Egypt

total:

68.3 cu km/yr (8%/6%/86%)

per capita:

923 cu m/yr (2000)

• periodic droughts;
• frequent earthquakes, flash floods, landslides;
• hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring;
• dust storms, sandstorms

• agricultural land being lost to urbanization and windblown sands;
• increasing soil salination below Aswan High Dam;
• desertification;
• oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and marine habitats;
• other water pollution from agricultural pesticides, raw sewage, and industrial effluents;
• limited natural fresh water resources away from the Nile, which is the only perennial water source;
• rapid growth in population overstraining the Nile and natural resources

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• controls Sinai Peninsula, only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemisphere;
• controls Suez Canal, a sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea;
• size, and juxtaposition to Israel, establish its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics;
• dependence on upstream neighbors;
• dominance of Nile basin issues;
• prone to influxes of refugees

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.74 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)

noun:

Egyptian(s)

adjective:

Egyptian

conventional long form:

Arab Republic of Egypt

conventional short form:

Egypt

local long form:

Jumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah

local short form:

Misr

former:

United Arab Republic (with Syria)

name:

Cairo

geographic coordinates:

30 03 N, 31 15 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Friday in April; ends last Thursday in September

• based on Islamic and civil law (particularly Napoleonic codes);
• judicial review by Supreme Court and Council of State (oversees validity of administrative decisions);
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

chief of state:

President Mohamed Hosni MUBARAK (since 14 October 1981)

head of government:

Prime Minister Ahmed Mohamed NAZIF (since 9 July 2004)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for six-year term (no term limits);
• note - a national referendum in May 2005 approved a constitutional amendment that changed the presidential election to a multicandidate popular vote;
• previously the president was nominated by the People's Assembly and the nomination was validated by a national, popular referendum;
• last referendum held 26 September 1999;
• first election under terms of constitutional amendment held 7 September 2005;
• next election scheduled for 2011

election results:

Hosni MUBARAK reelected president; percent of vote - Hosni MUBARAK 88.6%, Ayman NOUR 7.6%, Noman GOMAA 2.9%

• National Democratic Party or NDP (governing party) [Mohamed Hosni MUBARAK];
• National Progressive Unionist Grouping or Tagammu [Rifaat EL-SAID];
• New Wafd Party or NWP [Mahmoud ABAZA];
• Tomorrow Party [Moussa Mustafa MOUSSA]

note: formation of political parties must be approved by the government; only parties with representation in elected bodies are listed

chief of mission:

Ambassador (designate) Sameh SHOUKRY

chancery:

3521 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 895-5400

FAX:

[1] (202) 244-4319

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco

chief of mission:

Ambassador Margaret SCOBEY

embassy:

8 Kamal El Din Salah St., Garden City, Cairo

mailing address:

Unit 64900, Box 15, APO AE 09839-4900; 5 Tawfik Diab Street, Garden City, Cairo

telephone:

[20] (2) 2797-3300

FAX:

[20] (2) 2797-3200

• three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black;
• the national emblem (a gold Eagle of Saladin facing the hoist side with a shield superimposed on its chest above a scroll bearing the name of the country in Arabic) centered in the white band;
• design is based on the Arab Liberation flag and similar to the flag of Syria, which has two green stars in the white band, Iraq, which has an Arabic inscription centered in the white band, and Yemen, which has a plain white band

agriculture:

32%

industry:

17%

services:

51% (2001 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.7%

highest 10%:

29.5% (2000)

general assessment:

• large system;
• underwent extensive upgrading during 1990s and is reasonably modern;
• Telecom Egypt, the landline monopoly, has been increasing service availability and in 2007 fixed-line density stood at 14 per 100 persons;
• as of 2007 there were three mobile-cellular networks and service is expanding rapidly

domestic:

principal centers at Alexandria, Cairo, Al Mansurah, Ismailia, Suez, and Tanta are connected by coaxial cable and microwave radio relay

international:

• country code - 20;
• landing point for both the SEA-ME-WE-3 and SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable networks;
• linked to the international submarine cable FLAG (Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe);
• satellite earth stations - 4 (2 Intelsat - Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean, 1 Arabsat, and 1 Inmarsat);
• tropospheric scatter to Sudan;
• microwave radio relay to Israel;
• a participant in Medarabtel (2007)

• condensate 483 km;
• condensate/gas 74 km;
• gas 6,466 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 957 km;
• oil 5,518 km;
• oil/gas/water 37 km;
• refined products 895 km (2007)

total:

5,063 km

standard gauge:

5,063 km 1.435-m gauge (62 km electrified) (2006)

total:

92,370 km

paved:

74,820 km

unpaved:

17,550 km (2004)

total:

67

by type:

bulk carrier 11, cargo 28, container 2, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 13, roll on/roll off 9

foreign-owned:

10 (Denmark 1, Greece 8, Lebanon 1)

registered in other countries:

58 (Cambodia 13, Georgia 12, Honduras 3, North Korea 1, Malta 1, Moldova 1, Panama 17, Saint Kitts and Nevis 2, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3, Saudi Arabia 1, Sierra Leone 3, Togo 1) (2008)

males age 16-49:

21,247,777

females age 16-49:

20,406,408 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

18,153,158

females age 16-49:

17,405,837 (2008 est.)

male:

825,300

female:

786,590 (2008 est.)

• while Sudan retains claim to the Hala'ib Triangle north of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel, both states withdrew their military presence in the 1990s and Egypt has invested in and effectively administers the area;
• Egypt no longer shows its administration of the Bir Tawil trapezoid in Sudan on its maps;
• Gazan breaches in the security wall with Egypt in January 2008 highlight difficulties in monitoring the Sinai border

refugees (country of origin):

• 60,000 - 80,000 (Iraq);
• 70,198 (Palestinian Territories);
• 12,157 (Sudan) (2007)

current situation:

• Egypt is a transit country for women trafficked from Eastern European countries to Israel for sexual exploitation, and is a source for children trafficked within the country for commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, although the extent to which children are trafficked internally is unknown;
• children were also recruited for domestic and agricultural work;
• some of these children face conditions of involuntary servitude, such as restrictions on movement, non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Egypt is on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third year in a row because it did not provide evidence of increasing efforts to investigate and prosecute traffickers;
• however, in July 2007, the government established the "National Coordinating Committee to Combat and Prevent Trafficking in Persons," which improved inter-governmental coordination on anti-trafficking initiatives;
• Egypt made no discernible efforts to punish trafficking crimes in 2007 and the Egyptian penal code does not prohibit all forms of trafficking;
• Egypt did not increase its services to trafficking victims during the reporting period (2008)

• transit point for cannabis, heroin, and opium moving to Europe, Israel, and North Africa;
• transit stop for Nigerian drug couriers;
• concern as money laundering site due to lax enforcement of financial regulations