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This article is about the country of Egypt. For a topic outline on this subject, see List of basic Egypt topics. For other uses, see Egypt (disambiguation).

Arab Republic of Egypt جمهورية مصر العربية Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Bilady, Bilady, Bilady
Capitaland largest city	Cairo
Official languages	Arabic
Ethnic groups	98% Egyptians, 1% Nubians, 1% Greeks
Demonym(s)	Egyptian
Government	Semi-presidential republic
• President	Hosni Mubarak
• Prime Minister	Ahmed Nazif
Establishment
• First Dynasty	c.3150 BCE
• Independence from United Kingdom	February 28, 1922
• Republic declared	June 18, 1953
Area
• Total	1,002,450 km (387,050 sq mi) (30th)
• Water (%)	0.632
Population
• July 2008 estimate	81,713,517 (14th)
• Density	74/km (191.7/sq mi) (120th)
GDP (PPP)	2007 estimate
• Total	$403.961 billion (27th)
• Per capita	$5,491 (97th)
Gini (1999–00)	34.5 medium inequality
HDI (2007)	0.708 Error: Invalid HDI value (112nd)
Currency	Egyptian pound (EGP)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Calling code	20
ISO 3166 code	EG
Internet TLD	.eg
Spoken language is Egyptian Arabic.

Egypt, ˈiːdʒɪpt(Template:Lang-ar, Miṣr or Error: {{Transliteration}}: unrecognized language / script code: ar-EGP (help)) officially the Arab Republic of Egypt (Template:Lang-ar,Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah), is an Arab country in North Africa and partly, due to the Sinai Peninsula, in southwestern Asia . Covering an area of about 1,001,450 square kilometers (386,660 sq mi), Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.

Background

Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its estimated 80 million live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable agricultural land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with the majority spread across the densely-populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.

Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most famous monuments, including the Giza pyramid complex and its Great Sphinx. The southern city of Luxor contains numerous ancient artifacts, such as the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. Egypt is widely regarded as an important political and cultural nation of the Middle East.

Etymology

km.t (Egypt) in hieroglyphs

One of the ancient Egyptian names of the country, Kemet ( Error: {{Transliteration}}: unrecognized language / script code: egy-Latn (help)), (from kem "black"), is derived from the fertile black soils deposited by the Nile floods, distinct from the deshret, or "red land" ( Error: {{Transliteration}}: unrecognized language / script code: egy-Latn (help)), of the desert. The name is realized as kīmi and kīmə in the Coptic stage of the Egyptian language, and appeared in early Greek as Template:Polytonic (Khēmía). Another name was t3-mry "land of the riverbank". The names of Upper and Lower Egypt were Ta-Sheme'aw ( Error: {{Transliteration}}: unrecognized language / script code: egy-Latn (help)) "sedgeland" and Ta-Mehew ( Error: {{Transliteration}}: unrecognized language / script code: egy-Latn (help)) "northland", respectively.

Miṣr, the Arabic and modern official name of Egypt (Egyptian Arabic: Error: {{Transliteration}}: unrecognized language / script code: arz-Latn (help)), is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew Template:Lang-Hebrew2 (Mitzráyim), literally meaning "the two straits" (a reference to the dynastic separation of upper and lower Egypt). The word originally connoted "metropolis" or "civilization" and also means "country", or "frontier-land".

The English name "Egypt" came via the Latin word Aegyptus derived from the ancient Greek word Aígyptos (Αίγυπτος). The adjective aigýpti, aigýptios was borrowed into Coptic as gyptios, kyptios, and from there into Arabic as qubṭī, back formed into qubṭ, whence English Copt. The term is derived from Late Egyptian Hikuptah "Memphis", a corruption of the earlier Egyptian name Hat-ka-Ptah ( Error: {{Transliteration}}: unrecognized language / script code: egy-Latn (help)), meaning "home of the ka (soul) of Ptah", the name of a temple to the god Ptah at Memphis. Strabo provided a folk etymology according to which Aígyptos (Αίγυπτος) had evolved as a compound from Aegaeon uptiōs ( Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 2) (help)), meaning "below the Aegean".

History

Evidence of human habitation in the Nile Valley since the Paleolithic era appears in the form of artifacts and rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in the desert oases. In the 10th millennium BC, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers replaced a grain-grinding culture. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society.

By about 6000 BC the Neolithic culture rooted in the Nile Valley. During the Neolithic era, several predynastic cultures developed independently in Upper and Lower Egypt. The Badarian culture and the successor Naqada series are generally regarded as precursors to Dynastic Egyptian civilization. The earliest known Lower Egyptian site, Merimda, predates the Badarian by about seven hundred years. Contemporaneous Lower Egyptian communities coexisted with their southern counterparts for more than two thousand years, remaining somewhat culturally separate, but maintaining frequent contact through trade. The earliest known evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions appeared during the predynastic period on Naqada III pottery vessels, dated to about 3200 BC.

tAwy ('Two Lands') in hieroglyphs

A unified kingdom was founded circa 3150 BC by King Menes, giving rise to a series of dynasties that ruled Egypt for the next three millennia. Egyptians subsequently referred to their unified country as tawy, meaning "two lands", and later kemet (Coptic: kīmi), the "black land", a reference to the fertile black soil deposited by the Nile river. Egyptian culture flourished during this long period and remained distinctively Egyptian in its religion, arts, language and customs. The first two ruling dynasties of a unified Egypt set the stage for the Old Kingdom period, c.2700−2200 BC., famous for its many pyramids, most notably the Third Dynasty pyramid of Djoser and the Fourth Dynasty Giza Pyramids.

The First Intermediate Period ushered in a time of political upheaval for about 150 years. Stronger Nile floods and stabilization of government, however, brought back renewed prosperity for the country in the Middle Kingdom c. 2040 BC, reaching a peak during the reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat III. A second period of disunity heralded the arrival of the first foreign ruling dynasty in Egypt, that of the Semitic Hyksos. The Hyksos invaders took over much of Lower Egypt around 1650 BC and founded a new capital at Avaris. They were driven out by an Upper Egyptian force led by Ahmose I, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty and relocated the capital from Memphis to Thebes.

The New Kingdom (c.1550−1070 BC) began with the Eighteenth Dynasty, marking the rise of Egypt as an international power that expanded during its greatest extension to an empire as far south as Jebel Barkal in Nubia, and included parts of the Levant in the east. This period is noted for some of the most well-known Pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The first known self-conscious expression of monotheism came during this period in the form of Atenism. Frequent contacts with other nations brought new ideas to the New Kingdom. The country was later invaded by Libyans, Nubians and Assyrians, but native Egyptians drove them out and regained control of their country.

The Thirtieth Dynasty was the last native ruling dynasty during the Pharaonic epoch. It fell to the Persians in 343 BC after the last native Pharaoh, King Nectanebo II, was defeated in battle. Later, Egypt fell to the Greeks and Romans, beginning over two thousand years of foreign rule.

Before Egypt became part of the Byzantine realm, Christianity had been brought by Saint Mark the Evangelist in the AD first century. Diocletian's reign marked the transition from the Roman to the Byzantine era in Egypt, when a great number of Egyptian Christians were persecuted. The New Testament had by then been translated into Egyptian. After the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, a distinct Egyptian Coptic Church was firmly established.

