*Egypt, Geography

Location:
  Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, between
  Sudan and Libya
Map references:
  Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  1,001,450 km2
 land area:
  995,450 km2
 comparative area:
  slightly more than three times the size of New Mexico
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:
 contiguous zone:
  24 nm
 continental shelf:
  200 m depth or to depth of exploitation
 exclusive economic zone:
  not specified
 territorial sea:
  12 nm
International disputes:
  administrative boundary with Sudan does not coincide with international
  boundary creating the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of 20,580 km2, the
  dispute over this area escalated in 1993
Climate:
  desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters
Terrain:
  vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta
Natural resources:
  petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum,
  talc, asbestos, lead, zinc
Land use:
 arable land:
  3%
 permanent crops:
  2%
 meadows and pastures:
  0%
 forest and woodland:
  0%
 other:
  95%
Irrigated land:
  25,850 km2 (1989 est.)
Environment:
  Nile is only perennial water source; increasing soil salinization below
  Aswan High Dam; hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring;
  water pollution; desertification
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; size and juxtaposition to Israel establish its
  major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics

*Egypt, People

Population:
  59,585,529 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  2.3% (1993 est.)
 note:
  the US Bureau of the Census has lowered its 1993 estimate of growth to 2.0%
  on the basis of a 1992 Egyptian government survey, whereas estimates of
  other observers go as high as 2.9%
Birth rate:
  33 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  9 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  NEGL
Infant mortality rate:
  78.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  60.46 years
 male:
  58.61 years
 female:
  62.41 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  4.35 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Egyptian(s)
 adjective:
  Egyptian
Ethnic divisions:
  Eastern Hamitic stock 90%, Greek, Italian, Syro-Lebanese 10%
Religions:
  Muslim (mostly Sunni) 94% (official estimate), Coptic Christian and other 6%
  (official estimate)
Languages:
  Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes
Literacy:
  age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
 total population:
  48%
 male:
  63%
 female:
  34%
Labor force:
  15 million (1989 est.)
 by occupation:
  government, public sector enterprises, and armed forces 36%, agriculture
  34%, privately owned service and manufacturing enterprises 20% (1984)
 note:   shortage of skilled labor; 2,500,000 Egyptians work abroad, mostly in Saudi
  Arabia and the Gulf Arab states (1988 est.)

*Egypt, Government

Names:
 conventional long form:
  Arab Republic of Egypt
 conventional short form:
  Egypt
 local long form:
  Jumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah
 local short form:
  none
 former:
  United Arab Republic (with Syria)
Digraph:
  EG
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 UK)
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
National holiday:
  Anniversary of the Revolution, 23 July (1952)
Political parties and leaders:
  National Democratic Party (NDP), President Mohammed Hosni MUBARAK, leader,
  is the dominant party; legal opposition parties are Socialist Liberal Party
  (SLP), Kamal MURAD; Socialist Labor Party, Ibrahim SHUKRI; National
  Progressive Unionist Grouping (NPUG), Khalid MUHYI-AL-DIN; Umma Party, Ahmad
  al-SABAHI; New Wafd Party (NWP), Fu'ad SIRAJ AL-DIN; Misr al-Fatah Party
  (Young Egypt Party), Ali al-Din SALIH; The Greens Party, Hasan RAJABD;
  Nasserist Arab Democratic Party, Muhammad Rif'at al-MUHAMI; Democratic
  Unionist Party, Mohammed 'Abd-al-Mun'im TURK; Democratic Peoples' Party,
  Anwar AFISI
 note:
  formation of political parties must be approved by government
Other political or pressure groups:
  Islamic groups are illegal, but the largest one, the Muslim Brotherhood, is
  tolerated by the government; trade unions and professional associations are
  officially sanctioned
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Elections:
 Advisory Council:
  last held 8 June 1989 (next to be held June 1995); results - NDP 100%; seats
  - (258 total, 172 elected) NDP 172

*Egypt, Government

 People's Assembly:
  last held 29 November 1990 (next to be held November 1995); results - NDP
  78.4%, NPUG 1.4%, independents 18.7%; seats - (437 total, 444 elected) NDP
  348, NPUG 6, independents 83; note - most opposition parties boycotted
 President:
  last held 5 October 1987 (next to be held October 1993); results - President
  Hosni MUBARAK was reelected
Executive branch:
  president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
  unicameral People's Assembly (Majlis al-Cha'b); note - there is an Advisory
  Council (Majlis al-Shura) that functions in a consultative role
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Constitutional Court
Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Mohammed Hosni MUBARAK (was made acting President on 6 October
  1981 upon the assassination of President SADAT and sworn in as president on
  14 October 1981)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Atef Mohammed Najib SEDKY (since 12 November 1986)
Member of:
  ABEDA, ACC, ACCT (associate), AfDB, AFESD, AG (observer), AL, AMF, CAEU,
  CCC, EBRD, ECA, ESCWA, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
  ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,
  IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OAU, OIC, PCA,
  UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMOZ, UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UPU, UNRWA,
  WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Ahmed MAHER El Sayed
 chancery:
  2310 Decatur Place NW, Washington, DC 20008
 telephone:
  (202) 232-5400
 consulates general:
  Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Robert PELLETREAU
 embassy:
  Lazougi Street, Garden City, Cairo
 mailing address:
  APO AE 09839  telephone:
  [20] (2) 355-7371
 FAX:
  [20] (2) 355-7375
 consulate general:
  Alexandria
Flag:
  three equal horizontal bands of 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

