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.

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
Extremes lowest point: Qattara Depression -133 m
Extremes highest point: Mount Catherine 2,629 m

Natural resources:

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

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

Population:
Growth rate:

Nationality
Noun: Egyptian(s)
Adjective: Egyptian

Ethnic groups:

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:

Birth rate:

Death rate:

Net migration rate:

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
International agreements: party to_Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, 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_Tropical Timber 94
International agreements 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

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
All ages:

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 61.43 years (1996 est.), 61.12 years (1995 est.)
Male: 59.51 years (1996 est.), 59.22 years (1995 est.)
Female: 63.46 years (1996 est.), 63.12 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate:

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.)
Total population: 51.4%
Male: 63.6%
Female: 38.8%

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

Independence: 28 February 1922 (from U.K.)

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 (sworn in as president 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 six-year presidential term; note_the president is nominated by the People's Assembly and that nomination must then be validated by a national, popular referendum
Head of government: Prime Minister Kamal Ahmed al-GANZOURI (since 4 January 1996) was appointed by the president
Cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president

Legislative branch: Bicameral People's Assembly (Majlis Al-Cha'b):Elections last held 29 November 1995 (next to be held NA 2000; results_NDP 72%, idependents 25%, opposition 3%; seats_(454 total, 444 elected, 10 appointed by the president) NDP 317, independents 114, NWP 6, NPUG 5, Nasserist Arab Democratic Party 1, Liberals 1 Advisory Council (Majlis Al-Shura):Functions only in a consultative role; elections last held 7 June 1995 (next to be held NA; results_NDP 99%, independents 1%; seats_(264 total, 176 elected, 88 appointed by the president) seats by party NA

Judicial branch: Supreme Constitutional Court

International organization participation: ABEDA, ACC, ACCT (associate), AfDB, AFESD, AG (observer), AL, AMF, BSEC (observer), CAEU, CCC, EBRD, ECA, ESCWA, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OAU, OIC, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UNOMIL, UNPREDEP, UNPROFOR, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Flag description: Three equal horizontal b.htmof 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: 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 enough momentum to tackle the growing problem of unemployment. Egypt made uneven progress in implementing the successor programs it signed onto in late 1993 with the IMF and World Bank; currently it is negotiating another successor program with the IMF. 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 63 million exerts enormous pressure on the 5% of the land area available for agriculture along the Nile.

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:

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

Industries:

Industrial production growth rate: 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)
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% (1995 est.)

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

Fiscal year: 1 July_30 June

Exports:
Commodities:
Partners:

Debt external: $33.6 billion (FY93/94 est.)

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 1996), 3.3900 (1995), 3.3910 (1994), 3.3718 (1993), 3.3386 (1992), 3.3322 (1991)

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

Telephone system: 2.2 million telephones (1993); 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); participant in Medarabtel

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

Airports: 80
With paved runways over 3047 m: 11
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 34
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 16
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With paved runways under 914 m: 9
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 4 (1995 est.)

Heliports: 2 (1995 est.)

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
Total: 164 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,187,290 GRT/1,833,108 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 22, cargo 74, liquefied gas tanker 1, oil tanker 14, passenger 33, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 15, short-sea passenger 4 (1995 est.)

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