The Byzantines were able to regain control of the country after a brief Persian invasion early in the seventh century, until in AD 639, Egypt was invaded by the Muslim Arabs. The form of Islam the Arabs brought to Egypt was Sunni. Early in this period, Egyptians began to blend their new faith with indigenous beliefs and practices that had survived through Coptic Christianity, giving rise to various Sufi orders that have flourished to this day. Muslim rulers nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained in control of Egypt for the next six centuries, including a period for which it was the seat of the Caliphate under the Fatimids. With the end of the Ayyubid dynasty, the Mamluks, a Turco-Circassian military caste, took control about AD 1250. They continued to govern even after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517.

The brief French Invasion of Egypt led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 had a great social impact on the country and its culture. Native Egyptians became exposed to the principles of the French Revolution and had a chance to exercise self-governance. The expulsion of the French in 1801 by Ottoman, Mamluk, and British forces was followed by four years of anarchy in which Ottomans, Mamluks, and Albanians who were nominally in the service of the Ottomans, wrestled for power. Out of this chaos, the commander of the Albanian regiment, Muhammad Ali (Kavalali Mehmed Ali Pasha) emerged as a dominant figure and in 1805 was acknowledged by the Sultan in Istanbul as his pasha (viceroy) in Egypt; the title implied subordination to the Sultan but this was in fact a polite fiction: Ottoman power in Egypt was finished and Muhammad Ali, an ambitious and able leader, established a dynasty that was to rule Egypt (at first really and later as British puppets) until the revolution of 1952. His primary focus was military: he annexed Northern Sudan (1820-1824), Syria (1833), and parts of Arabia and Anatolia; but in 1841 the European powers, fearful lest he topple Byzantium itself, checked him: he had to return most of his conquests to the Ottomans, but he kept the Sudan and his title to Egypt was made hereditary. A more lasting consequence of his military ambition is that it made him the moderniser of Egypt. Anxious to learn the military (and therefore industrial) techniques of the great powers he sent students to the West and invited training missions to Egypt. He built industries, a system of canals for irrigation and transport, and reformed the civil service. For better or worse, the introduction in 1820 of long-staple cotton, the Egyptian variety of which became famous, transformed Egyptian agriculture into a cash-crop monoculture befor the end of the century. The social effects of this were enormous: it led to the concentration of agriculture in the hands of large landowners, and, with the additional trigger of high cotton prices caused by the United States' civil war production drop, to a large influx of foreigners who began in earnest the exploitation of Egypt for international commodity production.

Muhammad Ali was succeeded briefly by his son Ibrahim (in September 1848), then by a grandson Abbas I (in November 1848), then by Said (in 1854), and Isma'il (in 1863). Abbas I was cautious. Said and Ismail were ambitious developers; unfortunately they spent beyond their means. The Suez Canal, built in partnership with the French, was completed in in 1869. The expense of this and other projects had two effects: it led to enormous debt to European banks, and caused popular discontent because of the onerous taxation it necessitated. In 1875 Ismail was forced to sell Egypt's share in the canal to the British government. Within three years this led to the imposition of British and French controllers who sat in the Egyptian cabinet, and, "with the financial power of the bondholders behind them, were the real power in the government." Local dissatisfaction with Ismail and with European intrusion led to the formation of the first nationalist groupings in 1879, with Ahmad Urabi a prominent figure. In 1882 he became head of a nationalist-dominated ministry committed to democratic reforms including parliamentary control of the budget. Fearing a diminishment of their control, Britain and France intervened militarily, bombarding Alexandria and crushing the Egyptian army at the battle of Tel el-Kebir. They reinstalled Ismail's son Tewfik as figurehead of a de facto British protectorate. In 1914 the Protectorate was made official, and the title of the head of state, which had changed from pasha to khedive in 1867, was changed to sultan, to repudiate the vestigal suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan, who was backing the Central powers in World War One. Abbas II was deposed as khedive and replaced by his uncle, Husayn Kamil, as sultan.

In 1906, the Dinshaway Incident prompted many neutral Egyptians to join the nationalist movement. After the First World War, Saad Zaghlul and the Wafd Party led the Egyptian nationalist movement, gaining a majority at the local Legislative Assembly. When the British exiled Zaghlul and his associates to Malta on March 8, 1919, the country arose in its first modern revolution. Constant revolting by the Egyptian people throughout the country led Great Britain to issue a unilateral declaration of Egypt's independence on February 22, 1922.

The new Egyptian government drafted and implemented a new constitution in 1923 based on a parliamentary representative system. Saad Zaghlul was popularly-elected as Prime Minister of Egypt in 1924. In 1936 the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was concluded. Continued instability in the government due to remaining British control and increasing political involvement by the king led to the ouster of the monarchy and the dissolution of the parliament in a military coup d'état known as the 1952 Revolution. The officers, known as the Free Officers Movement, forced King Farouk to abdicate in support of his son Fuad.

On June 18, 1953, the Egyptian Republic was declared, with General Muhammad Naguib as the first President of the Republic. Naguib was forced to resign in 1954 by Gamal Abdel Nasser– the real architect of the 1952 movement– and was later put under house arrest. Nasser assumed power as President and declared the full independence of Egypt from the United Kingdom on June 18, 1956. His nationalization of the Suez Canal on July 26, 1956 prompted the 1956 Suez Crisis.

Three years after the 1967 Six Day War, during which Israel had invaded and occupied Sinai, Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat. Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972. He launched the Infitah economic reform policy, while violently clamping down on religious and secular opposition alike.

In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched the October War, a surprise attack against the Israeli forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. It was an attempt to liberate the territory Israel had captured 6 years earlier. Both the US and the USSR intervened and a cease-fire was reached. Despite not being a complete military success, most historians agree that the October War presented Sadat with a political victory that later allowed him to regain the Sinai in return with peace with Israel.

Sadat made a historic visit to Israel in 1977, which led to the 1979 peace treaty in exchange for the complete Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. Sadat's initiative sparked enormous controversy in the Arab world and led to Egypt's expulsion from the Arab League, but it was supported by the vast majority of Egyptians. A fundamentalist military soldier assassinated Sadat in Cairo in 1981. He was succeeded by the incumbent Hosni Mubarak. In 2003, the Egyptian Movement for Change, popularly known as Kefaya, was launched to seek a return to democracy and greater civil liberties.

Identity

The Nile Valley was home to one of the oldest cultures in the world, spanning three thousand years of continuous history. When Egypt fell under a series of foreign occupations after 343 BC, each left an indelible mark on the country's cultural landscape. Egyptian identity evolved in the span of this long period of occupation to accommodate, in principle, two new religions, Christianity and Islam; and a new language, Arabic, and its spoken descendant, Egyptian Arabic. The degree to which Egyptians identify with each layer of Egypt's history in articulating a sense of collective identity can vary. Questions of identity came to fore in the last century as Egypt sought to free itself from foreign occupation for the first time in two thousand years. Three chief ideologies came to head: ethno-territorial Egyptian nationalism, secular Arab nationalism and pan-Arabism, and Islamism. Egyptian nationalism predates its Arab counterpart by many decades, having roots in the nineteenth century and becoming the dominant mode of expression of Egyptian anti-colonial activists and intellectuals until the early 20th century. Arab nationalism reached a peak under Nasser but was once again relegated under Sadat; meanwhile, the ideology espoused by radical muslim groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood is present in small segments of the lower-middle strata of Egyptian society.

Geography

At 1,001,450 square kilometers (386,660 sq mi), Egypt is the world's 38th-largest country (after Mauritania). It is comparable in size to Tanzania, twice the size of France, four times the size of the United Kingdom, and is more than half the size of the US state of Alaska.

Nevertheless, due to the aridity of Egypt's climate, population centres are concentrated along the narrow Nile Valley and Delta, meaning that approximately 99% of the population uses only about 5.5% of the total land area.

Egypt is bordered by Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east. Egypt's important role in geopolitics stems from its strategic position: a transcontinental nation, it possesses a land bridge (the Isthmus of Suez) between Africa and Asia, which in turn is traversed by a navigable waterway (the Suez Canal) that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea.

Apart from the Nile Valley, the majority of Egypt's landscape is a sandy desert. The winds blowing can create sand dunes more than 100 feet (30 m) high. Egypt includes parts of the Sahara Desert and of the Libyan Desert. These deserts were referred to as the "red land" in ancient Egypt, and they protected the Kingdom of the Pharaohs from western threats.

Towns and cities include Alexandria, one of the greatest ancient cities, Aswan, Asyut, Cairo, the modern Egyptian capital, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Giza, the site of the Pyramid of Khufu, Hurghada, Luxor, Kom Ombo, Port Safaga, Port Said, Sharm el Sheikh, Suez, where the Suez Canal is located, Zagazig, and Al-Minya. Oases include Bahariya, el Dakhla, Farafra, el Kharga and Siwa. Protectorates include Ras Mohamed National Park, Zaranik Protectorate and Siwa. See Egyptian Protectorates for more information.

Climate

Egypt does not receive much rainfall except in the winter months. South of Cairo, rainfall averages only around 2 to 5 mm (0.1 to 0.2 in) per year and at intervals of many years. On a very thin strip of the northern coast the rainfall can be as high as 410 mm (16 in), with most of the rainfall between October and March. Snow falls on Sinai's mountains and some of the north coastal cities such as Damietta, Baltim, Sidi Barrany, etc. and rarely in Alexandria, frost is also known in mid-Sinai and mid-Egypt.

Temperatures average between 80 °F (27 °C) and 90 °F (32 °C) in summer, and up to 109 °F (43 °C) on the Red Sea coast. Temperatures average between 55 °F (13 °C) and 70 °F (21 °C) in winter. A steady wind from the northwest helps hold down the temperature near the Mediterranean coast. The Khamaseen is a wind that blows from the south in Egypt in spring, bringing sand and dust, and sometimes raises the temperature in the desert to more than 100 °F (38 °C).

Every year, a predictable flooding of the Nile replenishes Egypt's soil. This gives the country consistent harvest throughout the year. Many know this event as The Gift of the Nile.

The rise in sea levels due to global warming threatens Egypt’s densely populated coastal strip and could have grave consequences for the country’s economy, agriculture and industry. Combined with growing demographic pressures, a rise in sea levels could turn millions of Egyptians into environmental refugees by the end of the century, according to climate experts.

Politics

National

Egypt has been a republic since June 18, 1953. President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has been the President of the Republic since October 14, 1981, following the assassination of former-President Mohammed Anwar El-Sadat. Mubarak is currently serving his fifth term in office. He is the leader of the ruling National Democratic Party. Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif was sworn in as Prime Minister on July 9, 2004, following the resignation of Dr. Atef Ebeid from his office.

Although power is ostensibly organized under a multi-party semi-presidential system, whereby the executive power is theoretically divided between the President and the Prime Minister, in practice it rests almost solely with the President who traditionally has been elected in single-candidate elections for more than fifty years. Egypt also holds regular multi-party parliamentary elections. The last presidential election, in which Mubarak won a fifth consecutive term, was held in September 2005.

In late February 2005, President Mubarak announced in a surprise television broadcast that he had ordered the reform of the country's presidential election law, paving the way for multi-candidate polls in the upcoming presidential election. For the first time since the 1952 movement, the Egyptian people had an apparent chance to elect a leader from a list of various candidates. The President said his initiative came "out of my full conviction of the need to consolidate efforts for more freedom and democracy." However, the new law placed draconian restrictions on the filing for presidential candidacies, designed to prevent well-known candidates such as Ayman Nour from standing against Mubarak, and paved the road for his easy re-election victory. Concerns were once again expressed after the 2005 presidential elections about government interference in the election process through fraud and vote-rigging, in addition to police brutality and violence by pro-Mubarak supporters against opposition demonstrators. After the election, Egypt imprisoned Nour, and the U.S. Government stated the “conviction of Mr. Nour, the runner-up in Egypt's 2005 presidential elections, calls into question Egypt's commitment to democracy, freedom, and the rule of law.”

As a result, most Egyptians are skeptical about the process of democratization and the role of the elections. Less than 25 percent of the country's 32 million registered voters (out of a population of more than 72 million) turned out for the 2005 elections. A proposed change to the constitution would limit the president to two seven-year terms in office.

Thirty-four constitutional changes voted on by parliament on March 19, 2007 prohibit parties from using religion as a basis for political activity; allow the drafting of a new anti-terrorism law to replace the emergency legislation in place since 1981, giving police wide powers of arrest and surveillance; give the president power to dissolve parliament; and end judicial monitoring of election. As opposition members of parliament withdrew from voting on the proposed changes, it was expected that the referendum would be boycotted by a great number of Egyptians in protest of what has been considered a breach of democratic practices. Eventually it was reported that only 27% of the registered voters went to the polling stations under heavy police presence and tight political control of the ruling National Democratic Party. It was officially announced on March 27, 2007 that 75.9% of those who participated in the referendum approved of the constitutional amendments introduced by President Mubarak and was endorsed by opposition free parliament, thus allowing the introduction of laws that curb the activity of certain opposition elements, particularly Islamists.

Human rights

Several local and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have for many years criticized Egypt's human rights record as poor. In 2005, President Hosni Mubarak faced unprecedented public criticism when he clamped down on democracy activists challenging his rule. Some of the most serious human rights violations, according to HRW's 2006 report on Egypt, are routine torture, arbitrary detentions and trials before military and state security courts.

Discriminatory personal status laws governing marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance which put women at a disadvantage have also been cited. Laws concerning Coptic Christians which place restrictions on church building and open worship have been recently eased, but major construction still requires governmental approval, while sporadic attacks on Christians and churches continue. Intolerance of Bahá'ís and unorthodox Muslim sects, such as Sufis and Shi'a, also remains a problem. The Egyptian legal system only recognizes three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. When the government moved to computerize identification cards, members of religious minorities, such as Bahá'ís, could not obtain identification documents. An Egyptian court ruled in early 2008 that members of other faiths can obtain identity cards without listing their faiths, and without becoming officially recognized. (For more on the status of religious minorities, see the Religion section.)

In 2005, the Freedom House rated political rights in Egypt as "6" (1 representing the most free and 7 the least free rating), civil liberties as "5" and gave it the freedom rating of "Not Free." It however noted that "Egypt witnessed its most transparent and competitive presidential and legislative elections in more than half a century and an increasingly unbridled public debate on the country's political future in 2005."

In 2007, human rights group Amnesty International released a report criticizing Egypt for torture and illegal detention. The report alleges that Egypt has become an international center for torture, where other nations send suspects for interrogation, often as part of the War on Terror. The report calls on Egypt to bring its anti-terrorism laws into accordance with international human rights statutes and on other nations to stop sending their detainees to Egypt. Egypt's foreign ministry quickly issued a rebuttal to this report, claiming that it was inaccurate and unfair, as well as causing deep offense to the Egyptian government.

Consensual homosexual conduct between adults is criminalized under Egyptian law as a "practice of debauchery". Since 2001, Egyptian authorities have made hundreds of arbitrary arrests of young gay men, many of whom have been tried and convicted for acts of "debauchery", while hundreds of others have been harassed and tortured, according to HRW. In February 2008, a new round of arrests and torture of HIV-positive citizens followed a man's admission to the police that he was HIV-positive, sparking international outcry that the Egyptian government was treating the AIDS disease as a homosexual "crime" instead of providing care, prevention and education.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) is one of the longest-standing bodies for the defence of human rights in Egypt. In 2003, the government established the National Council for Human Rights, headquartered in Cairo and headed by former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali who directly reports to the president. The council has come under heavy criticism by local NGO activists, who contend it undermines human rights work in Egypt by serving as a propaganda tool for the government to excuse its violations and to provide legitimacy to repressive laws such as the recently renewed Emergency Law. Egypt had announced in 2006 that it was in the process of abolishing the Emergency Law, but in March 2007 President Mubarak approved several constitutional amendments to include "an anti-terrorism clause that appears to enshrine sweeping police powers of arrest and surveillance", suggesting that the Emergency Law is here to stay for the long haul.

Foreign relations

Egypt's foreign policy operates along moderate lines. Factors such as population size, historical events, military strength, diplomatic expertise and a strategic geographical position give Egypt extensive political influence in Africa and the Middle East. Cairo has been a crossroads of regional commerce and culture for centuries, and its intellectual and Islamic institutions are at the center of the region's social and cultural development.

The permanent Headquarters of the Arab League are located in Cairo and the Secretary General of the Arab League has traditionally been an Egyptian. Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa is the current Secretary General. The Arab League briefly moved from Egypt to Tunis in 1978, as a protest to the signing by Egypt of a peace treaty with Israel, but returned in 1989.

Egypt was the first Arab state to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, with the signing of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in 1979. Egypt has a major influence amongst other Arab states, and has historically played an important role as a mediator in resolving disputes between various Arab states, and in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

Former Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali served as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1991 to 1996.

Governorates and markazes

Egypt is divided into 29 governorates (in Arabic, called muhafazat, singular muhafazah). The governorates are further divided into regions (markazes).

Each governorate has a capital, often having the same name as the governorate (see map, showing names of the 29 capitals).

The tables (below) list the governorates in alphabetical order. In April 2008, Cairo and Giza have divided to 4 governorates, the new governorates are 6th of October and Helwan beside Cairo and Giza

Economy

Egypt's economy depends mainly on agriculture, media, petroleum exports, and tourism; there are also more than three million Egyptians working abroad, mainly in Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf and Europe. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1970 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly-growing population, limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress the economy.

The government has struggled to prepare the economy for the new millennium through economic reform and massive investments in communications and physical infrastructure. Egypt has been receiving U.S. foreign aid (since 1979, an average of $2.2 billion per year) and is the third-largest recipient of such funds from the United States following the Iraq war. Its main revenues however come from tourism as well as traffic that goes through the Suez Canal.

Egypt has a developed energy market based on coal, oil, natural gas, and hydro power. Substantial coal deposits are in the north-east Sinai, and are mined at the rate of about 600,000 metric tons (590,000 long tons; 660,000 short tons) per year. Oil and gas are produced in the western desert regions, the Gulf of Suez, and the Nile Delta. Egypt has huge reserves of gas, estimated at over 1,100,000 cubic meters (39,000,000 cu ft) in the 1990s, and LNG is exported to many countries.

Economic conditions have started to improve considerably after a period of stagnation from the adoption of more liberal economic policies by the government, as well as increased revenues from tourism and a booming stock market. In its annual report, the IMF has rated Egypt as one of the top countries in the world undertaking economic reforms. Some major economic reforms taken by the new government since 2003 include a dramatic slashing of customs and tariffs. A new taxation law implemented in 2005 decreased corporate taxes from 40% to the current 20%, resulting in a stated 100% increase in tax revenue by the year 2006.

FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) into Egypt has increased considerably in the past few years due to the recent economic liberalization measures taken by minister of investment Mahmoud Mohieddin, exceeding $6 billion in 2006.

Although one of the main obstacles still facing the Egyptian economy is the trickle down of the wealth to the average population, many Egyptians criticize their government for higher prices of basic goods while their standards of living or purchasing power remains relatively stagnant. Often corruption is blamed by Egyptians as the main impediment to feeling the benefits of the newly attained wealth. Major reconstruction of the country's infrastructure is promised by the government, with a large portion of the sum paid for the newly acquired 3rd mobile license ($3 billion) by Etisalat.

The best known examples of Egyptian companies that have expanded regionally and globally are the Orascom Group and Raya. The IT sector has been expanding rapidly in the past few years, with many new start-ups conducting outsourcing business to North America and Europe, operating with companies such as Microsoft, Oracle and other major corporations, as well as numerous SME's. Some of these companies are the Xceed Contact Center, Raya Contact Center, E Group Connections and C3 along with other start ups in that country. The sector has been stimulated by new Egyptian entrepreneurs trying to capitalize on their country's huge potential in the sector, as well as constant government encouragement.

Demographics

Egypt is the most populated country in the Middle East and the third most populous on the African continent, with an estimated 75 million people (as of mid-2008). Almost all the population is concentrated along the banks of the Nile (notably Cairo and Alexandria), in the Delta and near the Suez Canal. Approximately 90% of the population adheres to Islam and most of the remainder to Christianity, primarily the Coptic Orthodox denomination. Apart from religious affiliation, Egyptians can be divided demographically into those who live in the major urban centers and the fellahin or farmers of rural villages. The last 40 years have seen a rapid increase in population due to medical advances and massive increase in agricultural productivity, made by the Green Revolution.

Egyptians are by far the largest ethnic group in Egypt at 98% of the total population. Ethnic minorities include the Bedouin Arab tribes living in the eastern deserts and the Sinai Peninsula, the Berber-speaking Siwis (Amazigh) of the Siwa Oasis, and the ancient Nubian communities clustered along the Nile. There are also tribal communities of Beja concentrated in the south-eastern-most corner of the country, and a number of Dom clans mostly in the Nile Delta and Faiyum who are progressively becoming assimilated as urbanization increases.

Egypt also hosts an unknown number of refugees and asylum seekers, but they are estimated to be between 500,000 and 3 million. There are some 70,000 Palestinian refugees, and about 150,000 recently arrived Iraqi refugees, but the number of the largest group, the Sudanese, is contested. The once-vibrant Jewish community in Egypt has virtually disappeared, with only a small number remaining in the country, but many Egyptian Jews visit on religious occasions and for tourism. Several important Jewish archaeological and historical sites are found in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities.

Media

The media of Egypt are highly influential both in Egypt and the Arab World, attributed to its large audience and increasing freedom from government control. Freedom of the media is guaranteed in the constitution, and the government is increasingly respecting this, however many laws still remain that restrict this right. After the Egyptian presidential election of 2005, Ahmed Selim, office director for Information Minister Anas al-Fiqi, declared the era of a "free, transparent and independent Egyptian media."

Religion

Religion plays a central role in most Egyptians' lives. The rolling calls to prayer that are heard five times a day have the informal effect of regulating the pace of everything from business to entertainment. Cairo is famous for its numerous mosque minarets and church towers.

Egypt is predominantly Muslim, at 90% of the population, with the majority being adherents of the Sunni branch of Islam. A significant number of Muslim Egyptians also follow native Sufi orders, and there is a minority of Shi'a.

Christians represent around 10% of the population, more than 95% of whom belong to the native Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Other native Egyptian Christians are adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church, the Coptic Evangelical Church and various Coptic Protestant denominations. Non-native Christian communities are largely found in the urban regions of Alexandria and Cairo, and are members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Maronite Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, or the Syriac Orthodox Church.

According to the Constitution of Egypt, any new legislation must at least implicitly agree with Islamic laws. The mainstream Hanafi school of Sunni Islam is largely organised by the state, through Wizaret Al-Awkaf (Ministry of Religious Affairs). Al-Awkaf controls all mosques and overviews Muslim clerics. Imams are trained in Imam vocational schools and at Al-Azhar University. The department supports Sunni Islam and has commissions authorised to give Fatwa judgements on Islamic issues.

Egypt hosts two major religious institutions. Al-Azhar University is the oldest Islamic institution of higher studies (founded around 970 A.D) and considered by many to be the oldest extant university. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, headed by the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, attests to Egypt's strong Christian heritage. It has a following of approximately 15 million Christians worldwide; affiliated sister churches are located in Armenia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, India, Lebanon and Syria.

Religious freedom in Egypt is hampered to varying degrees by extremist Islamist groups and by discriminatory and restrictive government policies. Being the largest religious minority in Egypt, Coptic Christians are the most negatively affected community. Copts have faced increasing marginalization after the 1952 coup d'état led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. Until recently, Christians were required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in churches. Although the law was eased in 2005 by handing down the authority of approval to the governors, Copts continue to face many obstacles in building new or repairing existing churches. These obstacles are not found in building mosques.

In addition, Copts complain of being minimally represented in law enforcement, state security and public office, and of being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion. The Coptic community, as well as several human rights activists and intellectuals (such as Saad Eddin Ibrahim and Tarek Heggy), maintain that the number of Christians occupying government posts is not proportional to the number of Copts in Egypt. Of the 32 cabinet ministers, two are Copts: Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali and Minister of Environment Magued George; and of the 25 local governors, only one is a Copt (in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Qena). However, Copts have demonstrated great success in Egypt's private business sector; Naguib Sawiris, an extremely successful businessman and one of the world's wealthiest 100 people is a Copt. In 2002, under the Mubarak government, Coptic Christmas (January 7) was recognized as an official holiday. Nevertheless, the Coptic community has occasionally been the target of hate crimes and physical assaults. The most significant was the 2000-2001 El Kosheh attacks , in which 21 Copts and one Muslim were killed. A 2006 attack on three churches in Alexandria left one dead and 17 injured, although the attacker was not linked to any organisation.

Egypt was once home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. Egyptian Jews, who were mostly Karaites, partook of all aspects of Egypt's social, economic and political life; one of the most ardent Egyptian nationalists, Yaqub Sanu' (Abu Naddara), was a Jew, as were famous musician Dawoud Husni, popular singer Leila Mourad, and prominent filmmaker Togo Mizrahi. For a while, Jews from across the Ottoman Empire and Europe were attracted to Egypt due to the relative harmony that characterized the local religious landscape in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After the 1956 Suez Crisis, a great number of Jews were expelled by Gamal Abdel Nasser, many of whom holding official Egyptian citizenship. Their Egyptian citizenship was revoked and their property was confiscated. A steady stream of migration of Egyptian Jews followed, reaching a peak after the Six-Day War with Israel in 1967. Today, Jews in Egypt number less than 100.

Bahá'ís in Egypt, whose population is estimated to be a few thousand, have long been persecuted, having their institutions and community activities banned. Since their faith is not officially recognized by the state, they were not allowed to use it on their national identity cards; a court case in 2008 allowed Bahá'ís to obtain birth certificates and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents.

There are Egyptians who identify as atheist and agnostic, but their numbers are largely unknown, as openly advocating such positions risks legal sanction on the basis of apostasy (if a citizen takes the step of suing the 'apostating' person, though not automatically by the general prosecutor). In 2000, an openly atheist Egyptian writer, who called for the establishment of a local association for atheists, was tried on charges of insulting Islam in four of his books.

While freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, according to Human Rights Watch, "Egyptians are able to convert to Islam generally without difficulty, but Muslims who convert to Christianity face difficulties in getting new identity papers and some have been arrested for allegedly forging such documents. The Coptic community, however, takes pains to prevent conversions from Christianity to Islam due to the ease with which Christians can often become Muslim. Public officials, being conservative themselves, intensify the complexity of the legal procedures required to recognize the religion change as required by law. Security agencies will sometimes claim that such conversions from Islam to Christianity (or occasionally vice versa) may stir social unrest, and thereby justify themselves in wrongfully detaining the subjects, insisting that they are simply taking steps to prevent likely social troubles from happening. In 2007, a Cairo administrative court denied 45 citizens the right to obtain identity papers documenting their reversion to Christianity after converting to Islam. However, in February 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the decision, allowing 12 citizens who had reverted back to Christianity to re-list their religion on identity cards, but they will specify that they had adopted Islam for a brief period of time.

Culture

Egyptian culture has five thousand years of recorded history. Ancient Egypt was among the earliest civilizations and for millennia, Egypt maintained a strikingly complex and stable culture that influenced later cultures of Europe, the Middle East and other African countries. After the Pharaonic era, Egypt itself came under the influence of Hellenism, Christianity, and Islamic culture. Today, many aspects of Egypt's ancient culture exist in interaction with newer elements, including the influence of modern Western culture, itself with roots in ancient Egypt.

Egypt's capital city, Cairo, is Africa's largest city and has been renowned for centuries as a center of learning, culture and commerce. Egypt has the highest number of Nobel Laureates in Africa and the Arab World. Some Egyptian born politicians were or are currently at the helm of major international organizations like Boutros Boutros-Ghali of the United Nations and Mohamed ElBaradei of the IAEA.

Renaissance

The work of early nineteenth-century scholar Rifa'a et-Tahtawi gave rise to the Egyptian Renaissance, marking the transition from Medieval to Early Modern Egypt. His work renewed interest in Egyptian antiquity and exposed Egyptian society to Enlightenment principles. Tahtawi co-founded with education reformer Ali Mubarak a native Egyptology school that looked for inspiration to medieval Egyptian scholars, such as Suyuti and Maqrizi, who themselves studied the history, language and antiquities of Egypt. Egypt's renaissance peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the work of people like Muhammad Abduh, Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed, Tawfiq el-Hakim, Louis Awad, Qasim Amin, Salama Moussa, Taha Hussein and Mahmoud Mokhtar. They forged a liberal path for Egypt expressed as a commitment to individual freedom, secularism and faith in science to bring progress.

Art and architecture

The Egyptians were one of the first major civilizations to codify design elements in art and architecture. The wall paintings done in the service of the Pharaohs followed a rigid code of visual rules and meanings. Egyptian civilization is renowned for its colossal pyramids, colonnades and monumental tombs. Well-known examples are the Pyramid of Djoser designed by ancient architect and engineer Imhotep, the Sphinx, and the temple of Abu Simbel. Modern and contemporary Egyptian art can be as diverse as any works in the world art scene, from the vernacular architecture of Hassan Fathy and Ramses Wissa Wassef, to Mahmoud Mokhtar's famous sculptures, to the distinctive Coptic iconography of Isaac Fanous.

