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Only about 10% of the country’s area is the arable Nile Valley and Delta, oases and land around the Suez Canal where most of the population lives, while 90% is made up of barren hills, mountains and desert. The Nile enters Egypt from Sudan and flows north for 1,545 km to the Mediterranean Sea. Lake Nasser, a huge reservoir formed by the Aswān High Dam, extends to the south across the Sudan border. The lake is 480 km long and is 16 km across at its widest point.
The desert is divided into the Libyan Desert (also known as the Western Desert) in the west, a part of the Sahara, and the Arabian Desert (also called the Eastern Desert), which borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez in the east. The Sinai Peninsula consists of sandy desert in the north and rugged mountains in the south, with summits looming more than 2,000 m above the Red Sea and the highest peak being Mount Catherine at 2,650 m.

2,450 km, of these two-thirds are on the Red Sea and one-third on the Mediterranean

Israel (266km), Gaza Strip (11km), Libya (1,115km), Sudan (1,273km)

Cairo (El-Qahira)

(2009 estimate): 83 million (greater Cairo area 20 million) About 45% of the population lives in urban areas, and almost one-quarter in the greater Cairo area. The literacy rate is increasing and is now about 90% among younger generations and around 70% overall (about 80% for men and 60% for women).

Arabic – spoken Colloquial Arabic

90% Muslim (mostly Sunni), 7% Coptic Christians, 3% other religions.
http://www.beconvinced.com/archive/en/main.php
http://www.islamhouse.com/p/165689
http://www.christianity-guide.com/christianity/coptic_christianity.htm

It is almost impossible to summarise the long and rich history of Egypt in only a few sentences. Here we attempt to list the biggest events so for more information regarding a specific period please check the web page links provided at the end of this section. Ancient Egyptian history dates back to about 5000 B.C., and one of the most important events was around 3000 B.C. when the kingdoms of upper and lower Egypt, already highly sophisticated, were united by Menes. Egypt experienced its golden age with the 18th and 19th dynasties (16th to 12th centuries B.C.), during which the empire was established and many great pharaohs ruled, including Ramses II who was probably the most powerful of all. In 525 B.C., Persia conquered Egypt and Alexander the Great subdued it in 332 B.C. Then Egypt was ruled by the dynasty of the Ptolemies until 30 B.C., when Cleopatra, the last of the line, committed suicide and Egypt became a Roman, then a Byzantine, province. Arab caliphs ruled Egypt from 641 until 1517 when the Turks added it to their Ottoman Empire. Napoleon’s armies occupied the country from 1798 to 1802. In 1805, Mohammed Ali became the pasha of Egypt and he is credited as the founding father of modern Egypt. After the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, the French and British took increasing interest in Egypt. British troops occupied Egypt in 1882, and British resident agents became its actual administrators, although it remained under nominal Turkish sovereignty. In 1914, this fiction was ended and Egypt became a protectorate of Britain. An Egyptian nationalism movement flourished in WW I and riots forced Britain to relinquish its claims. Egypt became an independent sovereign state in 1922 and Fouad who was khedive of Egypt at that time assumed the title of a king. The years of independence up until WW II were marked by a battle for power between the king, the British and the nationalist Wafd Party. When World War II started, Egypt remained neutral and later joined the Allies and contributed to the important win in the Battle of El-Alamein. Tensions grew between the Wafd Party and the monarchy after the end of WW II and, in 1952, an army led by General Mohammed Naguib, seized power. Three days later, King Farouk abdicated in favour of his infant son. The monarchy was abolished and a republic proclaimed on 18 June 1953, with Naguib becoming President and Prime Minister. He relinquished the position of Prime Minister in 1954 to Gamal Abdel Nasser, the leader of the ruling military junta who assumed the presidency in 1956. His main efforts focused on economic development with the building of the High Dam in Aswan and consequent nationalisation of the Suez Canal after Britain withdrew its pledges of financial aid for building the Aswan High Dam. Nasser’s mandate as President also faced serious challenges stemming from Egypt’s relationship with Israel and its allies. In 1967, border tensions between Egypt and Israel culminated and led to the Six-Day War when Israel launched an air assault and within days had annexed the Sinai Peninsula, the East Bank of the Jordan River, and the Golan Heights. A UN cease-fire was imposed on 10 June, but conflict continued until the fourth Arab-Israeli War broke out on 6 October 1973 and then a UN-sponsored truce was accepted followed by a settlement negotiated by the US that gave Egypt a narrow strip along the entire Sinai bank of the Suez Canal. President Anvar El-Sadat of Egypt and Israel signed a formal peace treaty in Camp David when Egypt recognised the right of Israel to exist in return for the land of Sinai. On 6 October 1981 Sadat was assassinated by extremist Muslim soldiers during a parade in Cairo. He was succeeded by the then Vice President Hosni Mubarak, a former air force chief of staff, who still serves as the President of Egypt.
You can read more about Egyptian history at:
http://www.library.exploreregypt.com/
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/history/history.html
http://www.osirisnet.net/

There are two main seasons: the hot season from May to October and the cool season from November to April.

Average temperatures:

Cairo
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg. Temperature	13	15	17	20	24	27	28	28	27	23	19	15
Avg. Max Temperature	18	20	22	27	31	33	34	34	33	29	24	20
Avg. Min Temperature	8	10	11	14	18	21	22	23	21	18	14	10
Avg. No. of Rain Days	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Luxor
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg. Temperature	14	16	20	25	30	32	33	32	30	26	20	15
Avg. Max Temperature	22	24	28	34	38	40	41	40	39	34	28	23
Avg. Min Temperature	6	7	11	16	21	22	24	24	22	18	11	6
Avg. No. of Rainy Days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aswan
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg. Temperature	16	17	21	27	32	33	34	34	32	27	21	16
Avg. Max Temperature	23	24	28	35	39	41	41	41	40	35	28	23
Avg. Min Temperature	9	10	13	19	23	25	27	27	25	21	15	10
Avg. No. of Rainy Days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sharm El-Sheikh
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg. Temperature	17	18	21	25	28	31	32	33	30	27	22	19
Avg. Max Temperature	21	22	25	29	33	36	37	37	35	30	26	23
Avg. Min Temperature	13	13	17	20	24	26	28	28	26	23	19	15
Avg. No. of Rainy Days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alexandria
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg. Temperature	13	13	15	18	21	24	26	27	25	22	18	14
Avg. Max Temperature	18	18	20	23	26	28	30	30	30	27	23	20
Avg. Min Temperature	8	8	10	12	17	21	22	23	21	18	13	9
Avg. No. of Rainy Days	5	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	3

Petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead and zinc.

The main income sources of Egyptians are tourism, oil and gas, Suez Canal revenues, and remittances sent home by Egyptians working abroad. Of course, government and public employment also provide an income to many Egyptian families. The strongest industries are textiles, food-processing, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, hydrocarbons, construction, cement, and metals. Due to the economic reforms of recent years Egypt experienced a good growth rate of 7% in 2007/2008. GDP per capita in 2008 was around USD 5,300, the unemployment rate (measured by ILO methodology) was close to 10% and about 20% of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line.

http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/egypt/index.shtml
http://www.mapsofworld.com/egypt/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/eg-egypt