Over 5000 years ago, one of the world’s greatest civilizations grew up in Egypt along the banks of the River Nile. Today, almost everybody in Egypt still lives along the Nile, in towns, cities and villages on its fertile floodplain. Egypt has a hot, dry desert climate, and desert covers much of the rest of the country. East of the Nile, the desert meets the Red Sea coast at a range of mountains. The Libyan Desert, part of the vast Sahara, stretches off to the west. Where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile splits into two main channels and many smaller ones, forming a wide delta. Here lies the richest farmland in Egypt. The Suez Canal, in the northeast, gives ships a short cut between the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea.

People

Around 90% of Egypt’s people are ethnic Egyptian: they are descendants of the people who have lived here for thousands of years. While the majority of the population are Muslim, there are about 7–12 million Coptic Christians, who follow a branch of Christianity that has its roots in Egypt 1900 years ago. In Egypt’s cities, many people work in services such as banking, education and tourism. Traditional coffee houses are popular places for people to meet their friends, play games and talk.
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Just over half of Egyptians live in the countryside. There is a shortage of farmland on the narrow Nile floodplain, and some is being lost to the desert each year. The rest is farmed intensively, with cotton, rice, wheat, corn, sugar cane, fruit and vegetables among the main crops. The cotton that is grown in Egypt has especially long fibres, making it softer and stronger than other types of cotton.

Oil and tourism

Oil reserves were first discovered in Egypt’s Gulf of Suez in the early 20th century. Today, petroleum products, oil and natural gas are the country's major exports. Egypt's principal source of income is tourism. Around 15 million tourists come every year to visit the country’s ancient monuments, especially the pyramids, tombs and temples, as well as its Red Sea beaches.

Aswan Dam

Egypt receives very little rain, so nearly all the water used in agriculture comes from the River Nile. Historically, the Nile flooded once each year, leaving behind minerals that enriched the soil. But crops were sometimes destroyed whenever there was either a particularly high flood—or a drought. The completion of the High Dam at Aswan in 1970 has helped to manage the Nile floods, provide a reliable water supply for irrigation from the new reservoir Lake Nasser, and enable hydro-electric power to be generated. When the river swells, the dam holds back some of the water so that it can be distributed later in the year. Canals channel water into the fields. Farmers can now produce two or more crops per year.

Facts about Egypt

Population 107,304,000 (2024 estimate)

Area 997,739 sq km (385,230 sq miles)

Highest point Mount Catherine 2629 m (8625 ft)

Capital Cairo (pop. 9,801,536; metro area pop. 25,600,000)

Other major cities Alexandria (5,362,517), Giza (4,458,135), Shubra El Kheima (1,275,700), Port Said (791,749), Suez (716,458)

Languages Modern Standard Arabic (official language), Egyptian Arabic, Sa’idi Arabic

Religions Muslim (mostly Sunni) 90%, Coptic Christian 9%, other 1%

Ethnicity Egyptian 91%, Bedouin 1%, Beja 1%, Nubian, Abazas and other 7%

Currency Egyptian pound (EGP)

Chief exports Oil and petroleum products, cotton, textiles, metals, processed food, chemicals