Map of Egypt | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: One of the four great ancient civilizations, Egypt, ruled by powerful pharaohs, bequeathed to Western civilization numerous advances in technology, science, and the arts. For the last two millennia, however, Egypt has served a series of foreign masters_Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks, and the British. Formal independence came in 1922, and the remnants of British control ended after World War II. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1981 altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population will stress Egyptian society and resources as it enters the new millenium.


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Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and the Gaza Strip

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total area total: 1,001,450 km²
Land: 995,450 km²
Comparative: slightly more than three times the size of New Mexico

Land boundaries: total 2,689 km, Gaza Strip 11 km, Israel 255 km, Libya 1,150 km, Sudan 1,273 km

Coastline: 2,450 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters

Terrain: vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta

Elevation

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc

Land use
Arable land: 3%
Permanent crops: 2%
Meadows and pastures: 0%
Forest and woodland: 0%
Other: 95%

Irrigated land: 25,850 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: controls Sinai Peninsula, only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemisphere; controls Suez Canal, shortest sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea; size, and juxtaposition to Israel, establish its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics


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Population: 62,359,623 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 1.95% (1995 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Egyptian(s)
Adjective: Egyptian

Ethnic groups: Eastern Hamitic stock (Egyptians, Bedouins, and Berbers) 99%, Greek, Nubian, Armenian, other European (primarily Italian and French) 1%

Languages: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes

Religions: Muslim (mostly Sunni) 94% (official estimate), Coptic Christian and other 6% (official estimate)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 37% (female 11,380,668; male 11,872,728)
15-64 years: 59% (female 18,250,706; male 18,641,830)
65 years and over: 4% (female 1,204,477; male 1,009,214) (July 1995 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.95% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 28.69 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 8.86 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.35 migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: agricultural land being lost to urbanization and windblown sands; increasing soil salinization below Aswan High Dam; desertification; oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and marine habitats; other water pollution from agricultural pesticides, raw sewage, and industrial effluents; very limited natural fresh water resources away from the Nile which is the only perennial water source; rapid growth in population overstraining natural resources
Current issues natural hazards: periodic droughts; frequent earthquakes, flash floods, landslides, volcanic activity; hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring; duststorms, sandstorms
Current issues international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Tropical Timber 94

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 74.5 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 61.12 years
Male: 59.22 years
Female: 63.12 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.67 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Total population: 48%
Male: 63%
Female: 34%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Arab Republic of Egypt
Conventional short form: Egypt
Local long form: Jumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah
Local short form: none
Former: United Arab Republic (with Syria)

Government type: republic

Capital: Cairo

Administrative divisions: 26 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah; Ad Daqahliyah, Al Bahr al Ahmar, Al Buhayrah, Al Fayyum, Al Gharbiyah, Al Iskandariyah, Al Isma'iliyah, Al Jizah, Al Minufiyah, Al Minya, Al Qahirah, Al Qalyubiyah, Al Wadi al Jadid, Ash Sharqiyah, As Suways, Aswan, Asyu't, Bani Suwayf, Bur Sa'id, Dumyat, Janub Sina, Kafr ash Shaykh, Matruh, Qina, Shamal Sina, Suhaj

Dependent areas

Independence: 28 February 1922 (from UK)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 23 July (1952)

Constitution: 11 September 1971

Legal system: based on English common law, Islamic law, and Napoleonic codes; judicial review by Supreme Court and Council of State (oversees validity of administrative decisions; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Mohammed Hosni MUBARAK (sworn in as president on 14 October 1981, eight days after the assassination of President SADAT); national referendum held 4 October 1993 validated Mubarak's nomination by the People's Assembly to a third 6-year presidential term
Head of government: Prime Minister Atef Mohammed Najib SEDKY (since 12 November 1986)
Cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president

Legislative branch: bicameral
People's Assembly Majlis alCha'b: elections last held 29 November 1990 (next to be held NA November 1995); results - NDP 86.3%, NPUG 1.3%, independents 12.4%; seats - (454 total, 444 elected, 10 appointed by the president) NDP 383, NPUG 6, independents 55; note - most opposition parties boycotted; NDP figures include NDP members who ran as independents and other NDP-affiliated independents
Advisory Council Majlis alShura: functions only in a consultative role; elections last held 8 June 1989 (next to be held NA June 1995); results - NDP 100%; seats - (258 total, 172 elected, 86 appointed by the president) NDP 172

Judicial branch: Supreme Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ABEDA, ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-19, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNAMIR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIL, UNPROFOR, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Ahmed Maher El SAYED
In the us chancery: 3,521 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 895-5,400
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 244-4,319, 5,131
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Edward S. WALKER, Jr.
From the us embassy: (, North Gate) 8, Kamel El-Din Salah Street, Garden City, Cairo
From the us mailing address: APO AE 9,839-4,900
From the us telephone: [20] (2) 3,557,371
From the us FAX: [20] (2) 3,573,200

