The
country known as Egypt is officially called the Arab Republic of Egypt and it
is situated in the north-east of Africa; though the Sinai Peninsula forms a land bridge
with south-west Asia. It is because of this that Egypt is also called a
Middle-East country. Therefore Egypt is a transcontinental country, which helps
it in being a major power in Africa, the Middle-East, the Mediterranean, and
the Muslim world.
In
Arabic Egypt is called مصر,
or Miṣr, and in ancient times the country was
known as Kemet, or the black land, due to the alluvial soil which was deposited
during the annual inundation of the River Nile. This yearly event gave Egypt
its fertile land that enabled
it to expand along the length of the river, especially in the Delta where many
various crops were, and still are, harvested.
Egypt
covers an area of approximately 1,001,450km2 (386,662 miles²) and is bordered
by Israel and the Gaza Strip in the north-east; the Red Sea in the east; Sudan in
the south; Libya in the west; and the Mediterranean Sea in the north. It is the
3rd most populous country in Africa and the most populous in the Middle-East
with the majority of its estimated 80 million people living on, or near, the
banks of the River Nile. Only 5.5% of the total land area is actually used by
the population, the area that borders the River Nile as well as a few oases,
the other 94.5% being uninhabitable desert.
The
River Nile vertically bisects the Sahara Desert and the area to the west is
known as the Western Desert, or Libyan Desert, with the area to the East, as
far as the Red Sea, being called the Eastern Desert. The desert itself is very
sparsely inhabited with relatively small population centres growing up around
oases such as the Fayoum, Siwa, Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga to the
west and any areas of habitation being restricted to the many wadis (or
valleys) to the east.
Within
the Libyan Desert can be found an enormous area of sand which is known as the
Great Sand Sea and located within this area are several depressions that have
their elevations below sea level. These include the Qattara Depression, which
covers an area of approximately 18,000km2 (7,000 miles2) and reaches a depth of
approximately 133m (436 ft) below sea level: the lowest point in Africa.
Most
of the Eastern Desert lies on a plateau that gradually rises from the Nile
Valley to heights of approximately 600m (2,000 ft) in the east. Along the Red
Sea coast there are many jagged peaks that reach as high as 2,100m (7,000 ft)
above sea level. The NubianDesert lies to the extreme south of the
Eastern Desert, along the border with Sudan, and it is an extensive area of
dunes and sandy plains.
The
Sinai Peninsula mainly consists of sandy desert in the north with rugged
mountains in the south; the summits here towering more than 2,100m (7,000 ft)
above the Red Sea. Mount Catherine, or Gebel Katherîna, reigns supreme here at
a height of 2,629m (8,625 ft) and is the highest point in Egypt, slightly
dwarfing the nearby Mount Sinai, or Moses Mountain (Gabal Musa), at 2,285m
(7,497 ft). According to Islamic, Christian and Jewish beliefs, the biblical
Mount Sinai was the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments, though not
everyone agrees that this particular mountain is actually the biblical one.
The
River Nile is nowadays regarded as the longest river in the world and it enters
Egypt from the Sudan and flows north for about 1,545km (960 miles) until it
exits into the Mediterranean Sea. From the Sudanese border to Cairo, the River
Nile flows through a narrow cliff lined valley, which, south of Edfu, is hardly
more than 3km (2 miles) wide. From Edfu to Cairo, it is about 23km (14 miles) in width,
with most of the arable land lying on the western side. Just north of Cairo the
valley merges with the Delta before the River Nile joins with the Mediterranean
Sea.
The
Delta is a triangular shaped plain, bordering the Mediterranean coastline for
approximately 250km (155 miles). Silt has been deposited here by the many
tributaries of the River Nile (Rosetta [Rashid], Damietta [Dumyat] and others)
and this has made the Delta the most fertile area of Egypt. The Aswan High Dam, however,
has reduced the flow of the Nile, the annual inundation now being confined to
history, and this has caused the salty waters of the Mediterranean Sea to erode
most of the land along the coast. Nowadays a series of four shallow, salty,
lakes extend along the seaward extremity of the delta.