The Cairo Opera House serves as the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Egypt's media and arts industry has flourished since the late nineteenth century, today with more than thirty satellite channels and over one hundred motion pictures produced each year. Cairo has long been known as the "Hollywood of the Middle East;" its annual film festival, the Cairo International Film Festival, has been rated as one of 11 festivals with a top class rating worldwide by the International Federation of Film Producers' Associations. To bolster its media industry further, especially with the keen competition from the Persian Gulf Arab States and Lebanon, a large media city was built. Some Egyptian-born actors, like Omar Sharif, have achieved worldwide fame.

Literature

Literature constitutes an important cultural element in the life of Egypt. Egyptian novelists and poets were among the first to experiment with modern styles of Arabic literature, and the forms they developed have been widely imitated throughout the Middle East. The first modern Egyptian novel Zaynab by Muhammad Husayn Haykal was published in 1913 in the Egyptian vernacular. Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Egyptian women writers include Nawal El Saadawi, well known for her feminist activism, and Alifa Rifaat who also writes about women and tradition. Vernacular poetry is perhaps the most popular literary genre amongst Egyptians, represented by the works of Ahmed Fouad Negm (Fagumi), Salah Jaheen and Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi.

Music

Egyptian music is a rich mixture of indigenous, Mediterranean, African and Western elements. In antiquity, Egyptians were playing harps and flutes, including two indigenous instruments: the ney and the oud. Percussion and vocal music also became an important part of the local music tradition ever since. Contemporary Egyptian music traces its beginnings to the creative work of people such as Abdu-l Hamuli, Almaz and Mahmud Osman, who influenced the later work of Egyptian music giants such as Sayed Darwish, Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Abdel Halim Hafez. These prominent artists were followed later by Amr Diab. He is seen by many as the new age "Musical Legend", whose fan base stretches all over the Middle East and Europe. From the 1970s onwards, Egyptian pop music has become increasingly important in Egyptian culture, while Egyptian folk music continues to be played during weddings and other festivities.

Festivals

Egypt is famous for its many festivals and religious carnivals, also known as mulid. They are usually associated with a particular Coptic or Sufi saint, but are often celebrated by all Egyptians irrespective of creed or religion. Ramadan has a special flavor in Egypt, celebrated with sounds, lights (local lanterns known as fawanees) and much flare that many Muslim tourists from the region flock to Egypt during Ramadan to witness the spectacle. The ancient spring festival of Sham en Nisim (Coptic: Ϭⲱⲙ‘ⲛⲛⲓⲥⲓⲙ shom en nisim) has been celebrated by Egyptians for thousands of years, typically between the Egyptian months of Paremoude (April) and Pashons (May), following Easter Sunday.

Sports

Football (soccer) is the de facto national sport of Egypt. Egyptian Soccer clubs El Ahly , El Zamalek and Ismaily are the most popular teams and enjoy the reputation of long-time regional champions. The great rivalries keep the streets of Egypt energized as people fill the streets when their favorite team wins. Egypt is rich in soccer history as soccer has been around for over 100 years. The country is home to many African championships such as the Africa Cup of Nations. While, Egypt's national team has not qualified for the FIFA World Cup since 1990, the Egyptian team won the Africa Cup Of Nations an unprecedented six times, including two times in a row in 1957 and 1959 and again in 2006 and 2008, setting a world record.

Squash and tennis are other popular sports in Egypt. The Egyptian squash team has been known for its fierce competition in international championships since the 1930s. Amr Shabana is Egypt's best player and the winner of the world open three times and the best player of 2006.

The Egyptian Handball team also holds another record; throughout the 34 times the African Handball Nations Championship was held, Egypt won first place five times (including 2008), five times second place, four times third place, and came in fourth place twice. The team won 6th and 7th places in 1995, 1997 at the World Men's Handball Championship, and twice won 6th place at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

In 2007, Omar joined Ben Stephens (England), Victoria James (Wales) and Greg Maud (South Africa) in putting together an expedition to climb Mount Everest from its South side. The Everest expedition began on the 25th of March 2007 and lasted for just over 9 weeks. On the 17th of May at precisely 9:49AM Nepal time, Omar became the first and youngest Egyptian to climb 8,850m Mount Everest. He also became the first Egyptian to climb Everest from its South face, the same route taken by Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing in 1953.

Egypt has a long history of participation at the Summer Olympics since 1912.

Best results

Military

The Egyptian Armed forces have a combined troop strength of around 450,000 active personnel. According to the Israeli chair of the former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuval Steinitz, the Egyptian Air Force has roughly the same number of modern warplanes as the Israeli Air Force and far more Western tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft batteries and warships than the IDF. The Egyptian military has recently undergone massive military modernization mostly in their Air Force. Other than Israel, Egypt is speculated by Israel to be the first country in the region with a spy satellite, EgyptSat 1, and is planning to launch 3 more satellites (DesertSat1, EgyptSat2, DesertSat2) over the next two years. Egypt is considered to be the leading military power in the Middle East along with Israel.

See also

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Lists

Main list: List of basic Egypt topics

• List of Rulers and heads of state of Egypt
• List of writers from Egypt
• List of Egyptian companies
• List of Egypt-related topics
• List of Egyptians
• List of Egyptian universities

