Egypt

agricultural land:

3.6%;

• arable land 2.8%;
• permanent crops 0.8%;
• permanent pasture 0%

forest:

0.1%

other:

96.3% (2011 est.)

• periodic droughts;
• frequent earthquakes;
• flash floods;
• landslides;
• hot, driving windstorms called khamsin occur 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 freshwater 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 from Sudan and the Palestinian territories

noun:

Egyptian(s)

adjective:

Egyptian

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.82 male(s)/female

total population:

1.05 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis (2016)

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)

etymology:

• the English name "Egypt" derives from the ancient Greek name for the country "Aigyptos";
• the Arabic name "Misr" can be traced to the ancient Akkadian "misru" meaning border or frontier

name:

Cairo

geographic coordinates:

30 03 N, 31 15 E

time difference:

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

• 28 February 1922 (from UK protectorate status; the revolution that began on 23 July 1952 led to a republic being declared on 18 June 1953 and all British troops withdrawn on 18 June 1956);
• note - it was ca. 3200 B.C. that the Two Lands of Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Egypt were first united politically

• mixed legal system based on Napoleonic civil and penal law, Islamic religious law, and vestiges of colonial-era laws;
• judicial review of the constitutionality of laws by the Supreme Constitutional Court

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

if the father was born in Egypt

dual citizenship recognized:

only with prior permission from the government

residency requirement for naturalization:

10 years

Chief of state:

President Abdelfattah Said ELSISI (since 8 June 2014)

head of government:

Prime Minister Sherif ISMAIL (since 12 September 2015); note - Prime Minister Ibrahim MEHLAB resigned 12 September 2015

cabinet:

Cabinet sworn in 19 September 2015

elections/appointments:

• president elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 26-28 May 2014 (next to be held in May 2018);
• prime minister appointed by the president, approved by the House of Representatives

election results:

• Abdelfattah Said ELSISI elected president;
• percent of vote in 1 round - Abdelfattah Said ELSISI (independent) 96.6%, Hamdeen SABAHI (Egyptian Current Party) 3.4%

description:

• unicameral House of Representatives (Majlis Al-Nowaab);
• 596 seats;
• 448 members directly elected by individual candidacy system, 120 members - with quotas for women, youth, Christians and workers - elected in party-list constituencies by simple majority popular vote, and 28 members selected by the president;
• member term NA;
• note - inaugural session held on 10 January 2016

elections:

multi-phase election completed on 16 December 2015 (next election NA)

election results:

percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA

highest court(s):

• Supreme Constitutional Court or SCC (consists of the court president and 10 justices);
• the SCC serves as the final court of arbitrator on the constitutionality of laws and conflicts between lower courts regarding jurisdiction and rulings;
• Court of Cassation (CC) (consists of the court president and 550 judges organized in circuits with cases heard by panels of 5 judges);
• the CC is the highest appeals body for civil and criminal cases, also known as “ordinary justices";
• Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) - consists of the court president and organized in circuits with cases heard by panels of 5 judges);
• the SAC is the highest court of the State Council

judge selection and term of office:

under the 2014 constitution, all judges and justices selected by the Supreme Judiciary Council and appointed by the president of the Republic; judges appointed for life

subordinate courts:

• Courts of Appeal;
• Courts of First Instance;
• courts of limited jurisdiction;
• Family Court (established in 2004)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Yasser REDA (since 19 September 2015)

chancery:

3521 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 895-5400

FAX:

[1] (202) 244-4319

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador R. Stephen BEECROFT (since 18 December 2014)

embassy:

5 Tawfik Diab 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;
• the band colors derive from the Arab Liberation flag and represent oppression (black), overcome through bloody struggle (red), to be replaced by a bright future (white)

note: 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:

29.2%

industry:

23.5%

services:

47.3% (2013 est.)

lowest 10%:

4%

highest 10%:

26.6% (2008)

general assessment:

• Telecom Egypt remains largely state owned;
• principal centers at Alexandria, Cairo, Al Mansurah, Ismailia, Suez, and Tanta are connected by coaxial cable and microwave radio relay

domestic:

largest fixed-line system in Africa and the Arab region; multiple mobile-cellular networks with a near 100-percent penetration of the market

international:

• country code - 20;
• landing point for Aletar, the SEA-ME-WE-3 and SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable networks, Link Around the Globe (FLAG) Falcon and FLAG FEA;
• 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 (2015)

• mix of state-run and private broadcast media;
• state-run TV operates 2 national and 6 regional terrestrial networks, as well as a few satellite channels;
• about 20 private satellite channels and a large number of Arabic satellite channels are available via subscription;
• state-run radio operates about 70 stations belonging to 8 networks;
• 2 privately owned radio stations operational (2008)

number of registered air carriers:

14; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 101

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

10,159,464

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

397,531,535 mt-km (2015)

• condensate 486 km;
• condensate/gas 74 km;
• gas 7,986 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 957 km;
• oil 5,225 km;
• oil/gas/water 37 km;
• refined products 895 km;
• water 65 km (2013)

total:

5,085 km

standard gauge:

5,085 km 1.435-m gauge (62 km electrified) (2014)

country comparison to the world: 37

total:

137,430 km

paved:

126,742 km (includes 838 km of expressways)

unpaved:

10,688 km (2010)

country comparison to the world: 37

major seaport(s):

Mediterranean Sea - Alexandria, Damietta, El Dekheila, Port Said; Gulf of Suez - Suez

oil terminal(s):

Ain Sukhna terminal, Sidi Kerir terminal

container port(s) (TEUs):

Alexandria (1,108,826), Port Said (East) (2,617,043), Port Said (West) (1,138,753)

LNG terminal(s) (export):

Damietta, Idku (Abu Qir Bay)

• 18-30 years of age for male conscript military service;
• service obligation - 18-36 months, followed by a 9-year reserve obligation;
• voluntary enlistment possible from age 16 (2012)

• Sudan claims but Egypt de facto administers security and economic development of Halaib region north of the 22nd parallel boundary;
• 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;
• Saudi Arabia claims Egyptian-administered islands of Tiran and Sanafir

refugees (country of origin):

• 70,021 (West Bank and Gaza Strip);
• 11,296 (Sudan) (2015);
• 115,204 (Syria);
• 6,231 (Somalia) (2016)

IDPs:

78,000 (2015)

stateless persons:

22 (2015)

current situation:

• Egypt is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
• Egyptian children, including the large population of street children are vulnerable to forced labor in domestic service, begging and agriculture or may be victims of sex trafficking or child sex tourism, which occurs in Cairo, Alexandria, and Luxor;
• some Egyptian women and girls are sold into “temporary” or “summer” marriages with Gulf men, through the complicity of their parents or marriage brokers, and are exploited for prostitution or forced labor;
• Egyptian men are subject to forced labor in neighboring countries, while adults from South and Southeast Asia and East Africa – and increasingly Syrian refugees – are forced to work in domestic service, construction, cleaning, and begging in Egypt;
• women and girls, including migrants and refugees, from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East are sex trafficked in Egypt;
• the Egyptian military cracked down on criminal group’s smuggling, abducting, trafficking, and extorting African migrants in the Sinai Peninsula, but the practice has reemerged in along Egypt’s western border with Libya

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List – Egypt does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• the government gathered data nationwide on trafficking cases to better allocated and prioritize anti-trafficking efforts, but overall it did not demonstrate increased progress;
• prosecutions increased in 2014, but no offenders were convicted for the second consecutive year;
• fewer trafficking victims were identified in 2014, which represents a significant and ongoing decrease from the previous two reporting periods;
• the government relied on NGOs and international organizations to identify and refer victims to protective services, and focused on Egyptian victims and refused to provide some services to foreign victims, at times including shelter (2015)

• 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