Egypt

Egypt 

Geography                 Economy                 Defense Forces
 

People                    Transportation          Government



Communications            History      	          Travel

GEOGRAPHY

Location

Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and the Gaza Strip

Area

Land Boundaries

Total 2,689 km, Gaza Strip 11 km, Israel 255 km, Libya 1,150 km, Sudan 1,273 km

Coastline

2,450 km

Maritime Claims

International Disputes

Administrative boundary with Sudan does not coincide with international boundary creating the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of 20,580 sq km, tensions over this disputed area began to escalate in 1992 and remain high

Climate

Desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters

Terrain

Vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta
lowest point: Qattara Depression -133 m
highest point: Mount Catherine 2,629 m

Natural Resources

Land Use

Irrigated Land

25,850 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment

Note: Controls Sinai Peninsula, only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemisphere; controls Suez Canal, shortest sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea; size, and juxtaposition to Israel, establish its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics

PEOPLE

Population

63,575,107 (July 1996 est.)
62,359,623 (July 1995 est.)

Age Structure

0-14 Years

37% (male 11,970,197; female 11,462,689) (July 1996 est.)
37% (male 11,872,728; female 11,380,668) (July 1995 est.)

15-64 Years

60% (male 19,127,696; female 18,738,304) (July 1996 est.)
59% (male 18,641,830; female 18,250,706) (July 1995 est.)

65 Years and Over

3% (male 1,028,916; female 1,247,305) (July 1996 est.)
4% (male 1,009,214; female 1,204,477) (July 1995 est.)

Population Growth Rate

1.91% (1996 est.)
1.95% (1995 est.)

Birth Rate

28.18 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
28.69 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death Rate

8.7 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
8.86 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net Migration Rate

-0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
-0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
all ages: 1.02 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

72.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
74.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth

Total Fertility Rate

3.58 children born/woman (1996 est.)
3.67 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic Divisions

Religions

Languages

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

Literacy

Age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.)

Labor Force

16 million (1994 est.)

By occupation:

Note: Shortage of skilled labor; 2,500,000 Egyptians work abroad, mostly in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab states (1993 est.)

GOVERNMENT

Names

Digraph

ET

Type

Republic

Capital

Cairo

Administrative Divisions

26 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Ad Daqahliyah, Al Bahr al Ahmar, Al Buhayrah, Al Fayyum, Al Gharbiyah, Al Iskandariyah, Al Isma'iliyah, Al Jizah, Al Minufiyah, Al Minya, Al Qahirah, Al Qalyubiyah, Al Wadi al Jadid, Ash Sharqiyah, As Suways, Aswan, Asyu't, Bani Suwayf, Bur Sa'id, Dumyat, Janub Sina, Kafr ash Shaykh, Matruh, Qina, Shamal Sina, Suhaj

Independence

28 February 1922 (from U.K.)

National Holiday

Anniversary of the Revolution, 23 July (1952)

Constitution

11 September 1971

Legal System

Based on English common law, Islamic law, and 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

Executive Branch

Legislative Branch

Bicameral

People's Assembly (Majlis Al-Cha'b)

Elections last held 29 November 1995 (next to be held NA 2000); results - NDP 72%, idependents 25%, opposition 3%; seats - (454 total, 444 elected, 10 appointed by the president) NDP 317, independents 114, NWP 6, NPUG 5, Nasserist Arab Democratic Party 1, Liberals 1

Advisory Council (Majlis Al-Shura)

Functions only in a consultative role; elections last held 7 June 1995 (next to be held NA); results - NDP 99%, independents 1%; seats - (264 total, 176 elected, 88 appointed by the president) seats by party NA

Judicial Branch

Supreme Constitutional Court

Political Parties and Leaders

National Democratic Party (NDP), President Mohammed Hosni MUBARAK, leader, is the dominant party; legal opposition parties are as follows: New Wafd Party (NWP), Fu'ad SIRAJ AL-DIN; Socialist Labor Party (SLP), Ibrahim SHUKRI; National Progressive Unionist Grouping (NPUG), Khalid Muhi al-DIN; Socialist Liberal Party, Mustafa Kamal MURAD; Democratic Unionist Party, Mohammed 'Abd-al-Mun'im TURK; Umma Party, Ahmad al-SABAHI; Misr al-Fatah Party (Young Egypt Party), leader NA; Nasserist Arab Democratic Party, Dia' al-din DAWUD; Democratic Peoples' Party, Anwar AFIFI; The Greens Party, Kamal KIRAH; Social Justice Party, Muhammad 'ABD-AL-'AL

Note: Formation of political parties must be approved by government

Other Political or Pressure Groups

Despite a constitutional ban against religious-based parties, the technically illegal Muslim Brotherhood constitutes MUBARAK's potentially most significant political opposition; MUBARAK tolerated limited political activity by the Brotherhood for his first two terms, but has moved more aggressively in the past year to block its influence; trade unions and professional associations are officially sanctioned