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with the national emblem (a shield superimposed on a golden eagle facing the hoist side above a scroll bearing the name of the country in Arabic) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of Yemen, which has a plain white band; also similar to the flag of Syria that has two green stars and to the flag of Iraq, which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Half of Egypt's GDP originates in the public sector, most industrial plants being owned by the government. Overregulation holds back technical modernization and foreign investment. Even so, the economy grew rapidly during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but in 1986 the collapse of world oil prices and an increasingly heavy burden of debt servicing led Egypt to begin negotiations with the IMF for balance-of-payments support. Egypt's first IMF standby arrangement concluded in mid-1987 was suspended in early 1988 because of the government's failure to adopt promised reforms. Egypt signed a follow-on program with the IMF and also negotiated a structural adjustment loan with the World Bank in 1991. In 1991-93 the government made solid progress on administrative reforms such as liberalizing exchange and interest rates but resisted implementing major structural reforms like streamlining the public sector. As a result, the economy has not gained momentum and unemployment has become a growing problem. Egypt probably will continue making uneven progress in implementing the successor programs with the IMF and World Bank it signed onto in late 1993. Tourism has plunged since 1992 because of sporadic attacks by Islamic extremists on tourist groups. President MUBARAK has cited population growth as the main cause of the country's economic troubles. The addition of about 1.2 million people a year to the already huge population of 62 million exerts enormous pressure on the 5% of the land area available for agriculture along the Nile.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 1.5% (1994 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $2,490 (1994 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruit, vegetables; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats; annual fish catch about 140,000 metric tons

Industries: textiles, food processing, tourism, chemicals, petroleum, construction, cement, metals

Industrial production growth rate: 2.7% (FY92/93 est.)

Labor force: 16 million (1994 est.)
By occupation government publicsectorenterprises andarmedforces: 36%
By occupation agriculture: 34%
By occupation privatelyownedserviceandmanufacturingenterprises: 20% (1984)
Note: shortage of skilled labor; 2,500,000 Egyptians work abroad, mostly in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab states (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: 20% (1994 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $18 billion
Expenditures: $19.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.8 billion (FY94/95 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $3.1 billion (f.o.b., FY93/94 est.)
Commodoties: crude oil and petroleum products, cotton yarn, raw cotton, textiles, metal products, chemicals
Partners: EU, US, Japan

Imports: $11.2 billion (c.i.f., FY93/94 est.)
Commodoties: machinery and equipment, foods, fertilizers, wood products, durable consumer goods, capital goods
Partners: EU, US, Japan

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $31.2 billion (December 1994 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Egyptian pounds (#E) per US$1 - 3.4 (November 1994), 3.369 (November 1993), 3.345 (November 1992), 2.7072 (1990; market rate:3.3920 (January 1995), 3.3920 (1994), 3.3704 (1993), 3.3300 (1992), 2.0000 (1991), 1.1000 (1990)


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Electricity
Capacity: 11,830,000 kW
Production: 44.5 billion kWh
Production consumption per capita: 695 kWh (1993)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system: 600,000 telephones; 11 telephones/1000 persons; large system by Third World standards but inadequate for present requirements and undergoing extensive upgrading
Local: NA
Intercity: principal centers at Alexandria, Cairo, Al Mansurah, Ismailia Suez, and Tanta are connected by coaxial cable and microwave radio relay
International: 2 INTELSAT (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean), 1 ARABSAT, and 1 INMARSAT earth station; 5 coaxial submarine cables, microwave troposcatter (to Sudan), and microwave radio relay (to Libya, Israel, and Jordan)

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $3.5 billion, 8.2% of total government budget (FY94/95)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 91
With paved runways over 3047 m: 11
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 35
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 17
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 14
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2438 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 7

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 1,171 km; petroleum products 596 km; natural gas 460 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 3,500 km (including the Nile, Lake Nasser, Alexandria-Cairo Waterway, and numerous smaller canals in the delta; Suez Canal, 193.5 km long (including approaches), used by oceangoing vessels drawing up to 16.1 meters of water

Merchant marine
Total: 168 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,187,442 GRT/1,821,327 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 19, cargo 83, container 2, oil tanker 15, passenger 30, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 14, short-sea passenger 4

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: administrative boundary with Sudan does not coincide with international boundary creating the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of 20,580 km², tensions over this disputed area began to escalate in 1992 and remain high

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: a transit point for Southwest Asian and Southeast Asian heroin and opium moving to Europe and the US; popular transit stop for Nigerian couriers; large domestic consumption of hashish from Lebanon and Syria