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Arab Republic of Egypt
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جمهورية مصر العربية
National
name: Jumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah
President: Hosni Mubarak (1981)
Prime Minister: Ahmed Nazif (2004)
National
Anthem:
Click Here to Listen to Egyptian National Anthem
Location:
Officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, a country in north-eastern
Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Israel and
the Red Sea to the
east,
Sudan to the
south,
and
Libya
to the west.The principal
geographic
feature of the country
is the Nile River.
Area:
Egypt has a maximum length from north to south of about 1085
km (about 675 mi)
and a maximum width, near the southern border, of about 1255
km (about 780 mi).
It has a total area of 997,739 sq km (385,229 sq mi).
Capital and largest city
(2003 est.):
Cairo, 15,892,400 (metro. area), 7,937,700 (city proper)
Other large cities:
Alexandria, 3,891,000; Giza, 2,597,600 (part of Cairo metro.
area); Shubra el Khema, 1,018,000 (part of Cairo metro. area); El Mahalla
el
Kubra, 462,300
Language:
The official language is
Arabic, but
English is widely spoken in commerce
and government.
Religion:
Islam is the official religion, and about 90 percent of all
Egyptians are Muslims,
most of them members of the Sunni sect. According to official
Egyptian estimates,
the Coptic Orthodox church, a Christian denomination, has no
more than 3 million adherents and constitutes the largest religious
minority; Copts themselves claim
some 7 million members. An estimated 1 million people belong
to the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian, and various Protestant
churches. The country has a very small Jewish community.
Population (2005 est.):
77,505,756 (growth rate: 1.8%); birth rate: 23.3/1000; infant
mortality rate: 32.6/1000; life expectancy: 71.0; density per sq mi: 200
Membership:
Egypt is a
member of the UN,
OAU, the
Arab League,
OPEC and
Organization of the
Islamic Conference.
Currency:
The unit
of currency is the Egyptian pound. The Egyptian pound is written E£, and is
divided
into 100
piastres.
Egypt
Time difference:
GMT + 2 ( GMT + 3 in summer)
Communications: Telephones:
main lines in use: 3,971,500 (Dec. 1998); mobile cellular:
380,000 (1999). Radio broadcast stations: AM 42 (plus 15 repeater stations),
FM 14, shortwave 3 (1999). Radios: 20.5 million (1997). Television broadcast
stations: 98 (Sept. 1995). Televisions: 7.7 million (1997). Internet Service
Providers (ISPs): 50 (2000). Internet users: 600,000 (2002).
Transportation: Railways:
Total: 5,105 km (2002). Highways: total: 64,000 km; paved:
49,984 km; unpaved: 14,016 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 3,500 km (including
the Nile, Lake Nasser, Alexandria-Cairo Waterway, and numerous smaller
canals in the delta); Suez Canal, 193.5 km (including approaches), used by
oceangoing vessels drawing up to 16.1 m
of water. Ports and harbors: Alexandria, Al Ghardaqah, Aswan,
Asyut, Bur Safajah, Damietta, Marsa Matruh, Port Said, Suez.. Airports: 89
(2002).
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