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.

Map reference: Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: 1,001,450 km²
Land: 995,450 km²

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
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: 200 m depth or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: not specified
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters

Terrain: vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta

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

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

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

Population: 59,585,529 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 2.3% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Egyptian(s)
Adjective: Egyptian

Ethnic groups: Eastern Hamitic stock 90%, Greek, Italian, Syro-Lebanese 10%

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

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

Population growth rate: 2.3% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 33 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: NEGL

Environment
Current issues: Nile is only perennial water source; increasing soil salinization below Aswan High Dam; hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring; water pollution; desertification
Current issues 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; size and juxtaposition to Israel establish its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics

Infant mortality rate: 78.3 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 60.46 years
Male: 58.61 years
Female: 62.41 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.35 children born/woman (1993 est.)

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

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:

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly (Majlis al-Cha'b; note - there is an Advisory Council (Majlis al-Shura) that functions in a consultative role

Judicial branch: Supreme Constitutional Court

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Robert PELLETREAU
In the us chancery: 2,310 Decatur Place NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: 20 (2) 355-7,371
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco
In the us embassy: Lazougi Street, Garden City, Cairo
In the us mailing address: APO AE 9,839
In the us fax: 20 (2) 355-7,375
In the us consulate general: Alexandria

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

Economy overview: Egypt has one of the largest public sectors of all the Third World economies, 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 1991-92 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. In 1992-93 tourism has plunged 20% or so 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 1.4 million people a year to the already huge population of 60 million exerts enormous pressure on the 5% of the land area available for agriculture.

Real gdp growth rate: 2.1% (1992 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $730 (1992 est.)

Agriculture products: accounts for 20% of GDP and employs more than one-third of labor force; dependent on irrigation water from the Nile; world's sixth-largest cotton exporter; other crops produced include rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruit, vegetables; not self-sufficient in food for a rapidly expanding population; livestock - 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:

Labor force: 15 million (1989 est.)
By occupation government public sector enterprises and armed forces: 36%
By occupation agriculture: 34%
By occupation privately owned service and manufacturing enterprises: 20% (1984)
Note: shortageofskilledlabor;2,500,000 Egyptians work abroad; mostly in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab states (1988 est.)

Unemployment rate: 20% (1992 est.)

Budget: revenues $12.6 billion; expenditures $15.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $4 billion (FY92 est.)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Exports: $3.6 billion (f.o.b., FY92 est.)
Partners: EC, Eastern Europe, US, Japan
Commodoties: machinery and equipment, foods, fertilizers, wood products, durable consumer goods, capital goods

Imports: $10.0 billion (c.i.f., FY92 est.)
Partners: EC, US, Japan, Eastern Europe

Exchange rates: Egyptian pounds (#E) per US$1 - 3.345 (November 1992), 2.7072 (1990), 2.5171 (1989), 2.2233 (1988), 1.5183 (1987)

Electricity
Production: 14,175,000 kW capacity; 47,000 million kWh produced, 830 kWh per capita (1992)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $2.05 billion, 5% of GDP (FY92/93)

Airports: 92
Usable: 82
With permanentsurface runways: 66
With runways over 3659 m: 2
With runways 2440-3659 m: 44
With runways 1220-2439 m: 24

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

Waterways:

Merchant marine:

Disputes international: administrative boundary with Sudan does not coincide with international boundary creating the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of 20,580 km², the dispute over this area escalated in 1993

Illicit drugs: