The monetary unit is the Egyptian pound (equal to 100 piastres).
Member of the UN (1945), WTO (1995), Arab League (1958), OIC AU (1963), etc.
Geography of Egypt
Located between 26° north latitude and 30° east longitude. It is washed by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea in the north, by the waters of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba in the east. On the territory of Egypt is the Suez Canal, which connects the waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This water artery strengthens Egypt’s position as a crossroads of international sea and air routes connecting the countries of Europe and America with the countries of Asia and East Africa.
The coast of the Mediterranean Sea (total length is about 1000 km) to the west of the Nile Delta is low, rocky, steep; to the east of the delta – low, sloping, with sandy spits; in the delta – low, lagoonal. The coast of the Red Sea (about 1900 km long) consists of predominantly narrow beaches bordered by high, steep mountains. From the sea, the coast is bordered by a wide strip of coral reefs.
According to Allcitycodes, Egypt borders with Sudan in the south, with Libya in the west, with Israel and the Palestinian National Autonomy (Gaza Strip) in the east.
Most of the territory of Egypt is a plateau with altitudes from 300 to 1000 m: the plateau of the Libyan Desert (approx. 2/3 of the territory), the Arabian Desert and the Nubian Desert. In the north and east of the Libyan Desert, rocky and gravelly surfaces with long strips of ridge sands (up to 650 km) predominate. In the west lies a vast sandy “sea” with dunes up to 300 m high. Between the rocky steep plateaus of the Libyan and Arabian deserts is the Nile Valley. Its length within Egypt is ca. 1200 km, width from 1-3 km in the south to 20-25 km in the north. The plateau gradually rises to the east up to 2000 m and breaks off to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez. On the Sinai Peninsula, the desert is adjacent to the highlands. The most elevated part (Mount Katerin) – 2637 m.
The Nile River is one of the largest rivers in the world (6671 km), enters the territory of Egypt from Sudan, crosses it from south to north and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. At its mouth, the Nile forms a delta with an area of approx. 24 thousand km2. The branch of the Nile carries part of the Nile waters to Lake Birket-Karun. In the south of Egypt, in the region of the city of Aswan, a reservoir was created – an artificial lake Nasser due to the construction of the Aswan dam on the Nile. Its volume is 164 billion m3. In Egypt, there are significant reserves of groundwater, part of which is used (the oases of Siva, Dakhla, etc.).
Egypt is rich in oil, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, zinc, and lead.
96% of the country’s territory is occupied by deserts and only 4% falls on the delta and valley of the Nile River, suitable for agriculture. Cultivation area expanded significantly after the construction of the Aswan High Dam and the creation of Lake Nasser, which made it possible to irrigate 2 million feddans of land and increase cultivated area by 30%.
The fauna of Egypt is characterized by a gazelle, a fox, a jerboa, a hyena, a jackal, a hippopotamus, a crocodile, a large number of birds, insects, lizards, and snakes. The richest animal world is in the Nile Delta, where storks, herons, pelicans, flamingos, wild ducks, etc. arrive for wintering from Europe.
On the Mediterranean coast in Egypt, the climate is subtropical, in the rest of the territory – tropical desert. In most of the country, less than 100 mm of precipitation falls, in the north 200-400 mm. The average January temperature is +11-12°C in the north and +15-16°C in the south. In July, the average temperature is +25–26°C and +30–35°C, respectively. In Egypt, the air temperature is greatly influenced by the wind, so in December-March the temperature in the evening can drop to +6°C. On the coast of the Red Sea, the average temperature in November-March is +25°С, water +20°С. In summer the air temperature is +40°С, and the water temperature is +26°С. A characteristic feature of the climate in Egypt is the predominance of aridity. At times, a hot dry wind with sand from the desert blows – khamsin.
