Egypt

**Egypt**, officially the **Arab Republic of Egypt** is a country in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean, located in North Africa and Western Asia.

It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Southern Levant compromising the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west; the Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Cairo is the capital, largest city, and leading cultural center, while Alexandria is the second-largest city and an important hub of industry and tourism. Egypt is famous for its ancient monuments, such as the Pyramids and the Sphinx

Egypt is a member of the United Nations and the Arab League.

## History

Ancient Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country in the world as it used to be ruled by pharaohs. It became part of the Achaemenid Empire and the Ptolemaic dynasty and for centuries a province of the Roman Empire, During the Roman era it became Christian and some Copts remained despite over a thousand years of Muslim rule. The Fatimid Caliphate ruled Egypt in the tenth through twelfth centuries. Mamlukes ruled it until 1798 when Napoleon defeated them. Muhammad Ali Pasha soon took over and started a dynasty of Khedives under the Ottoman Empire. The Empire fell apart after World War I. Egypt became an independent country in 1922 and the khedive became a king. It became a republic after the Army's revolution of 1952.

## Geography

Egypt is a large country, but a large portion of it is desert. Most people (95% of Egypt's total people) live in areas around the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Nile River. This includes the cities of Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, and Port Said. Not many people live in the desert. Today, Egypt has about 90 million people.

Egypt is divided into 29 areas, called Governorates of Egypt.

## Politics

Egypt is a country that has had many different rulers and many political systems. After World War II, Egypt was still ruled by a king, Farouk of Egypt (11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965). He was the last ruler of the Muhammad Ali dynasty.

Farouk was overthrown on 23 July 1952 by a military coup. The coup was led by Muhammad Naguib, and Gamal Abdel Nasser. From then on, Egypt had military rulers or rulers who had the backing of the army and many citizens.

Nasser became president, from 1956 to 1970. Later rulers were Anwar Sadat, and Hosni Mubarak.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi became president in 2014.

### Revolution of 2011

In January 2011, thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo. They wanted Hosni Mubarak to leave office. He had been the President for almost 30 years. On February 11, 2011, Vice President Omar Suleiman made an announcement. He said that Mubarak agreed to leave office. In 2012, Egypt had a democratic election for the post of President. The winner was the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi.

The events which followed are still controversial, but one aspect stands out. Morsi issued a declaration that in effect gave him unlimited powers. He had the power to legislate (make laws) without legal overview by the courts. This caused widespread protests. On 3 July 2013, he was unseated by a military coup council (a coup d'état). After an election in June 2014, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi became President of Egypt. Islamist movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, rejected the change of regime as a military coup, and not democratic.

### Religion

Today, the people of Egypt are mostly Sunni Muslims. There are many Christians in Egypt today. Many of these belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

### Languages

The official language in Egypt is Arabic. The majority speak Egyptian Arabic but many speak other dialects. Some Egyptians still speak Coptic and English. They also speak French and German in Egypt. These are taught in Egypt as additional languages.

## Famous people

Many famous people are from Egypt. Some of these include Omar Sharif, who was an international actor, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was the first person from Africa to lead the United Nations, and four Nobel Prize winners: Anwar Sadat, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978, Naguib Mahfouz, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, Ahmed Zewail, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999, and Mohamed ElBaradei, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. Mohamed Salah is a famous footballer who plays for Liverpool in England. A famous Egyptian singer is called Amr Diab.

## Governorates

Egypt is divided into 27 governorates. The governorates are divided into regions. The regions have towns and villages. Each governorate has a capital. Sometimes capital has the same name as the governorate.

|Governorate|Capital|Location||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|{| class="wikitable"||||||
|Alexandria|Alexandria|Northern||||
|Aswan|Aswan|Upper||||
|Asyut|Asyut|Upper||||
|Beheira|Damanhur|Lower||||
|Beni Suef|Beni Suef|Upper||||
|Cairo|Cairo|Middle||||
|Dakahlia|Mansura|Lower||||
|Damietta|Damietta|Lower||||
|Faiyum|Faiyum|Upper||||
|Gharbia|Tanta|Lower||||
|Giza|Giza|Upper||||
|Ismailia|Ismailia|Canal||||
|Kafr el-Sheikh|Kafr el-Sheikh|Lower||||
|Luxor|Luxor|Upper|}|{| class="wikitable"||
|Matruh|Mersa Matruh|Western||||
|Minya|Minya|Upper||||
|Monufia|Shibin el-Kom|Lower||||
|New Valley|Kharga|Western||||
|North Sinai|Arish|Sinai||||
|Port Said|Port Said|Canal||||
|Qalyubia|Banha|Lower||||
|Qena|Qena|Upper||||
|Red Sea|Hurghada|Eastern||||
|Sharqia|Zagazig|Upper||||
|Sohag|Sohag|Upper||||
|South Sinai|el-Tor|Sinai||||
|Suez|Suez|Canal|}|style="padding-top:8px;"||

## Culture

Egypt is a country with an immense cultural mix. Life in the countryside differs from life in large cities. There are differences between the families which are Muslim, and the smaller number which are Coptic Christians. There are noticeable differences in the standards of education.

