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Climate
Egypt’s location within the North African desert belt, between the
Mediterranean and the 23rd parallel north of the Equator, means that it is
characterised by low annual rainfall as well as sunshine throughout the
year (about 315 days of sunshine). Within Egypt, there is the contrast
between the coastal Mediterranean climate and the hot dryness of the
interior, however in these desert areas there is a sharp of contrast
between day and night temperatures.
The winter months of January and February can be quite cool especially in
the area of the Delta and the Mediterranean. However, the further south
one goes, the higher the temperature and the lower the humidity will
become.
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Geography
Egypt covers an area of about one million square kilometres and is
bordered to the north by the Mediterranean, the Red Sea to the east, Libya
to the west and shares the southern border with the Sudan.
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People
Most Egyptians are mixed race. They are descendant not only from the
Arabs, but also from the ancient Egyptians, Berbers, Greeks, and Turks
among other races.
The Nubians, in the south of Egypt, are a largely separate people, with
their own language. As for the Bedouin, who live on Sinai and in the
deserts on the mainland, are mostly of Arab descent.
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Trade and Industry
Oil and natural gas from the Gulf of Suez and Sinai make up about half of
Egypt’s exports. Tourism and tolls on ships using the Suez Canal also
bring Hard Currency. Industrial production, which is centred outside Cairo
and Alexandria, includes phosphates, coal, manganese, iron and steel, and
aluminium. Cotton is the main export crop.
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Fishing
There are three main areas where fishing is practised: The Red Sea, The
Mediterranean and The Nile River’s Lake Nasser.
Mediterranean
Shellfish, Snappers and Squid are amongst the many types of fish caught in
this area.
Red Sea
Deep sea fishing is common here and this is rapidly becoming a popular
tourist activity.
Lake Nasser
(the world’s biggest man-made lake) after building the High Dam at Aswan
the government has encouraged the fishing industry to flourish, by
building projects such as a fishing farm and fishery complex at the Lake
Nasser. This has meant that the total catch has been significantly
increased, despite the drop in the number of fish caught on the Nile river
valley and delta. This drop is believed to be the result of the changes in
the flow of the river, as a result of the building of the Aswan High Dam.
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Farming
Since earliest times, Egyptians have farmed on the Nile. Most of the
people are fellaheen - peasant farmers. Only about 4 percent of the land
is, currently, suitable for farming. The Aswan High Dam has made water
permanently available so that crops can be harvested two or three times a
year. It has also allowed thousands of acres of land to be reclaimed from
the desert and irrigated for agriculture.
The use of modern pesticides and fertilisers has increased yields,
especially of cash crops, such as cotton. Most cotton is grown in the Nile
Delta, which has the richest farming land. Only about a quarter of the
land is allocated for the growing of food. Rice, maize, wheat, fuul
(beans), millet, and dates are among Egypt’s food crops. Farmers also
grow, potatoes, tomatoes, other vegetables, and all kinds of fruits. Some
of this produce is exported. Most farmers also keep water buffalo or dairy
cattle for pulling a plow and for their milk.
Recently the Egyptian government has started negotiations with the EEC to
allow exported Egyptian produce to be tax free, once these negotiations
have been concluded it is expected that agricultural produce will make up
a significant part of the foreign exports. The reason for this being that
the farming operational costs (due to year round farming and abundant
water from the Nile) and climate make Egypt the most advantageous of its
Mediterranean neighbours.
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Schools
Children must attend school between the ages of 6 and 12. There are state
schools, which are free, as well as private and religious (Islamic)
schools. After the Elementary school, children sit an exam before going on
to Intermediate school. They can then, if they wish, enrol in a secondary
or high school. Afterward, some continue their education at state
universities.
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Media
All radio and television broadcasting is owned by the state. There are 7
television channels. One includes western movies and has a daily news in
English as well as French and another two are in Arabic, one of which is
only broadcast to Cairo. There are 4 regional channels for Alexandria,
Suez Canal region, Upper Egypt and Delta area.
Of the 15 or so daily papers, the oldest is Al-Ahram (The Pyramid).
Egyptian Gazette is the daily English publication. There are also an
edition in French.
There is a daily paper for El Wafd, the main opposition party. Other
political parties have weekly newspapers.
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Art
Ancient Egyptians sculptors worked in all kinds of materials and in all
colours - limestone, red carnelian, blue turquoise, yellow jasper, and
black diorite as well as precious metals. They made wood carvings in yew,
acacia, and sycamore. Painting, on the walls of temples and tombs, was
equally colourful. It followed the rule that the heads of the figures, but
not the eyes or the shoulders, were shown in profile.
Modern Egyptian art includes handmade carpets and tapestries with
beautiful designs in silk and fine wool. Other beautiful forms of Egyptian
art include:
Copper and Silverware
where items like plates or trays are engraved with detailed pictures of
ancient Egyptians, Arab or nature scenes.
Jewellery
mostly in gold and silver these have designs varying from the intricate
details of the Arab Bedouin and fellaheen’s typical jewellery called
Kerdan, to ancient Egyptian collar-like jewellery usually embedded with
local stones of various colours. The increase in tourist numbers over the
past few years has meant that a new variety of jewellery has begun, most
of which is very much like what you would find in the shops here, as well
speciality ones for example: Egyptian Khartoush with your name engraved in
Pharaonic letters.
Handmade glass
this is a fascinating process where the glass is heated at the end of a
long rod and then the person handling it will blow through the rod until
satisfied with its design. In this fashion, bottles and vases are made in
various colours and designs, also there are ancient Egyptian perfume
bottles which are usually of clear glass with a glass stopper (used as the
perfume applicator) and are then hand painted.
