Geography
Introduction:
Egypt covers an area of approximately 1,001,450 sq km (386,662 sq mi) in northeastern Africa, its northern coastline along the Mediterranean Sea, its eastern coastline along the Red Sea and touching the State of Israel in the Sinai. Libya shares its western border, Sudan its southern border.
Nominally independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasir have altered the time-honored place of the River Nile in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. The Nile is the world's longest river. Until the Aswan Dam was completed in 1965, flooding occurred every year.
A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world) will continue to stress Egyptian society and overtax resources as the country enters the new millennium.
All but a very small percentage of the population lives along the fertile Nile Valley and Delta; the remainder of the country-more than 90 percent- is desert. The Western Desert is low lying; the Eastern Desert is cut through by wadis (riverbeds that are dry for much of the year). In the southeast the desert gives way to mountains along the Red Sea. The Sinai Peninsula, is another desert region that lies south of Israel and east of the Gulf of Suez. The Suez Canal, an artificial waterway opened in 1869, runs from Port Said to Suez, linking the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. It was built to save European ships from having to sail all the way around Africa to reach the Indian Ocean. Egypt's capital and largest city is Cairo. The climate is hot and dry.
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Climate:
Throughout most of the year, most of Egypt is hot and dry. Alexandria and the Mediterranean coastal communities experience milder weather while the heat in Cairo and other inland areas is fierce with temperatures rising to as high as 50°C in some parts of the country.
Heavy winter rains fall along the Mediterranean coast but are less frequent in Cairo and in the interior. During the winter months (from November to February), however, temperatures can fall to freezing. Spring in Egypt is generally mild but plagued by the khamaseen, a hot and bitter wind which brings blinding sand and dust storms and heralds the coming of summer.
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The people:
Although modern day Egyptians are usually lumped together with "the Arabs" due to their language and Islamic traditions, this is not completely accurate. There is a truly Bedouin Arab grouping within Egypt, the majority still nomadic tribal peoples living in isolated oases and roaming through the country's vast desert regions. Many Bedouin Arabs are settled in the Sinai Peninsula and along the Red Sea coast, across from Arabia.
However, anthropologically, the majority of indigenous Egyptians trace their ancestry back to the Semetic tribe of Ham. Their physical appearance and cultural traditions are distinct from all other Middle Eastern peoples.
The third main racial grouping in Egypt is comprised of the Nubian peoples who lived for thousands of years in their own land along the Nile, called Nuba, which overlapped from Upper Egypt into northern Sudan. Most of Nuba was flooded in the time of Gamal Abdel Nasser with the construction of the Aswan high dam and the creation of the artificial Lake Nasser. The Nubians were resettled by the government but much of their ancient culture and stunning architectural tradition has been lost.
For millenia wave upon wave of conquerors has passed through Egypt, leaving traces in their descendants. Romans, Greeks and, more recently the Turks, Circassians (Mamluks) and even French and English have intermarried with the Egyptians, adding further to the cosmopolitan melting pot. For half a century the rural population has shifted to the main urban centres in search of employment.
Until today nearly half the population reside in overcrowded cities. To remedy this, the Egyptian government has inaugurated a series of incentives to try and lure many Egyptians away from Cairo and Alexandria. Part of this programme includes the construction of industrial cities located well outside the main centres and the programme seems to be meeting with a measure of success.
There are a number of other small distinct minorities including Berbers, most of whom live around Siwa oasis (pictured), and the 7 million Copts who share the same racial background as their indigenous Muslim countrymen but who were among those who remained wedded to their ancient Christian beliefs and traditions.
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Population:
The population of Egypt stands at around 58,519,000, with projections placing the population at 65 million by the end of 1997. Although the birth rate has gone down slightly (from 2.8% annually in the 1980s down to 2.3%), the country's population explosion is its greatest and most intractable problem, exacerbated by the sheer lack of habitable land area. Almost the entire population lives in the Delta and in the Nile Valley which is only about 4% of the country's land area, making this land among of the most densely populated in the world.
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Language:
Arabic is the country's official language. The Egyptian dialect is distinct from all others and, because of the country's dominance of the media (television, cinema, radio and music), the most recognizable and universal. Arab popular singers from as far afield as Morocco and Syria, often emigrate to Egypt and sing in the Egyptian dialect instead of their own.
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The Arts:
With its ancient history, cosmopolitanism, strong Islamic traditions, modern pan-Arab political and intellectual history and relative freedom, Egypt is the cultural capital of Arab world. The Arab television and cinema is dominated by the Egyptian television and film industry as is popular Arabic music.
The Egyptian Ministry of Culture presides over a variety of western-style cultural institutions such as the Cairo Opera House, the National Puppet Theater, the Pocket Theater and the National Symphony, as well as the country's many museums (see Museums section under Tour guide).
Egypt has also been a fount of Arabic literature having produced some of the greatest 20th century Arab writers from Taha Hussein and Tawfiq Al Hakim to Nobel prize-winning novelist Naguib Mahfouz. Egypt has also produced some of the greatest modern artisans, including the brilliant jewellry designer Azza Fahmy and her equally gifted sister Randa Fahmy, who single-handedly revived the art of Mamluki metalwork.
Cinema
Egypt has had a strong cinematic tradition since the 1930s. Egypt has the only major motion picture industry in the Arab world, with Cairo is its capital.
The influence of the Egyptian cinema on the Arabs is as profound as that of the American cinema on the rest of the world. The golden age of Egyptian cinema was in the 1940s and 1950s. During that period Omar Sharif emerged as a major international star and his former wife, Fatin Hamama, reigned as the queen of Arab cinema.
Directors such as Youssef Chahine have gained wide respect internationally and many of Egypt's leading literary lights, including Tawfiq Al Hakim and Naguib Mahfouz, have written for the cinema.
Today, the reigning superstar of the Egyptian cinema is comedian Adel Emam, whose political satire has earned him the respect of serious film-goers and occasionally ire of the government. Other film stars include Ahmad Zaki, Mahmoud Abdul Aziz and Yusra.
The modern atmosphere of profiteering and heavy entertainment taxes have served to drastically lower the standards of modern Egyptian cinema.
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