Member of

ABEDA, ACC, ACCT (associate), AfDB, AFESD, AG (observer), AL, AMF, BSEC (observer), CAEU, CCC, EBRD, ECA, ESCWA, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OAU, OIC, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UNOMIL, UNPREDEP, UNPROFOR, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

National Anthem

Flag

Three equal horizontal b.htmof red (top), white, and black with the national emblem (a shield superimposed on a golden eagle facing the hoist side above a scroll bearing the name of the country in Arabic) centered in the white band; similar to the flag of Yemen, which has a plain white band; also similar to the flag of Syria that has two green stars and to the flag of Iraq, which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band

ECONOMY

Overview

Half of Egypt's GDP originates in the public sector, most industrial plants being owned by the government. Overregulation holds back technical modernization and foreign investment. Even so, the economy grew rapidly during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but in 1986 the collapse of world oil prices and an increasingly heavy burden of debt servicing led Egypt to begin negotiations with the IMF for balance-of-payments support. Egypt's first IMF standby arrangement, concluded in mid-1987, was suspended in early 1988 because of the government's failure to adopt promised reforms. Egypt signed a follow-on program with the IMF and also negotiated a structural adjustment loan with the World Bank in 1991. In 1991-93 the government made solid progress on administrative reforms such as liberalizing exchange and interest rates, but resisted implementing major structural reforms like streamlining the public sector. As a result, the economy has not gained enough momentum to tackle the growing problem of unemployment. Egypt made uneven progress in implementing the successor programs it signed onto in late 1993 with the IMF and World Bank; currently it is negotiating another successor program with the IMF. President MUBARAK has cited population growth as the main cause of the country's economic troubles. The addition of about 1.2 million people a year to the already huge population of 63 million exerts enormous pressure on the 5% of the land area available for agriculture along the Nile.

National Product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $171 billion (1995 est.); $151.5 billion (1994 est.)

National Product Real Growth Rate

4% (1995 est.)
1.5% (1994 est.)

National Product Per Capita

$2,760 (1995 est.)
$2,490 (1994 est.)

Inflation Rate (consumer Prices)

9.4% (yearend 1995)
8% (1994 est.)

Unemployment Rate

20% (1995 est.)

Budget

Exports

$5.4 billion (f.o.b., FY94/95 est.)
$3.1 billion (f.o.b., FY93/94 est.)

Commodities:

Partners:

Imports

$15.2 billion (c.i.f., FY94/95 est.)
$11.2 billion (c.i.f., FY93/94 est.)

Commodities:

Partners:

External Debt

$33.6 billion (FY93/94 est.)

Industrial Production

Growth rate 2.7% (FY92/93 est.)

Electricity

Industries

Agriculture

Cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruit, vegetables; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats; annual fish catch about 140,000 metric tons

Illicit Drugs

A transit point for Southwest Asian and Southeast Asian heroin and opium moving to Europe and the U.S.; popular transit stop for Nigerian couriers; large domestic consumption of hashish from Lebanon and Syria

Economic Aid

Currency

1 Egyptian pound (ŁE) = 100 piasters

Exchange Rates

Egyptian pounds (ŁE) per US$1 - 3.4 (November 1994), 3.369 (November 1993), 3.345 (November 1992), 2.7072 (1990); market rate: 3.3920 (January 1996), 3.3900 (1995), 3.3910 (1994), 3.3718 (1993), 3.3386 (1992), 3.3322 (1991)

Fiscal Year

1 July - 30 June

TRANSPORTATION

Railroads

Highways

Inland Waterways

3,500 km (including the Nile, Lake Nasser, Alexandria-Cairo Waterway, and numerous smaller canals in the delta); Suez Canal, 193.5 km long (including approaches), used by oceangoing vessels drawing up to 16.1 meters of water

Pipelines

Crude oil 1,171 km; petroleum products 596 km; natural gas 460 km

Ports

Alexandria, Al Ghurdaqah, Aswan, Asyut, Bur Safajah, Damietta, Marsa Matruh, Port Said, Suez

Merchant Marine

Airports

Heliports

2 (1995 est.)

COMMUNICATIONS

Telephone System

2.2 million telephones (1993); large system by Third World standards but inadequate for present requirements and undergoing extensive upgrading

Radio

Television

DEFENSE FORCES

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Command

Manpower Availability

Males age 15-49 16,530,460; males fit for military service 10,723,011; males reach military age (20) annually 660,453 (1996 est.)

Defense Expenditures

Exchange rate conversion - $3.5 billion, 8.2% of total government budget (FY94/95)

History
World Atlas