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.
Arab Republic of Egypt | |
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| Anthem: | |
 Location of the Egyptian Republic | |
| Capital and largest city | Cairo 30°2′N 31°13′E / 30.033°N 31.217°E |
| Official languages | Arabic |
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| Religion | Islam 90% (mostly Sunni) Christianity 10% (Coptic) |
| Demonym(s) | Egyptian Masri |
| Government | Unitary semi-presidential republic |
| Abdel Fattah el-Sisi | |
| Moustafa Madbouly | |
| Ali Abdel Aal | |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| National senate | |
| House of the Representatives | |
| Establishment | |
| c. 3150 BC | |
• Muhammad Ali dynasty inaugurated | 9 July 1805[3] |
| 28 February 1922 | |
| 23 July 1952 | |
• Republic declared | 18 June 1953 |
| 18 January 2014 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,010,408[4] km2 (390,121 sq mi) (29th) |
• Water (%) | 0.632 |
| Population | |
• 2024 estimate |  100,075,480 [5][6] (13th) |
• 2024 census | 114,484,252 (14th) |
• Density | 100/km2 (259.0/sq mi) (83rd) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | $1.391 trillion[7] (19th) |
• Per capita | $14,023[7] (94th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | $1.7 trillion[7] (27th) |
• Per capita | $16,037.73[7] (126th) |
| Gini (2015) | ▼ 31.8[8] medium · 51st |
| HDI (2024) | 0.728[9] high · 105th |
| Currency | Egyptian pound (E£) (EGP) |
| Time zone | UTC+2[c] (EET) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +20 |
| ISO 3166 code | EG |
| Internet TLD | |
Website Egypt | |
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It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north. To the northeast is the region of the Southern Levant comprising Israel and the Gaza Strip, which is part of Palestine. It is also bordered by the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. In the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Cairo is the capital, largest city, and most important 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[11]
Egypt is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, and the Arab League.
History
Ancient Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country in the world. For a long time, it was ruled by pharaohs. It became part of the Achaemenid Empire and the Ptolemaic dynasty and for centuries was a province of the Roman Empire. During the Roman era, many people became Christian. Some Christians, called Copts, remained in Egypt despite over a thousand years of Muslim rule.
The Fatimid Caliphate ruled Egypt in the tenth through twelfth centuries. Mamluks 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, starting the Kingdom of Egypt. 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 110 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 Mohamed 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.
In 2012, Mohamed Morsi became the president after the 2011 revolution.
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.[12] 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.
Demographics
Religion
Today, the people of Egypt are mostly Sunni Muslims. There are many Christians in Egypt today. Many of them 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. English, French and German are also common. 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 after making peace with Israel, 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. Umm Kulthum is a famous Egyptian singer. Other Egyptian singers include 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 the capital has the same name as the governorate.
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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 parts of the national income in Egypt. In 2008, about 12 million tourists visited the country. They provided nearly $12 billion of national income to Egypt. Tourism affects the economy of the country as a whole.[13]
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.[14][15] Metro line 4 is being developed to reach the New Cairo District.[16]
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 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.[17] It is the strongest military force in the Arab world and Africa.[18]
Egypt Media
The Egyptian national anthem played by the U.S. Navy Band.
Rassam cylinder "Mu-ṣur", for "Egypt"
Clockwise: a Badarian mortuary figurine, a Naqada jar, a Naqada statuette of the goddess Bat, the Four dogs palette, the Gebel el-Arak Knife, and a Naqada diorite vase.
The Giza Necropolis is the oldest of the ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.
The Weighing of the Heart from the Book of the Dead of Ani
The Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion, at the Temple of Dendera
Female nationalists demonstrating in Cairo during the 1919 revolution, 1919
King Fuad I of Egypt along with the Prince of Wales Edward VIII - King Edward VIII later - accompanied by Mohamed Sa'id Paşa Zulfiqar, in the garden of Abdeen Palace*in 1932.
Gamal Abdel Nasser (right) and Mohamed Naguib (left) during celebrations marking the second anniversary of the 1952 Egyptian revolution, July 1954
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in Mansoura, 1960
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Goldschmidt, Arthur. Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State (1988). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-86531-182-4. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ↑ Background Note: Egypt (10 November 2010)United States Department of State Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
- ↑ Pierre Crabitès. Ibrahim of Egypt (1935)Routledge. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-415-81121-7. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ↑ Total area km2, pg.15Capmas.Gov – Arab Republic of Egypt. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- ↑ الجهاز المركزي للتعبئة العامة والإحصاء. www.capmas.gov.eg. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ↑ أقل زيادة في 10 سنوات.. رحلة الوصول إلى 100 مليون مصري (إنفوجرافيك). www.masrawy.com. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019. IMF.orgInternational Monetary Fund. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ↑ GINI indexWorld Bank. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ↑ Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene (15 December 2020)United Nations Development Programme. p. 343–346. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ↑ Constitutional Declaration: A New Stage in the History of the Great Egyptian People (30 March 2011)Egypt State Information Service. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ↑ "Egypt country profile" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2011-05-06. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13313370. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
- ↑ Namatalla, Ahmed A; Mariam Fam and Zainab Fattah (2011-02-11). Mubarak Resigns as Egyptian President. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-11/mubarak-leaves-presidency-hands-power-to-egypt-s-military-suleiman-says.html. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
- ↑ "Egypt tourism numbers to fall less than feared" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters Africa. (2009-10-20)
- ↑ "Underground, Everything That Life Above Is Not", NY Times. Retrieved May 3, 2012
- ↑ "Egypt's traffic: The problem grinds on"[dead link], AhramOnline. Retrieved 8 Oct 2012
- ↑ "Cairo Metro, Egypt", Railway Technology.
- ↑ Top 10 most powerful countries by military aircraft fleet in 2025: India secures a spot in top 5 (in en). The Indian Express (2025-05-13). Retrieved 2025-06-16.
- ↑ Egypt ranked strongest Arab military force (in en). Arab News (2024-01-17). Retrieved 2025-06-16.
Other websites
Media related to Egypt at Wikimedia Commons
Egypt travel guide from Wikivoyage
- ↑ Is Egypt Safe to Visit in 2025? Everything You Need to Know (2025-09-15).