Egypt

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This article is about the country of Egypt. For other uses, see Egypt (disambiguation).

{{Infobox Country |native_name = جمهورية مصر العربية
Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah |conventional_long_name = Arab Republic of Egypt |common_name = Egypt |image_flag = Flag of Egypt.svg |image_coat = COA of Egypt.svg |image_map = LocationEgypt.svg The national_motto = |national_anthem = Bilady |official_languages = Arabic¹ |demonym = Egyptian |capital = Cairo |latd=30 |latm=2 |latNS=N |longd=31 |longm=13 |longEW=E |largest_city = capital |government_type = Semi-presidential republic |leader_title1 = President |leader_name1 = Hosni Mubarak |leader_title2 = Prime Minister |leader_name2 = Ahmed Nazif |sovereignty_type = Establishment |established_event1 = First Dynasty |established_date1 = c.3150 BCE |established_event2 = Independence from United Kingdom |established_date2 = February 28 1922 |established_event3 = Republic declared |established_date3 = June 18 1953 |area_rank = 30th |area_magnitude = 1 E12 |area_km2 = 1,001,449 |area_sq_mi = 386,660 The Egyptian Armed forces have a combined troop strength of around 450,000 active personnel.^[1] According to the Israeli chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuval Steinitz, the Egyptian Air Force has roughly the same number of modern warplanes as the Israeli Air Force and far more Western tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft batteries and warships than the IDF.^[2] The Egyptian military has recently undergone massive military modernization mostly in their Air Force. Other than Israel, Egypt is the first country in the region with a spy satellite, EgyptSat 1, and is planning to launch 3 more spy satellites (DesertSat1, EgyptSat2, DesertSat2) over the next two years.^[3]

[edit] Geography

White Desert, Farafra.

Main article: Geography of Egypt

At 386,636 mi² (1,001,450 km²^[4]), Egypt is the world's thirtieth-largest country (after Mauritania). It is comparable in size to Tanzania, twice the size of France, four times the size of the UK, and is more than half the size of the US state of Alaska.

Nevertheless, due to the aridity of Egypt's climate, population centres are concentrated along the narrow Nile Valley and Delta, meaning that approximately 99% of the population uses only about 5.5% of the total land area.^[5]

Egypt is bordered by Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east. Egypt's important role in geopolitics stems from its strategic position: a transcontinental nation, it possesses a land bridge (the Isthmus of Suez) between Africa and Asia, which in turn is traversed by a navigable waterway (the Suez Canal) that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea.

Apart from the Nile Valley, the majority of Egypt's landscape is a sandy desert. The winds blowing can create sand dunes over one hundred feet high. Egypt includes parts of the Sahara Desert and of the Libyan Desert. These deserts were referred to as the "red land" in ancient Egypt, and they protected the Kingdom of the Pharaohs from western threats.

Towns and cities include Alexandria, one of the greatest ancient cities, Aswan, Asyut, Cairo, the modern Egyptian capital, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Giza, the site of the Pyramid of Khufu, Hurghada, Luxor, Kom Ombo, Port Safaga, Port Said, Sharm el Sheikh, Suez, where the Suez Canal is located, Zagazig, and Al-Minya. Oases include Bahariya, el Dakhla, Farafra, el Kharga and Siwa.

Satellite image of Egypt, generated from raster graphics data supplied by The Map Library

Protectorates include Ras Mohamed National Park, Zaranik Protectorate and Siwa. See Egyptian Protectorates for more information.

[edit] Climate

Egypt receives the least rainfall in the world. South of Cairo, rainfall averages only around 2 to 5 mm (0.1 to 0.2 in) per year and at intervals of many years. On a very thin strip of the northern coast the rainfall can be as high as 170 mm (7 in), all between November and March. Snow falls on Sinai's mountains and some of its middle and coastal cities.

Temperatures average between 80 and 90 °F (27 - 32 °C) in summer, and up to 109 °F (42 °C) on the Red Sea coast. Temperatures average between 55 and 70 °F (13 to 21 °C) in winter. A steady wind from the northwest helps hold down the temperature near the Mediterranean coast. The Khamaseen is a wind that blows from the south in Egypt, usually in spring or summer, bringing sand and dust, and sometimes raises the temperature in the desert to more than 100 °F (38 °C).