It has the largest population of all of Arab countries. It is home of the Nile River and it gets only 2.5cm of rain fall each year.
These are just three of the things that you will learn, or already know, about Egypt.
CUETHEINTRO
Hello everyone! Welcome to the GEOFocus channel and my name is Paul.
Today, I'm going to be talking about Egypt.
The Arab Republic of Egypt is one of the most important countries in the Arab world.
With a population of 90,354,000;
it is the most populous Arab country
and it is culturally influential throughout the region.
It's also a country with a wondrous ancient history that came to form modern Egypt.
Egypt is located in two different continents. Most of Egypt lies in the north-east corner of Africa,
while the Sinai peninsula is situated in south-west Asia.
It is usually classified as part of the middle-east.
There is no single definition for what constitutes the middle-east, but it usually includes countries in south-west Asia plus Egypt.
It is bordered to the west by Libya, and to the south with Sudan,
and to the north-east with Israel and the Gaza Strip.
with a total area of 1,010,408 km², it is the 30th largest country in the world.
That makes it slightly larger than Tanzania and slightly smaller than Mauritania.
Most of Egypt is covered by the Sahara Desert.
Which makes most of the country dry and uninhabitable.
There are a few Oases punctuating the Desert.
But most of Egypt's population lives along the Nile River.
which flows 1600 km throughout Egypt.
The Nile, which is commonly considered to be one of the longest rivers in the world,
supplies the majority of Egypt's water.
It is really the only thing that is allowing agriculture in Egypt because Egypt gets very little rainfall.
Without the Nile, Egypt would be all Desert.
The result is that 99% of Egypt's population lives along the Nile River or the Nile River Delta,
only about 5% of Egypt's land.
That makes the Nile River Valley, and Delta, one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
The Nile River Valley, and Delta constitute one of Egypt's major regions.
The other regions are the Western Desert (also known as the Libyan Desert,)
the Eastern Desert,
and the Sinai Peninsula
The Western and Eastern Deserts are part of the Sahara Desert by the way.
So, don't be confused by the names.
The Western Desert covers 2/3 of Egypt.
and consists of a low plateau and the sand domes of the great sand sea.
It is largely uninhabited with little vegetation except for a number of oases:
which receive freshwater from the Nile, or from local ground-water sources.
The Eastern Desert is much more mountainous with the red sea hills extending to the red sea and the Gulf of Suez.
These hills reach an elevation of 1900 meters.
Such hills also extend into the southern part of the Sinai peninsula.
This little triangle shaped peninsula right here.
The highest mountain is St. Catherine at an elevation of 2,642 m.
Also nearby there is Mt. Sinai where Moses was thought to have received the ten commandments from God.
The central Sinai consists of a lower plateau, and the northern Sinai is a sandy coastal plane that extends up to Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip was under the control of Egypt for most of the time from 1948 until 1967.
During the 1956 Sinai war between Egypt, and France; the U.K, and Israel.
Israel took control of the Gaza Strip and Sinai, but they returned it the following year.
BUT― again in 1967 Israel seized the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula in the six day war,
and this time they kept them until 1979 when they started to return them under a peace agreement with Egypt.
But Egypt refused to take back the Gaza Strip this time.
There are a number of popular tourist towns in Sinai including; Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab, and Nuweibaa.
and these are all situated on the red-sea.
Egypt has 1705 km of coastline along the Red Sea;
where you can experience some of the best scuba-diving/snorkeling in the world.
I've spent some time in Dahab and I had a great time there, enjoying the sort of laid-back, backpacker life style;
Going snorkeling, enjoying the sea life. All of that sort of thing. It is a beautiful place.
Egypt's other coastline is on the Mediterranean Sea extending 1050 km from east to west.
Egypt's second largest city; Alexandria. It lies on the Mediterranean Sea and also at the edge of the Nile Delta.
This location puts Alexandria in danger of rising water levels due to climate change.
Just a 25 cm increase in the water level would put 60% of Alexandria's residents below sea level and at risk of flooding.
Alexandria is Egypt's most important port and the location of 40% of Egypt's industry.
So, a rise in the water level could cause a severe disruption to Egypt's economy.
Moving south through the Nile Delta we arrive at Cairo, the capital of Egypt and its largest city.
In fact, it is the largest city in Africa and all of the Arab world.
There are over 10 million people living in the city itself and over 20 million people living in the greater Cairo area.
The world famous Giza Pyramids are located in the greater Cairo area.
and those are one of the more major attractions to visitors of Cairo.
It's an exciting, bussling city with an amazing atmosphere, but it can be overwhelming to visitors
and you need to be aware of all the pushy sales people and all the scammers who target tourists.
(SCARY MUSIC STARTS) Don't trust anybody who approaches you on the street who claims to have a relative in your home country. SCAM 101 (!!!!!!!) (SCARY MUSIC STOPS ABRUPTLY)
Cairo's Tahrir was the site of huge protests against Hosni Murabak regime back in 2011.
Some protests that spread across the entire country.
In the end, Murabak was ousted, and then the military government took over, then Mohammed Morsi― who was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Won an election, and become the first democratically elected president in Egypt's history.
BUT― was mostly ousted by the military back in 2013.
That is right! First, the military ousted Hosni Murabak and then held elections, then they ousted the man who won the elections.
Confusing, I know!
About 90% of Egypt's population is Muslim, and 9% are Coptic Christians, and 1% are Christians of other denominations.
The official language of Egypt is Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic is the language of the Media and Education.
But there is also the Egyptian dialect of Arabic which is used for everyday speech and is quite distinct from Modern Standard Arabic.
Much of the Arab world's entertainment industry is centered in Cairo;
So, a lot of movies, T.V shows, and songs are in Egyptian Arabic.
So, Egyptian Arabic is widely understood throughout the Arab world.
Egypt's ancient civilization is a source of fascination for people from all over the world.
We can't go into detail about ancient Egyptian history here, but the kingdoms of Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt existed as early as 5500 B.C.E.
Around 3200 B.C.E Egypt was united under one king.
Egyptian kings were known as Pharaohs, and were thought to be living gods.
Because of Egypt's dry climate and its stone architecture;
today, Egypt has a lot of remnants of its ancient history.
The Giza Pyramids, Luxor, and Aswan are some of the biggest attractions for visitors to Egypt.
When is the best time to visit Egypt?
Well, the summer is probably a bad idea, unless you're insane like me and you want to go in July and get your whole body sunburned.
Egypt is generally hot and dry.
Summer temperatures in Cairo normally reach 35 degrees but often reach over 40 degrees. (35~40)
The southern areas are even hotter with temperatures commonly rising above 40 degrees. (40~45)
November to March is generally much more comfortable with daily temperatures being around 20 degrees.
Then with temperatures in Luxor reaching 25 to 30 degrees.
BUT― be warned that temperatures at night can be pretty cool.
So, you might want to bring some warm clothing along with your shirt and t-shirt.
The animal most commonly associated with Egypt is the Camel.
Even though Camels are not indigenous to Egypt.
But they have been there since ancient times when they were imported from elsewhere.
Other animals in Egypt include: the wind Gazelle; predatory birds like Eagles Vultures, Falcons, and owls.
And over 30 species of snakes including the Egyptian Cobra and the Horned Viper.
But don't be afraid of the Snakes, or the scams, or the political situation of Egypt.
As long as you do your homework and you study up on the situation before you go.
Then you also know the risks and how to avoid them.
Then you'll be able to enjoy the beauty and majesty of Egypt;
Both ancient and modern.
Thank you for watching the GEOFocus channel
Have a nice day!
CUETHEOUTRO