Lake
Nasser, the world's largest man-made reservoir, was formed by the building of
theAswan High Dam in 1970. It is
approximately 480km (300 miles) long and 16km (10 miles) across at its widest
point. Almost two-thirds of this lake is situated in Egypt, and it extends
southwards across the Sudanese border.
From
ancient times, right through to the modern era, the Nile Valley has been
divided into two separate regions, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. Lower Egypt,
where the Pharaohs wore the red crown, is the area of the Delta, whilst Upper
Egypt, where the Pharaohs wore the white crown, is the entire valley south of
Cairo (or Memphis during the Pharaonic period).
The
land boundaries, which Egypt shares with other countries, are 2,665 km in total
and comprise of: Gaza Strip 11 km, Israel 266 km, Libya 1,115 km and Sudan
1,273 km. Its coastline is 2,450 km long which includes the Mediterranean Sea,
the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Gulf of
Aqaba, though any indentations, which are suitable as harbours, are confined to
the delta.
Egypt
has one of the most diverse economies in North-Africa and the Middle-East with
the various sectors employing the following amounts of people: agriculture 32%;
industry 17%; services 39%; and tourism 12%.
A
predominantly Sunni Muslim country, Egypt has Islam as its state religion. A
genuine estimate of the percentages of the various religions is a controversial
topic in Egypt, and no two sets of figures appear to match, but it is generally
accepted that 80-90% of the population are Muslims. Five times a day the
"Adhan", the Islamic call to prayer, can be heard being broadcast
from the loudspeakers on Cairo's many minarets. There are so many Mosques in
the Egyptian capital that it was once dubbed "the city of 1,000
minarets".
Cairo
also hosts a considerable number of church towers due to the Christian minority
in Egypt, which makes up about 8-18% of the population. Of these, 90% belong to
the native Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria with the other 10%
comprising of the Coptic Catholic Church; the Evangelical Church of Egypt; and
various other Protestant denominations.
The
remaining 2% of the population are Jews, with a number of synagogues being
sited around Cairo. Islam, Christianity and Judaism are the only three
religions that Egypt officially recognises.
Egypt,
as a unified country, is believed to have been created about 3,200BCE, though
it is known that a civilization existed here since the Neolithic period
(8,800-4,700BCE) and perhaps as far back as the Paleolithic period, though
much of the dating of this period was done by uncomplicated radiocarbon dating.
Why
the ancient people decided to settle on the banks of the River Nile is not
known, though it is generally accepted that it is because of the Sahara Desert,
which was once fertile, starting to change into a sandy expanse, forcing the
population to look for water. Once the River Nile was discovered, the
regularity and richness of the annual inundation, or flood, coupled with the
semi-isolation that was provided by the deserts to the east and west, allowed
for the development of one of the world's greatest civilizations.
The
last indigenous dynasty surrendered to the Persians in 341BCE, who were then
replaced, in turn, by the Greeks, the Romans, and the Byzantines. In the 7th
century the Arabs introduced Islam, and the Arabic language, and ruled for the
next six centuries until the Mameluke a local military caste, seized control
circa 1250, continuing to govern after Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Turks
in 1517. Once the Suez Canal was completed in 1869, Egypt became an important
world transportation hub, but this also caused heavy debt. Seemingly, to
protect its investments, Great Britain took control of Egypt's government in
1882, but allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. By 1922 Egypt
was partially independent from the UK and acquired full sovereignty, with the
overthrow of the British-backed monarchy, in 1952.
The
largest growing population in the Arab world, as well as limited arable land,
and dependence on the Nile, have all contributed to the huge over-taxation of
resources and has stressed society. The government had struggled to meet the
demands of Egypt's growing population through economic reform and massive
investment in communications and physical infrastructure until Jan 25th 2011,
when youth led protests brought down the Presidency and government. Now the
world waits to see how this new civilization pans out.
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