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Music
The various kinds of traditional music from different parts of the country
often have their own rhythms and their own instruments. Saiy’idi is the
music of the Nile Valley. It has a rhythm that horses are trained to dance
to, and uses the naharsan, a kind of drum, and the mismar saiyidi, a
wooden trumpet. Other traditional music includes Fellahi (from the Delta
region), Bedouin, classical Arab, Islamic, Sawahlee (from the
Mediterranean coast), and Nubian. Al Jeel, a type of disco music mixed
with Bedouin and Nubian rhythms, is currently popular with young people.
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Religion
Nine-tenth of the people are Muslims. Coptic Christians make up most of
the remaining Christian population.
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Festivals
Many festivals take place throughout the year. Some are Muslim, some are
Christian, some are celebrated nationally, others locally. Muslims
festivals and moulids (saints days) follow the Islamic calendar, and do
not fall on the same date each year.
Some of the major festivals are:
Pharaoh Rally Festival:
this is a very popular international sporting event, it lasts for about 10
days during which contenders go west from Guiza (by the Pyramids), to the
Oases in the western desert. And then south through Luxor, Aswan and
continuing on to Abu Simbel. Then, they head north into the eastern
desert, and go through Sinai to the Red Sea and then back to Cairo. In
1992, a massive 700 contenders joined in the Rally.
Bairam Feast:
this is a holiday lasting 3 days and is a celebration of the end of the
fasting month of Ramadan. Children get presents of money, clothes and
sweets from the many relatives they visit over the holiday.
Moulid Al Nabi:
a celebration of Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, and is an occasion for
street processions in many towns and cities.
Sham El Nessim:
A national holiday, where it literally means "smelling the breeze" and
denotes the start of spring. This day originates from ancient Egyptian
times and is celebrated with large family gatherings and day-long picnics.
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Plants
The Papyrus plant, which was used by the ancient Egyptians to make the
earliest form of paper, is unfortunately no longer growing in abundance on
the Nile’s banks_but can be obtained and found in Botanical gardens.
Another plant that was highly appreciated by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt
is the lotus flower, it was always included in paintings and was commonly
carved at the tops of the columns in ancient temples. This plant, a
flower, still grows in the area of the Nile delta.
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Animals
The Nile Valley and the Delta are, between them, home to a variety of
birds. They include turtles doves, blue throats, redstarts, and stonechats
as well as water birds such as ibises, storks, and the great crested
grebe, and falcons and kestrels.
The Egyptian cobra, a longer black-necked cobra is found in remote areas
of southern Egypt Also, there are various animals of the dessert including
hyenas, jackals and gazelles.
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Sport
Soccer is the national sport and the favourite of both players and
spectators. There is great rivalry between both the players and the fans
of Ahly and Zamalek, the two top teams in Cairo. Other popular sports are,
Squash and Hand ball.
Most cities have public swimming pools, and tennis, and rowing are
becoming very popular. Horse racing traditionally takes place in the
desert, and camels are raced there too. Deep sea fishing and sub-aqua
sports such as wind surfing are rapidly becoming popular with locals and
even more with tourists. The popularity is so great that there are now two
international competitions every year. Also, an international wind surfing
competition, usually lasting one week, has started and has involved as
many as 26 countries at one time.
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History
- The average Egyptian is descendant from a great number of races, for
that reason it is a country with such a rich history that it would do it
little justice to try to recite it in any detail in this report. However,
to give a general idea of the history it can be divided into five main
periods_during which more than one race was ruling:
- Pharaonic Period: this period started in 3,100 BC after a ruler called
Mena united the two kingdoms that now form upper Egypt (the Nile Valley)
and lower Egypt (the Nile Delta). This is the period when the famous
monuments of the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Guiza, were built and a time
when Egyptian civilisation flourished for about 2,500 years.
- Greco-Roman Period: this was between 332 BC and 312 AD a period during
which the Persians ruled for a very short period, and then were over taken
by the Greek conqueror "Alexander the Great", who then created the city of
Alexandria overlooking the Mediterranean from which many Greeks ruled.
This city was the home of two of the wonders of the ancient world, the
great library of Alexandria and the Alexandria light house. At around 30
BC, the Romans took over the rule of the area.
- Coptic Period: this is when Christianity was declared a state religion
under the Roman’s rule in 312 AD, however Christianity had always been
present in Egypt, where Jesus is said to have spent his early years in
Egypt, also, it is believed that the first two monks were Egyptian. There
are many remains of the art from this era in the British Museum in London.
- Islamic Period: in 640 AD Egypt was conquered by the Arabs who
introduced the religion of Islam for the first time, various Arab rulers
took over the rule of Egypt, first were Arabs from Damascus, then Fatimids
from North Africa. Next came Saladin, who is known for his wars against
the crusaders. In the 16th century Egypt became a province of the Ottoman
Turks.
After World War I (1914-1918), the Ottoman Empire fell but the Turkish
king remained ruler of Egypt while it was ‘put under the protection of’
Britain. From 1919, the Egyptian people started their struggle for their
right to become an independent state and to have the freedom to control
their destiny, and many "heroes" rose during that period.
- Independent Egypt: By 1956, Egypt became the first Arab republic in the
Middle East.
The current president to the country is Mr. Hosni Mubarak.
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Language
Egypt’s official language is Arabic. Arabic is spoken by most of the
people of North Africa and West Asia. However, the spoken language differs
from country to country, though the written language remains the same.
Because Egyptian movies are very popular in the Arab world, Arabic as it
is spoken in Egypt is understood by most Arabs. English is the second
language, and many Egyptians can speak French as well.
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