*Egypt, Economy

Overview:
  Egypt has one of the largest public sectors of all the Third World
  economies, 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
  1991-92 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 momentum and unemployment has become a growing
  problem. In 1992-93 tourism has plunged 20% or so because of sporadic
  attacks by Islamic extremists on tourist groups. President MUBARAK has cited
  population growth as the main cause of the country's economic troubles. The
  addition of about 1.4 million people a year to the already huge population
  of 60 million exerts enormous pressure on the 5% of the land area available
  for agriculture.
National product:
  GDP - exchange rate conversion - $41.2 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  2.1% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
  $730 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  21% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  20% (1992 est.)
Budget:
  revenues $12.6 billion; expenditures $15.2 billion, including capital
  expenditures of $4 billion (FY92 est.)
Exports:
  $3.6 billion (f.o.b., FY92 est.)
 commodities:   crude oil and petroleum products, cotton yarn, raw cotton, textiles, metal
  products, chemicals
 partners:
  EC, Eastern Europe, US, Japan
Imports:
  $10.0 billion (c.i.f., FY92 est.)
 commodities:
  machinery and equipment, foods, fertilizers, wood products, durable consumer
  goods, capital goods
 partners:
  EC, US, Japan, Eastern Europe
External debt:
  $38 billion (December 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate 7.3% (FY89 est.); accounts for 18% of GDP
Electricity:
  14,175,000 kW capacity; 47,000 million kWh produced, 830 kWh per capita
  (1992)
Industries:
  textiles, food processing, tourism, chemicals, petroleum, construction,
  cement, metals

*Egypt, Economy

Agriculture:
  accounts for 20% of GDP and employs more than one-third of labor force;
  dependent on irrigation water from the Nile; world's sixth-largest cotton
  exporter; other crops produced include rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruit,
  vegetables; not self-sufficient in food for a rapidly expanding population;
  livestock - 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 US; popular transit stop for Nigerian couriers;
  large domestic consumption of hashish and heroin from Lebanon and Syria
Economic aid:
  US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $15.7 billion; Western (non-US)
  countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $10.1 billion; OPEC
  bilateral aid (1979-89), $2.9 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $2.4
  billion
Currency:
  1 Egyptian pound (#E) = 100 piasters
Exchange rates:
  Egyptian pounds (#E) per US$1 - 3.345 (November 1992), 2.7072 (1990), 2.5171
  (1989), 2.2233 (1988), 1.5183 (1987)
Fiscal year:
  1 July - 30 June

*Egypt, Communications

Railroads:
  5,110 km total; 4,763 km 1,435-meter standard gauge, 347 km 0.750-meter
  gauge; 951 km double track; 25 km electrified
Highways:
  51,925 km total; 17,900 km paved, 2,500 km gravel, 13,500 km improved earth,
  18,025 km unimproved earth
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, Port Said, Suez, Bur Safajah, Damietta
Merchant marine:
  168 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,097,707 GRT/1,592,885 DWT; includes
  25 passenger, 6 short-sea passenger, 2 passenger-cargo, 88 cargo, 3
  refrigerated cargo, 14 roll-on/roll-off, 13 oil tanker, 16 bulk, 1 container
Airports:
 total:
  92
 usable:
  82
 with permanent-surface runways:
  66
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  2
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  44
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  24
Telecommunications:
  large system by Third World standards but inadequate for present
  requirements and undergoing extensive upgrading; about 600,000 telephones
  (est.) - 11 telephones per 1,000 persons; principal centers at Alexandria,
  Cairo, Al Mansurah, Ismailia Suez, and Tanta are connected by coaxial cable
  and microwave radio relay; international traffic is carried by satellite -
  one earth station for each of Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, Indian Ocean
  INTELSAT, ARABSAT and INMARSAT; by 5 coaxial submarine cables, microwave
  troposcatter (to Sudan), and microwave radio relay (to Libya, Israel, and
  Jordan); broadcast stations - 39 AM, 6 FM, and 41 TV

*Egypt, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Command
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 14,513,752; fit for military service 9,434,020; reach
  military age (20) annually 581,858 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $2.05 billion, 5% of GDP (FY92/93)