1.1.Location/ Map/ Location/ Map/ Capital.Capital.

The Arab Republic of Egypt, a country in north-eastern Africa, is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Israel and the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west.

Capital city: Cairo

2. 2. Flag/Official Language/Currency.Flag/Official Language/Currency.

Official language: Arabic (English is widely spoken in commerce and government.)

Currency: Egyptian pound.

3. Geography.Egypt is bordered by libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east. It has a strategic position: it possesses a land bridge between Africa and Asia, which is traversed by a waterway (the Suez Canal) that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea.

The principal geograpyic feature of the country is the Nile River. Due to the aridity of Egypt’s climate, population centres are concentrate along the narrow Nile Valley and Delta.

Apart from the Nile Valley, the mayority of Egypt’s landscape is a desert. The winds blowing can create sand dunes.Egypt includes parts of the Sahara Desert and of the Libyan Desert.Important towns and cities:Alexandria, Aswan, Asyut, Cairo, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Giza, Hurghada, Luxor, Port Said, Suez.

4. Climate.Egypt’s climate is arid, with hot, dry summers and warm winters.

Egypt does not recive much rainfall except in the winter months (between October and March.)

Snow falls on Sinai’s mountains and some of the north coastal cities.

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 38º C.

Every year, a predicable flooding of the Nile happens. This gives the country consistent harvest throughout the year. Many know this event as The Gift of the Nile.

5. Politics.

Government: Republic.

Prime Minister: Ahmed Nazif.

President of the Republic: Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

6. Economy.(Industry, Resources…)Egypt possesses one of the most developed economies in the Middle East, with sectors such as tourism, agriculture, industry and service at almost equal rates in national production.

Egypt’s economy depends mainly on agriculture, media, petroleum export, and tourism Egypt has a developed energy market based on coal, oil, natural gas, and hydro power.

7. Religion.The Egyptian legal system only recognizes three religions:

Islam (official religion).

Christianity.

Judaism.

8. Culture.Architecture.-The Red Pyramid in the Dashur Necropolis.

-The Great Pyramid of Khufu or Giza

-The Pyramid of Djoser designed by ancient architect and engineer Imhotep.

-The Pyramid of Khafre.

-The Pyramid of Menkaure.

-The Great Sphinx.

-The Temple of Abu Simbel.

-The Luxor Temple, the Karnak Temple.

-The Valley of the Kings.

Painting

The themes included journey through the afterworld or their protective deities introdicing the deceased to the gods of the underworld. Some exemples of such paintings are paintings of osiris and warriors.

Subjects: religious scenes, military scenes, daily life scenes.

Media: papyrus and walls of tombs and temples.

Sculpture.

The ancient art of Egyptian sculpture represented the ancient Egyptian gods, and Pharaons, the divine kings and queens.

Important sculptors:

Mahmoud Mokhtar and Hassan Heshmat.

Literature.

The subject matter of literature included:

Hyms to the gods, mythological and magical texts, mortuary texts, biographical and historical texts, scientific premises, including mathematical and medical texts, wisdom texts dealing with instructive literature and stories. The most famous being Cinderella, where her name is Rhodopis in the oldest version of the story.

Philosophy.

Egyptian philosophers are:

Plotinus, Arnouphis, Abdel Rahman Badawi, Rifa’a el-Tahtawi, Ahmad Bilal Yousaf, Zaki Naguib Mahmoud, Hassan Hanafi, Ihab Hassan and Abdel Wahab Elmessiri.

Science.

Scientific Developments in Ancient Egypt:

Topics:

Agriculture:

Advanced irrigation system and water reservoirs.

Medicine:

Medicine was highly advanced, and Egypt achieved great contributions in this field.

Imhotep is considered to be the first engineer, architect an physician in history known by name, though two other physicians, Hesy-Ra and Merit-Ptah lived around the same time.

Music, cinema and theatre.Egyptian music is a rich mixture of indigenous, Mediterranean, African and Western elements.

The Cairo Opera House is the main performing arts place in the Egyptian capital. Cairo has long been known as the “Hollywood of the Middle East;” with its annual film festival, the Cairo International Film Festival.

Some Egyptian-born actors, like Omar Sharif, have achieved worldwide fame.

Education.

The basic education stage for 4-14 years old: kindergarten for two years followed by primary school for six years and prematory school for three years.Then, the secondary school stage is for three years, for ages 15-17, followed by the tertiary level.

Folklore and traditions

Egypt is famous for its many festivals and religious carnivals, also known as mulid.Ramadan has a specil flavour in Egypt, celebrated with sounds, lights and much flare that many Muslin tourists from the region flock to Egypt diring Ramadan to witness the spectacle.

9. Sports.Popular sports:

Football is the national sport of Egypt.

Squash and tennis are other popular sports in Egypt.

Handball.

10. Cuisine.Typycal Egyptian dishes:

Ful Medames, Kushari, Rice-stuffed pigeon, Mulukhiyya with rabbit, Feteer Meshaltet, Shawerma, Kebab, Falafel, Baqlawa, Kofta, Mahshi, Moussaqa’a.