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 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

Maritime claims
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%
Permanent crops: 2%
Meadows and pastures: 0%
Forest and woodland: 0%
Other: 95%

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

Natural hazards: periods of drought; subject to frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring

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; size, and juxtaposition to Israel, establish its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics

Population: 60,765,028 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 1.95% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Egyptian(s)

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)

Population growth rate: 1.95% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 28.69 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 8.87 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.35 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

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, untreated sewage, and industrial effluents; water scarcity away from the Nile which is the only perennial water source; rapid growth in population overstraining natural resources

Infant mortality rate: 76.4 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 60.79 years
Male: 58.91 years
Female: 62.76 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.77 children born/woman (1994 est.)

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

Country name
Conventional long form: Arab Republic of Egypt
Conventional short form:
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

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
Chief of state: President Mohammed Hosni MUBARAK (was made acting President on 6 October 1981 upon the assassination of President SADAT and sworn in as president on 14 October 1981); 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)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Command
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

International organization participation: ABEDA, ACC, ACCT (associate), AfDB, AFESD, AG (observer), AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, EBRD, ECA, ESCWA, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMOZ, UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UPU, UNRWA, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Edward WALKER
From the us chancery: 2,310 Decatur Place NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us telephone: [20] (2) 355-7,371
From the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco
From the us embassy: (North Gate) 8, Kamel El-Din Saleh Street, Garden City, Cairo
From the us mailing address: APO AE 9,839-4,900
From the us FAX: [20] (2) 357-3,200

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

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 1991-93 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. In 1992-93 tourism 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: 0.3% (1993 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $2,400 (1993 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: -0.4% (FY92 est.), accounts for 18% of GDP

Labor force: 15 million (1992 est.)
By occupation government publicsectorenterprises andarmedforces: 36%
By occupation agriculture: 34%
By occupation privatelyownedserviceandmanufacturingenterprises: 20% (1984)
By occupation 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% (1993 est.)

Budget: revenues:$16.8 billion

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Exports: $3.5 billion (f.o.b., FY93 est.)
Commodities: crude oil and petroleum products, cotton yarn, raw cotton, textiles, metal products, chemicals
Partners: EC, Eastern Europe, US, Japan

Imports: $10.5 billion (c.i.f., FY93 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment, foods, fertilizers, wood products, durable consumer goods, capital goods
Partners: EC, US, Japan, Eastern Europe

Debt external: $32 billion (March 1993 est.)

Exchange rates: Egyptian pounds (#E) per US$1 - 3.369 (November 1993), 3.345 (November 1992), 2.7072 (1990), 2.5171 (1989), 2.2233 (1988), 1.5183 (1987)

Electricity
Capacity: 14,175,000 kW
Production: 47 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 830 kWh (1992)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: exchange rate conversion - $2.05 billion, 6% of GDP (FY92/93)

Airports: 92
Usable: 82
With permanentsurface runways: 66
With runways over 3659 m: 2
With runways 2440-3659 m: 45
With runways 1220-2439 m: 23

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

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: 171 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,08,208 GRT/1,617,890 DWT, bulk 16, cargo 88, container 1, oil tanker 14, passenger 27, refrigerated cargo 3, roll-on/roll-off cargo 15, short-sea passenger 7

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, this area continues to be in dispute

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