Notes and references

1. ^ Central Agency for Population Mobilisation and Statistics - Population Clock (July 2008)
2. Rosalie, David (1997). Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh's Workforce. Routledge. pp. p. 18. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
3. "A Brief History of Alchemy". UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL SCHOOL OF CHEMISTRY. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
4. Breasted, James Henry (2001). Ancient Records of Egypt. University of Illinois Press. pp. 76, 40. ISBN 9780252069758. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
5. Biblical Hebrew E-Magazine. January, 2005
6. Hoffmeier, James K (October 1, 2007), "RAMESES OF THE EXODUS NARRATIVES IS THE 13TH CENTURY B.C. ROYAL RAMESSIDE RESIDENCE", Trinity Journal: 1
7. Midant-Reynes, Béatrix. The Prehistory of Egypt: From the First Egyptians to the First Kings. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
8. "The Nile Valley 6000-4000 BC Neolithic". The British Museum. 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
9. Bard, Kathryn A. Ian Shaw, ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. p. 69.
10. Kamil, Jill. Coptic Egypt: History and Guide. Cairo: American University in Cairo, 1997. p. 39
11. El-Daly, Okasha. Egyptology: The Missing Millennium. London: UCL Press, 2005. p. 140
12. Vatikiotis, P.J. The History of Modern Egypt. 4th edition. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1992, p. 39
13. Nejla M. Abu Izzeddin, Nasser of the Arabs, published circa 1973, p 2.
14. Nejla M. Abu Izzeddin, Nasser of the Arabs", p 2.
15. Anglo French motivation: Derek Hopwood, Egypt: Politics and Society 1945-1981. London, 1982, George Allen & Unwin. p 11.
16. De facto protectorate: Joan Wucher King, Historical Dictionary of Egypt. Metuchen, New Jersey, USA; 1984; Scarecrow. p 17.
17. James Jankowski, Egypt, A Short History, p. 111
18. Jankowski, op cit., p. 112
19. Vatikiotis, p. 443
20. Raymon Kondos (February 15). "The Egyptian Identity: Pharoahs, Moslems, Arabs, Africans, Middle Easterners or Mediterranean People?". Retrieved 2008-08-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. Jankowski, James. "Egypt and Early Arab Nationalism" in Rashid Khalidi, ed. The Origins of Arab Nationalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990, pp. 244-45
22. Dawisha, Adeed. Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2003, pp. 264-65, 267
23. World Factbook area rank order
24. Hamza, Waleed. Land use and Coastal Management in the Third Countries: Egypt as a case. Accessed= 2007-06-10.
25. Soliman, KH. Rainfall over Egypt. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, vol. 80, issue 343, pp. 104-104.
26. Marsa Matruh, Egypt. Weatherbase.com. Last accessed February 12, 2008.
27. Contingency planning for rising sea levels in Egypt | IRIN News, March 2008
28. Business TodayEGYPT. Mubarak throws presidential race wide open. March 2005.
29. Lavin, Abigail. Democracy on the Nile: The story of Ayman Nour and Egypt's problematic attempt at free elections. March 27, 2006.
30. Murphy, Dan. Egyptian vote marred by violence. Christian Science Monitor. May 26, 2005.
31. United States "Deeply Troubled" by Sentencing of Egypt's Nour. U.S. Department of State, Published December 24, 2005
32. Gomez, Edward M. Hosni Mubarak's pretend democratic election. San Francisco Chronicle. September 13, 2005.
33. ^ Egypt to begin process of lifting emergency laws. December 5, 2006.
34. Anger over Egypt vote timetable BBC News.
35. ^ Human Rights Watch. Egypt: Overview of human rights issues in Egypt. 2005
36. Church Building Regulations Eased
37. U.S. Department of State (2004-09-15). "Egypt: International Religious Freedom Report". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
38. ^ Johnston, Cynthia (2008-01-29). "Egypt Baha'is win court fight over identity papers". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
39. "Freedom in the World 2006" (PDF). Freedom House. 2005-12-16. Retrieved 2006-07-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    See also Freedom in the World 2006, List of indices of freedom
40. Freedom House. Freedom in the World - Egypt. 2006
41. Egypt torture centre, report says. bbc.co.uk. Written 2007-4-11. Accessed 2007-4-11.
42. Egypt rejects torture criticism. bbc.co.uk. Written 2007-4-13. Accessed 2007-4-13.
43. HRW. HIV-Motivated Arrests and Convictions Threaten Justice and Public Health. February 5, 2008.
44. HRW. In a Time of Torture: The Assault on Justice In Egypt’s Crackdown on Homosexual Conduct. 2004
45. AFP. Egypt chaining HIV men to hospital beds: rights group. February, 2008.
46. Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
47. Official page of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights.
48. Egyptian National Council for Human Rights Against Human Rights NGOs. EOHR. June 3, 2003.
49. Qenawy, Ahmed. The Egyptian Human Rights Council: The Apple Falls Close to the Tree. ANHRI. 2004
50. Egypt parliament approves changes in constitution. Reuters. March 20, 2007.
51. "Egypt: Economy". LookLex Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
52. IRIN Middle East | Middle East | Egypt | EGYPT: Corruption hampering development, says opposition report | Other | Breaking News
53. Daily News Egypt - Full Article
54. et - Full Story
55. Fatima El Saadani (August 2006). "Etisalat Wins Third License". Business Today. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
56. ^ "Egyptian people section from the World Factbook". World Fact Book. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
57. BBC NEWS | The limits of a Green Revolution?
58. Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
59. ^ Refugees in Egypt.
60. Iraq: from a Flood to a Trickle: Egypt
61. See The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants for a lower estimate. The The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights states on its web site that in 2000 the World Council of Churches claimed that "between two and five million Sudanese have come to Egypt in recent years". Most Sudanese refugees come to Egypt in the hope of resettling in Europe or the US.
62. ^ Country profiles: Egypt BBC
63. ^ "Plus ca Change: The Role of the Media in Egypt's First Contested Presidential Elections", TBS
64. Freedom House 2007 report
65. CIA - The World Factbook - Egypt
66. Hoffman, Valerie J. Sufism, Mystics, and Saints in Modern Egypt. University of South Carolina Press, 1995.
67. CIA - The World Factbook - Egypt
68. WorldWide Religious News. Church Building Regulations Eased. December 13, 2005.
69. Compass Direct News. Church Building Regulations Eased. December 13, 2005.
70. ArabicNews.com. Copts welcome Presidential announcement on Eastern Christmas Holiday. December 20, 2002.
71. BBC. Egypt church attacks spark anger, April 15, 2006.
72. Jewish Community Council (JCC) of Cairo. Bassatine News. 2006.
73. Halawi, Jailan (21-December 27, 2000). "Limits to expression". Al-Ahram Weekly. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
74. Human Rights Watch. World report 2007: Egypt.
75. EGYPT: NATIONAL UNITY AND THE COPTIC ISSUE. 2004
76. Egypt: Egypt Arrests 22 Muslim converts to Christianity. November 03, 2003
77. Shahine, Gihan. "Fraud, not Freedom". Ahram Weekly, 3 - May 9, 2007
78. Associated Press. Egypt court upholds right of converted Muslims to return to Christianity. 2008-02-09.
79. AFP. Egypt allows converts to revert to Christianity on ID. February, 2008.
80. El-Daly, op cit., p. 29
81. Jankowski, op cit., p. 130
82. Cairo Film Festival information.
83. "Global influence of Egyptian culture". Egypt State Information Service. February 04, 2006. Retrieved 2008-08-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
84. Vatikiotis, op cit.
85. Egypt Military Strength
86. Steinitz, Yuval. Not the peace we expected. Haaretz. December 05, 2006.
87. Katz, Yaacov. "Egypt to launch first spy satellite," Jerusalem Post, January 15, 2007.

General references

• Template:CIAfb
•  This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.

External links

• Egypt Information Portal
• Information and Decision Support Center, Egyptian Cabinet
• Egyptian Government Services Portal
• Egypt State Information Services
• BBC News Country Profile - Egypt
• CIA World Factbook - Egypt
• US State Department - Egypt includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports

Wikimedia Atlas of Egypt

• Egypt Yellow Pages Online Directory
• Encyclopaedia Britannica's Egypt Country Page
• Egyptian people
• Eternal Egypt
• Leonard William King, History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria in the Light of Recent Discovery, Project Gutenberg.
• Gaston Camille Charles Maspero, History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, in 12 volumes, Project Gutenberg.
• Rural poverty in Egypt (IFAD)
• Ancient Egyptian Civilization - Aldokkan
• New Projects in Egypt
• Amnesty International's 2005 Report on Egypt.
• Egypt travel portal. Online travel and tourism guides to Egypt and cities like Cairo.
• Business Anti-Corruption Portal -- Egypt Country Profile
• Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Egypt
• Template:Dmoz
• Photos of Egypt
• Template:Wikitravel
• Egypt Maps - Perry-Castañeda Map Collection
• Egyptian History (urdu)
• By Nile and Tigris, a narrative of journeys in Egypt and Mesopotamia on behalf of the British museum between the years 1886 and 1913, by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, 1920 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)
• Egypt Online Directory
• The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
• PortSaid Free-zone forums
• Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt.

