Egypt
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
Egypt can be reached from Italy mainly by air: Cairo International Airport (CAI) is the country's main airport and offers direct connections to the main Italian hubs; Sharm el-Sheikh Airport (SSH) and Hurghada Airport (HRG) handle a heavy flow of charter flights to Red Sea beach destinations, while Alexandria Airport (HBE) serves the north of the country. There is no direct rail link from Italy; the land route would require crossing several Middle Eastern countries via the Rafah or Taba crossing. The maritime connection between Italy and Egypt has no direct regular passenger lines, but cruise ships frequently call at the ports of Alexandria and Porto Said. Within the country, the Egyptian Railways (ENR) operate an extensive network connecting Cairo with Alexandria, Aswan and Luxor along the Nile Valley; the night train between Cairo and Aswan is the longest rail link. The motorway network runs mainly in the Nile delta and along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts. Cairo has a metro system (Cairo Metro) with three operational lines. The Suez Canal separates the Sinai from the rest of the country; it is crossed by ferries and road tunnels.
.Introduction
Egypt lies in the northeastern belt of the African continent, with a portion of its territory - the Sinai Peninsula - extending into Asia, making the country a transcontinental state. More than ninety per cent of the territory is dominated by the desert expanse of the Sahara: the Libyan Desert to the west of the Nile and the Eastern Desert to the east, the latter being more rugged with peaks exceeding two thousand metres. The Nile crosses the country from south to north for about 1,500 km, creating a narrow fertile belt that is home to almost the entire population in stark contrast to the surrounding desert areas. To the north, the Nile delta opens up towards the Mediterranean Sea with its alluvial soils among the most productive on the continent. The country borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south and Israel and the Gaza Strip to the north-east. Egypt is one of the oldest civilisations in human history and its monumental heritage is recognised worldwide; with almost 106 million inhabitants, it is the most populous country in the Arab world and North-East Africa.
Description
Egypt's physical geography is determined by the Nile, the longest river in the world, which runs from south to north for a stretch of about 1,500 km before flowing into the Mediterranean Sea in a vast delta. The Nile Valley - from the border with Sudan to Cairo - and its delta cover just five per cent of the country's total area but are home to more than ninety per cent of the population. The Libyan Desert, which occupies the western two-thirds of the territory, is one of the driest regions of the Sahara; within it open depressions such as Qattara (-133m), the lowest point in Africa. The Eastern Desert, between the Nile and the Red Sea, is more rugged and reaches significant altitudes in the Red Sea hills. The Sinai Peninsula is home to the highest point in the country, Mount Catherine (2,629m), a granite mountain in the southern part of the peninsula. Lake Nasser, formed by the Aswan Dam completed in 1970, extends 5,250 km² into Egyptian territory and continues for the rest into Sudan as Lake Nubia.
The pharaonic civilisation developed along the Nile Valley for more than three millennia, leaving a monumental heritage unparalleled in the ancient world: the pyramids of Giza (XXVI-XXIV century BC), the temple of Karnak in Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel and the thousands of tombs, temples and obelisks scattered along the course of the Nile. With the Macedonian conquest by Alexander the Great (332 BC) and the subsequent founding of Alexandria, the country became a centre of Hellenistic culture. Roman rule, the spread of Christianity (the Egyptian Coptic tradition is among the oldest in the world), the Arab conquest in 641 A.D. and the subsequent Islamisation of the country, Ottoman rule, the Napoleonic campaign (1798-1801) and finally the British protectorate mark the stages of a plural history. Egypt became an independent monarchy in 1922 and a republic in 1952 with the revolution of General Naguib and Colonel Nasser, who nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956.
The Egyptian economy is based on tourism (second largest foreign exchange earner), emigrant remittances, Suez Canal revenues, hydrocarbons and intensive agriculture in the Nile Valley (cotton, sugar cane, cereals). International tourism is linked both to the monumental heritage of ancient Egypt - with substantial flows to Luxor, Aswan, Cairo and Giza - and to the seaside destinations of the Red Sea (Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada, Marsa Alam) and Sinai (Dahab, Nuweiba).
The Coptic culture, which represents the local Christian community (about 10% of the population), is one of the oldest Christian traditions in Africa. Egyptian Arabic classical music, with figures such as Umm Kulthum and Abd al-Halim Hafez, has had a profound influence in the Arab world. Egyptian cinema, produced mainly in Cairo, is among the most prolific in the Middle East.
Protected areas include Ras Mohamed National Park (established in 1983) at the southern tip of Sinai, with one of the richest coral reefs in the Red Sea, Saint Catherine National Park (established in 1996) around Mount Catherine, Zaranik National Park in the Nile delta and the Wadi Degla protected area near Cairo. The Egyptian UNESCO sites include: the Memfi Pyramids Area (Giza, Saqqara, Dahshur), the Nubian site (Abu Simbel and the Temple of Philae), the historic city of Thebes with its necropolis, St Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai (inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2002), historic Islamic Cairo and Abu Mena in the Alexandria region.
Hiking in Egypt is mainly concentrated in the South Sinai, with the ascent of Mount Catherine (2,629m) and Mount Sinai (Jabal Musa, 2,285m) as classic routes, usually undertaken at night to watch the sunrise. The Sinai Trail, a long walk of more than 550 km across the Sinai, was developed in cooperation with the local Bedouin communities and can be walked in several stages. The oases of the Western Desert (Siwa, Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, Kharga) offer trekking routes through sand dunes, hot springs and historical settlements; the Great Sand Dune near Bahariya is a popular destination for sand hikes.
Mountaineering tradition in Egypt is confined to South Sinai and the Red Sea Hills. Mount Catherine, with its granite walls, is the highest peak in the country and its ascent is accessible even to non-specialists due to marked trails. The Red Sea hills, including Jabal Shayib al-Banat (2,187m), are frequented by a small climbing community. There is no historical mountaineering tradition of international significance in the country.
Trail running in Egypt has developed mainly in the context of the Sinai and the Western Desert. The Sinai Ultra Trail offers distances over sandy and rocky terrain in South Sinai. The oases of the Western Desert, with their landscapes of dunes and depressions, are used for trail running events in the multi-stage format, often linked to international desert running circuits.
Information
General Data
Capital: Cairo
Area: 1,001,450 km²
Minimum elevation: -133m (Qattara Depression)
Maximum elevation: 2,629m - Mount Catherine
Number of inhabitants: 106,000.000 (estimated 2024)
Official name: جمهورية مصر العربية (Jumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyya)
Name of inhabitants: Egyptians
Main administrative subdivisions: 27 governorates
Bordering countries: Israel - Libya - Sudan
Institutional website: https://www.presidency.eg