Egypt

• Nile is only perennial water source;
• increasing soil salinization below Aswan High Dam;
• hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring;
• water pollution;
• desertification

• controls Sinai Peninsula, only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemisphere;
• controls Suez Canal, shortest sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean;
• size and juxtaposition to Israel establish its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics

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:

none

former:

United Arab Republic (with Syria)

• 26 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah);
• Ad Daqahliyah, Al Bahr al Ahmar, Al Buhayrah, Al Fayyum, Al Gharbiyah, Al Iskandariyah, Al Isma'iliyah, Al Jizah, Al Minufiyah, Al Minya, Al Qahirah, Al Qalyubiyah, Al Wadi al Jadid, Ash Sharqiyah, As Suways, Aswan, Asyu't, Bani Suwayf, Bur Sa'id, Dumyat, Janub Sina, Kafr ash Shaykh, Matruh, Qina, Shamal Sina, Suhaj

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

• National Democratic Party (NDP), President Mohammed Hosni MUBARAK, leader, is the dominant party;
• legal opposition parties are Socialist Liberal Party (SLP), Kamal MURAD;
• Socialist Labor Party, Ibrahim SHUKRI;
• National Progressive Unionist Grouping (NPUG), Khalid MUHYI-AL-DIN;
• Umma Party, Ahmad al-SABAHI;
• New Wafd Party (NWP), Fu'ad SIRAJ AL-DIN;
• Misr al-Fatah Party (Young Egypt Party), Ali al-Din SALIH;
• The Greens Party, Hasan RAJABD;
• Nasserist Arab Democratic Party, Muhammad Rif'at al-MUHAMI;
• Democratic Unionist Party, Mohammed 'Abd-al-Mun'im TURK;
• Democratic Peoples' Party, Anwar AFISI

note: formation of political parties must be approved by government

• Islamic groups are illegal, but the largest one, the Muslim Brotherhood, is tolerated by the government;
• trade unions and professional associations are officially sanctioned

Advisory Council:

• last held 8 June 1989 (next to be held June 1995);
• results - NDP 100%;
• seats - (258 total, 172 elected) NDP 172

People's Assembly:

• last held 29 November 1990 (next to be held November 1995);
• results - NDP 78.4%, NPUG 1.4%, independents 18.7%;
• seats - (437 total, 444 elected) NDP 348, NPUG 6, independents 83;
• note - most opposition parties boycotted

President:

last held 5 October 1987 (next to be held October 1993); results - President Hosni MUBARAK was reelected

Chief of State:

President Mohammed Hosni MUBARAK (was made acting President on 6 October 1981 upon the assassination of President SADAT and sworn in as president on 14 October 1981)

Head of Government:

Prime Minister Atef Mohammed Najib SEDKY (since 12 November 1986)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Ahmed MAHER El Sayed

chancery:

2310 Decatur Place NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

(202) 232-5400

consulates general:

Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco

chief of mission:

Ambassador Robert PELLETREAU

embassy:

Lazougi Street, Garden City, Cairo

mailing address:

APO AE 09839 telephone:

[20] (2) 355-7371

FAX:

[20] (2) 355-7375

consulate general:

Alexandria

• three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with the national emblem (a shield superimposed on a golden eagle facing the hoist side above a scroll bearing the name of the country in Arabic) centered in the white band;
• similar to the flag of Yemen, which has a plain white band;
• also similar to the flag of Syria that has two green stars and to the flag of Iraq, which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band

• accounts for 20% of GDP and employs more than one-third of labor force;
• dependent on irrigation water from the Nile;
• world's sixth-largest cotton exporter;
• other crops produced include rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruit, vegetables;
• not self-sufficient in food for a rapidly expanding population;
• livestock - cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats;
• annual fish catch about 140,000 metric tons

• a transit point for Southwest Asian and Southeast Asian heroin and opium moving to Europe and the US;
• popular transit stop for Nigerian couriers;
• large domestic consumption of hashish and heroin from Lebanon and Syria

• US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $15.7 billion;
• Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $10.1 billion;
• OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $2.9 billion;
• Communist countries (1970-89), $2.4 billion

• 5,110 km total;
• 4,763 km 1,435-meter standard gauge, 347 km 0.750-meter gauge;
• 951 km double track;
• 25 km electrified

• 3,500 km (including the Nile, Lake Nasser, Alexandria-Cairo Waterway, and numerous smaller canals in the delta);
• Suez Canal, 193.5 km long (including approaches), used by oceangoing vessels drawing up to 16.1 meters of water

• crude oil 1,171 km;
• petroleum products 596 km;
• natural gas 460 km

total:

92

usable:

82

with permanent-surface runways:

66

with runways over 3,659 m:

2

with runways 2,440-3,659 m:

44

with runways 1,220-2,439 m:

24

• large system by Third World standards but inadequate for present requirements and undergoing extensive upgrading;
• about 600,000 telephones (est.) - 11 telephones per 1,000 persons;
• principal centers at Alexandria, Cairo, Al Mansurah, Ismailia Suez, and Tanta are connected by coaxial cable and microwave radio relay;
• international traffic is carried by satellite - one earth station for each of Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, Indian Ocean INTELSAT, ARABSAT and INMARSAT;
• by 5 coaxial submarine cables, microwave troposcatter (to Sudan), and microwave radio relay (to Libya, Israel, and Jordan);
• broadcast stations - 39 AM, 6 FM, and 41 TV

• males age 15-49 14,513,752;
• fit for military service 9,434,020;
• reach military age (20) annually 581,858 (1993 est.)