## Tourism

Tourism is one of the most important national incomes in Egypt. In 2008, about 12 million tourists visited Egypt providing nearly $12 billion of national income to Egypt. Tourism affects the economy of the country as a whole.

Giza Necropolis is one of Egypt's iconic sites. It is a popular destination for tourists to visit. It includes the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

## Transport

There are methods of transport in Egypt. The Suez Canal carries ships of many countries.

Cairo Metro is one of the most important projects in Egypt. It consists of 3 lines. Metro is the most preferable transport in Egypt due to persistent major traffic jams in the streets of Cairo. Metro line 4 is being developed to reach the New Cairo District.

Egypt established EgyptAir in 1932. The airline is based in Cairo International Airport and is owned by the Egyptian government

## Egyptian Armed Forces

The Egyptian Armed Forces are the defense forces of the Republic of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Air Force, Egyptian Navy, Egyptian Army, and the Egyptian Air Defense Forces. It is ranked 8th in the world. It is the strongest military force in the Arab world and Africa.

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Arab Republic of Egypt
- **name**:

- **common name**: Egypt
- **image flag**: Flag of Egypt.svg
- **image coat**: Coat of arms of Egypt (Official).svg
- **image map**: EGY orthographic.svg
- **map caption**: Location of the Egyptian Republic
- **national anthem**: "Bilady, Bilady, Bilady"

()
<div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
- **official languages**: Arabic language, Arabic
- **national languages**: Egyptian Arabic
- **religion**: Islam 90% (mostly Sunni)
Christianity 10% (Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Coptic)
- **demonym**: Egyptian
 Masri
- **capital**: Cairo
- **largest city**: capital
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary Semi-presidential system, semi-presidential
republic
- **leader title1**: President of Egypt, President
- **leader name1**: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
- **leader title2**: Prime Minister of Egypt, Prime Minister
- **leader name2**: Moustafa Madbouly
- **leader title3**: Speaker of the House of Representatives (Egypt), House Speaker
- **leader name3**: Ali Abdel Aal
- **legislature**: Parliament
- **upper house**: National senate
- **lower house**: House of the Representatives
- **established event1**: Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, Upper
and Lower Egypt
- **established date1**: Circa, c. 3150 BC
- **established event2**: Muhammad Ali dynasty inaugurated
- **established date2**: 9 July 1805
- **established event3**: Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence, Independence from

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom
- **established date3**: 28 February 1922
- **established event4**: Egyptian revolution of 1952, Revolution Day
- **established date4**: 23 July 1952
- **established event5**: Republic declared
- **established date5**: 18 June 1953
- **established event6**: Constitution of Egypt, Current constitution
- **established date6**: 18 January 2014
- **area rank**: 29th
- **area km2**: 1,010,408
- **area sq mi**: 387,048
- **percent water**: 0.632
- **population estimate**: 100,075,480
- **population estimate year**: 2024
- **population estimate rank**: 13th
- **population census**: 114,484,252
- **population census year**: Censuses of Egypt#2024, 2024
- **population census rank**: 14th
- **population density km2**: 100
- **population density rank**: 83rd
- **gdp ppp year**: 2019
- **gdp ppp**: $1.391 trillion
- **gdp ppp rank**: 19th
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $14,023
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 94th
- **gdp nominal**: $1.7 trillion
- **gdp nominal rank**: 27th
- **gdp nominal year**: 2019
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $16,037.73
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 126th
- **gini year**: 2015
- **gini change**: decrease
- **gini**: 31.8
- **gini rank**: 51st
- **hdi year**: 2024
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi**: 0.728
- **hdi rank**: 105th
- **currency**: Egyptian pound (E£)
- **currency code**: EGP
- **time zone**: Eastern European Time, EET
- **utc offset**: +2
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: +20
- **official website**: [https://www.egypttourpackages.com/ Egypt ]
- **footnote a**: Modern Standard Arabic, Literary Arabic is the sole official language. Egyptian Arabic is the spoken language. Other Languages of Egypt, dialects and minority languages are spoken regionally.
- **footnote b**: "Among the peoples of the ancient Near East, only the Egyptians have stayed where they were and remained what they were, although they have changed their language once and their religion twice. In a sense, they constitute the world's oldest nation". Arthur Goldschmidt Jr.
- **footnote c**: See Daylight saving time in Egypt.