Current environmental issues: agricultural land being lost to urbanization and windblown sands; increasing soil salination below Aswan High Dam; desertification; oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and marine habitats; other water pollution from agricultural pesticides, raw sewage, and industrial effluents; limited natural fresh water resources away from the Nile, which is the only perennial water source; rapid growth in population overstraining the Nile and natural resources

Geography

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and the Gaza Strip, and the Red Sea north of Sudan, and includes the Asian Sinai Peninsula

Geographic coordinates: 27 00 N, 30 00 E

Area:

total: 1,001,450 sq km
land: 995,450 sq km
water: 6,000 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 2,665 km
border countries: Gaza Strip 11 km, Israel 266 km, Libya 1,115 km, Sudan 1,273 km

Coastline: 2,450 km
Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Natural hazards: periodic droughts; frequent earthquakes, flash floods, landslides; hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring; dust storms, sandstorms

Terrain

Vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Qattara Depression -133 m
highest point: Mount Catherine 2,629 m

Climate

desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters

Government

Type: republic

Capital: Cairo

Independence date: February 28, 1922

Legal system: based on Islamic and civil law (particularly Napoleonic codes); judicial review by Supreme Court and Council of State (oversees validity of administrative decisions); accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

International Agreements

Environmental international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

People and society

Population (July 2007): 80,335,036

Age Structure (2008):

0-14 years: 31.8% (male 13,292,961/female 12,690,711)
15-64 years: 63.5% (male 26,257,440/female 25,627,390)
65 years and over: 4.7% (male 1,636,560/female 2,208,455)

Population growth rate (2008): 1.721%

Birth rate (2008): 22.12 births/1,000 population

Death rate (2008): 5.09 deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate (2008): -0.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Life expectancy at birth (2008):

total population: 71.85 years
male: 69.3 years
female: 74.52 years

Total fertility rate (2007): 2.77 children born/woman

Languages: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes

Literacy (2005):

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 71.4%
male: 83%
female: 59.4%

Water

Total renewable water resources (1997): 86.8 cu km

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) (2000):

total: 68.3 cu km/yr (8%/6%/86%)
per capita: 923 cu m/yr

Agriculture

GM crops in Egypt (Source: Mansour 2005)

Agricultural products: cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruits, vegetables; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats

Irrigated land (2003): 34,220 sq km

Resources

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc

Land use:

arable land: 2.92%
permanent crops: 0.5%
other: 96.58% (2005)

Energy

Health

Prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in adults (2001): less than 0.1%

Major infectious diseases (2008):

degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases

Conflict

International disputes: while Sudan retains claim to the Hala'ib Triangle north of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel, both states withdrew their military presence in the 1990s and Egypt has invested in and effectively administers the area; Egypt vigilantly monitors the Sinai and borders with Israel and the Gaza Strip to deter terrorist, smuggling, and other illegal activities; Egypt does not extend domestic asylum to some 70,000 persons who identify themselves as Palestinians but who largely lack UNRWA assistance and, until recently, UNHCR recognition as refugees

Refugees and internally displaced persons (2006): refugees (country of origin): 60,000 - 80,000 (Iraq), 70,255 (Palestinian Territories), 13,446 (Sudan)

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Egypt is a transit country for women trafficked from Eastern Europe to Israel for the purpose of sexual exploitation; these women generally arrive as tourists and are subsequently trafficked through the Sinai Desert by Bedouin tribes; men and women from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are believed to be trafficked through the Sinai Desert to Israel and Europe for labor exploitation; some Egyptian children from rural areas are trafficked within the country to work as domestic servants or laborers in the agriculture industry
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Egypt is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to address trafficking over the past year, particularly in the area of law enforcement

Illicit drugs: transit point for cannabis, heroin, and opium moving to Europe, Israel, and North Africa; transit stop for Nigerian drug couriers; concern as money laundering site due to lax enforcement of financial regulations

Economy

Occupying the northeast corner of the African continent, Egypt is bisected by the highly fertile Nile valley, where most economic activity takes place. In the last 30 years, the government has reformed the highly centralized economy it inherited from President Gamel Abdel NASSER. In 2005, Prime Minister Ahmed NAZIF's government reduced personal and corporate tax rates, reduced energy subsidies, and privatized several enterprises. The stock market boomed, and GDP grew about 5% per year in 2005-06, and topped 7% in 2007. Despite these achievements, the government has failed to raise living standards for the average Egyptian, and has had to continue providing subsidies for basic necessities. The subsidies have contributed to a sizeable budget deficit - roughly 7.5% of GDP in 2007 - and represent a significant drain on the economy. Foreign direct investment has increased significantly in the past two years, but the NAZIF government will need to continue its aggressive pursuit of reforms in order to sustain the spike in investment and growth and begin to improve economic conditions for the broader population. Egypt's export sectors - particularly natural gas - have bright prospects.

GDP (purchasing power parity, 2007): $431.9 billion

GDP (official exchange rate, 2007): $127.9 billion

GDP - real growth rate (2007): 7.2%

GDP - per capita (PPP,2007): $5,400

GDP - composition by sector (estimated as of 2007):

agriculture: 13.8%
industry: 41.1%
services: 45.1%