Geographic locale

v t e Governorates of Egypt Urban Cairo Alexandria Port Said Suez Lower Egypt Ismailia Kafr El Sheikh Gharbia Dakahlia Sharqia Monufia Qalyubia Damietta Beheira Upper Egypt Giza Faiyum Beni Suef Minya Asyut Sohag Qena Aswan Luxor Frontier Red Sea New Valley Matrouh North Sinai South Sinai v t e Middle East Countries Bahrain Cyprus Egypt Iran Iraq Iraqi Kurdistan Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Northern Cyprus Oman Palestine Gaza West Bank Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria Rojava Turkish occupation of northern Syria Turkey United Arab Emirates Yemen Society Climate change Democracy Economy Energy History Timeline Modern conflicts Human rights Water politics Water conflict Demographics Ethnic groups Genetics Metropolitan areas Religion Irreligion Culture Archaeology Cinema Cuisine Etiquette Music Dance Studies v t e Countries and territories of Africa Sovereign states Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt (partly in Asia) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe States with limited recognition Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (unclear sovereignty) Somaliland Dependent territories France Îles Éparses United Kingdom Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha African territories fully part of non-African states France Mayotte Réunion Italy Pantelleria Pelagie Islands Portugal Madeira Savage Islands Spain Canary Islands Ceuta Melilla Plazas de soberanía Yemen Socotra Category Africa portal v t e Countries and territories of the Mediterranean Sea Sovereign states Albania Algeria Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Cyprus Egypt France Greece Israel Italy Lebanon Libya Malta Monaco Montenegro Morocco Slovenia Spain Syria Tunisia Turkey States with limited recognition Northern Cyprus Palestine Dependencies and other territories Akrotiri and Dhekelia (UK) Gibraltar (UK) Ceuta and Melilla (Spain) Marginal seas Adriatic Sea Aegean Sea Alboran Sea Balearic Sea Ionian Sea Levantine Sea Libyan Sea Ligurian Sea Sea of Crete Sea of Marmara Sea of Sardinia Thracian Sea Tyrrhenian Sea v t e Countries bordering the Red Sea  Djibouti  Egypt  Eritrea  Ethiopia  Jordan  Saudi Arabia  Somalia  Sudan  Yemen

International membership

v t e Arab League Arab League Lists Politics Charter Council Flag Geography Headquarters History Military United States Central Command (United States military bases) Joint Defence Council Parliament Arab Union Membership Members Algeria Bahrain Comoros Djibouti Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Mauritania Morocco Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Somalia Sudan Syria Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen Observers Armenia Brazil Chad Eritrea Greece India Venezuela Candidates South Sudan Diplomacy Arab Peace Initiative Arab League monitors in Syria Arab League–European Union relations Foreign relations Life Demographics Economy GDP Economic and Social Council Institutions Sport Pan-Arabism Union of Arab National Olympic Committees Pan Arab Games v t e Non-Aligned Movement Members and the NAM Cyprus ‡ Egypt Ghana India Malta ‡ Sri Lanka Tanzania Yugoslavia ‡ Structure Bureau Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement Organizations Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-aligned and Other Developing Countries Center for Human Rights and Cultural Diversity NAM Youth NAM News Network (News Agencies Pool) "Josip Broz Tito" Art Gallery of the Nonaligned Countries Principles Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Summits Bandung Conference Brioni Meeting 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 16th 18th 19th Founders Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslavia) Sukarno (Indonesia) Jawaharlal Nehru (India) Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt) People Houari Boumediene Fidel Castro Nelson Mandela Mohamed Morsi Nicolás Maduro Sirimavo Bandaranaike ‡ denotes a former member state of the Non-Aligned Movement Template:Afro-Asiatic-speaking nations v t e African Union History Pan-Africanism Decolonisation of Africa Casablanca Group Monrovia Group African and Malagasy Union Abuja Treaty Sirte Declaration Lome Summit Organisation of African Unity Chairperson Secretary General Geography Borders Extreme points Member states Regions Organs Executive Council Permanent Representatives' Committee Specialized Technical Committees Assembly Chairperson Commission Chairperson Deputy Chairperson AUCC 2025 election Pan-African Parliament Bureau Secretariat Gallagher Estate African Court of Justice African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights ECOSOCC Committees Peace and Security Political Affairs Infrastructure and Energy Social Affairs and Health HR, Sciences and Technology Trade and Industry Rural Economy and Agriculture Economic Affairs Women and Gender Cross-Cutting Programs Financial institutions African Central Bank African Monetary Fund African Investment Bank Peace and Security Council ACIRC African Standby Force Panel of the Wise UNAMID AMIB AMIS AMISOM MISCA Specialised agencies and institutions Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Politics APRM Foreign relations African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Enlargement United States Africa Command (United States military bases) United States ambassadors African Union–Ethiopia relations Symbols Anthem Emblem Flag Passport Economy Currencies (Gold standard) Development Bank African Economic Community NEPAD African Continental Free Trade Area Single African Air Transport Market Culture Africa Day African Border Day Theory Afro Federal Africa United States of Latin Africa East African Federation Category Template:D8 nations v t e Nations in the Group of 15 (G-15) Summits 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2004 2006 2010 2012 Members Algeria Argentina Brazil Chile Egypt India Indonesia Iran Jamaica Kenya Malaysia Mexico Nigeria Senegal Sri Lanka Venezuela Zimbabwe v t e Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN-SAD) Benin Burkina Faso Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Djibouti Egypt Eritrea Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Liberia Libya Mali Mauritania Morocco Niger Nigeria São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia Sudan Togo Tunisia v t e Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: Hissein Brahim Taha Member states Members Afghanistan Albania Algeria Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Benin Burkina Faso Brunei Cameroon Chad Comoros Djibouti Egypt Gabon Gambia Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Indonesia Iran Iraq Ivory Coast Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Libya Malaysia Maldives Mali Mauritania Morocco Mozambique Niger Nigeria Oman Pakistan Pakistan-OIC relations Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia Sudan Suriname Tajikistan Togo Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda Uzbekistan United Arab Emirates Yemen Suspended Syria Observers Countries and territories Bosnia and Herzegovina Central African Republic Northern Cyprus Russia Thailand Muslim communities Moro National Liberation Front International organizations Economic Cooperation Organization African Union Arab League Non-Aligned Movement United Nations History Declarations Abuja Declaration (1989) Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (1990) OIC Resolution 10/11 (2008) OIC Council of Foreign Ministers Resolution 10/37 (2010) Sessions Extraordinary First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Arab–Islamic (2023) Demographics Economy GDP GDP per capita Exports Imports Population Largest cities Education As the "Turkish Cypriot State". v t e Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Members Members Albania Andorra Armenia Belgium Benin Bulgaria Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Cyprus Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Dominica Egypt Equatorial Guinea France Gabon Ghana Greece Guinea-Bissau Haiti Ivory Coast Laos Lebanon Luxembourg North Macedonia Madagascar Mauritania Mauritius Moldova Monaco Morocco Qatar Romania Rwanda Saint Lucia São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Switzerland Togo Tunisia Vanuatu Vietnam National/regional members French Community of Belgium New Brunswick Quebec Associate members Kosovo New Caledonia Qatar Serbia United Arab Emirates Observers Angola Argentina Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina Chile Costa Rica Croatia Czechia Dominican Republic Estonia French Polynesia Gambia Georgia Hungary Ireland Latvia Lithuania Louisiana Malta Mexico Montenegro Mozambique Nova Scotia Ontario Poland Saarland Slovakia Slovenia South Korea Thailand Ukraine Uruguay Suspended members Burkina Faso Guinea Mali Niger Organization Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique Agence universitaire de la Francophonie Culture French language UN French Language Day International Francophonie Day Jeux de la Francophonie Prix des cinq continents de la francophonie AFFOI TV5Monde LGBT rights Related Francophone economy Senghor University Category Template:Semitic-speaking nations

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