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Communications

Airports [time series]

total: 92 usable: 82 with permanent-surface runways: 66 with runways over 3,659 m: 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 45 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 23

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

total: 45,500 km paved: 18,300 km unpaved: gravel 12,503 km; earth 14,697 km

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

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

Merchant marine [time series]

171 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,08,208 GRT/1,617,890 DWT, bulk 16, cargo 88, container 1, oil tanker 14, passenger 27, refrigerated cargo 3, roll-on/roll-off cargo 15, short-sea passenger 7

Pipelines [time series]

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

Ports [time series]

Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, Bur Safajah, Damietta

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

large system by Third World standards but inadequate for present requirements and undergoing extensive upgrading; 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

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Command

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

exchange rate conversion - $2.05 billion, 6% of GDP (FY92/93)

Manpower availability [time series]

males age 15-49 15,335,889; fit for military service 9,961,128; reach military age (20) annually 625,748 (1994 est.)

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

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

Budget [time series]

revenues: $16.8 billion expenditures: $19.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.4 billion (FY94 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

1 Egyptian pound (#E) = 100 piasters

Economic aid [time series]

recipient: 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

Electricity [time series]

capacity: 14,175,000 kW production: 47 billion kWh consumption per capita: 830 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates [time series]

Egyptian pounds (#E) per US$1 - 3.369 (November 1993), 3.345 (November 1992), 2.7072 (1990), 2.5171 (1989), 2.2233 (1988), 1.5183 (1987)

Exports [time series]

$3.5 billion (f.o.b., FY93 est.) commodities: crude oil and petroleum products, cotton yarn, raw cotton, textiles, metal products, chemicals partners: EC, Eastern Europe, US, Japan

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$32 billion (March 1993 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 July - 30 June

Illicit drugs [time series]

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 from Lebanon and Syria

Imports [time series]

$10.5 billion (c.i.f., FY93 est.) commodities: machinery and equipment, foods, fertilizers, wood products, durable consumer goods, capital goods partners: EC, US, Japan, Eastern Europe

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate -0.4% (FY92 est.); accounts for 18% of GDP

Industries [time series]

textiles, food processing, tourism, chemicals, petroleum, construction, cement, metals

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

11% (1993 est.)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (National product) [time series]

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $139 billion (1993 est.)

Real GDP per capita (National product per capita) [time series]

$2,400 (1993 est.)

Real GDP growth rate (National product real growth rate) [time series]

0.3% (1993 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

Egypt has one of the largest public sectors of all the Third World economies, most industrial plants being owned by the government. Overregulation holds back technical modernization and foreign investment. Even so, the economy grew rapidly during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but in 1986 the collapse of world oil prices and an increasingly heavy burden of debt servicing led Egypt to begin negotiations with the IMF for balance-of-payments support. Egypt's first IMF standby arrangement concluded in mid-1987 was suspended in early 1988 because of the government's failure to adopt promised reforms. Egypt signed a follow-on program with the IMF and also negotiated a structural adjustment loan with the World Bank in 1991. In 1991-93 the government made solid progress on administrative reforms such as liberalizing exchange and interest rates but resisted implementing major structural reforms like streamlining the public sector. As a result, the economy has not gained momentum and unemployment has become a growing problem. Egypt probably will continue making uneven progress in implementing the successor programs with the IMF and World Bank it signed onto in late 1993. In 1992-93 tourism plunged 20% or so because of sporadic attacks by Islamic extremists on tourist groups. President MUBARAK has cited population growth as the main cause of the country's economic troubles. The addition of about 1.4 million people a year to the already huge population of 60 million exerts enormous pressure on the 5% of the land area available for agriculture.

Unemployment rate [time series]

20% (1993 est.)

Geography

Area [time series]

total area: 1,001,450 sq km land area: 995,450 sq km comparative area: slightly more than three times the size of New Mexico

Climate [time series]

desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters

Coastline [time series]

2,450 km

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

current issues: agricultural land being lost to urbanization and windblown sands; increasing soil salinization below Aswan High Dam; desertification; oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and marine habitats; other water pollution from agricultural pesticides, untreated sewage, and industrial effluents; water scarcity away from the Nile which is the only perennial water source; rapid growth in population overstraining natural resources natural hazards: periods of drought; subject to frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change

Disputes - international (International disputes) [time series]

administrative boundary with Sudan does not coincide with international boundary creating the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of 20,580 sq km; the dispute over this area escalated in 1993, this area continues to be in dispute

Irrigated land [time series]

25,850 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries [time series]

total 2,689 km, Gaza Strip 11 km, Israel 255 km, Libya 1,150 km, Sudan 1,273 km

Land use [time series]

arable land: 3% permanent crops: 2% meadows and pastures: 0% forest and woodland: 0% other: 95%

Location [time series]

Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, between Sudan and Libya

Map references [time series]

Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims [time series]

contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: not specified territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources [time series]

petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc

Note [time series]

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

Terrain [time series]

vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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

Legislative branch (Advisory Council (Majlis al-Shura)) [time series]

functions only in a consultative role; elections last held 8 June 1989 (next to be held NA June 1995); results - NDP 100%; seats - (258 total, 172 elected, 86 appointed by the president) NDP 172

Capital [time series]

Cairo

Constitution [time series]

11 September 1971

Digraph [time series]

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation in US) [time series]

chief of mission: Ambassador Ahmed Maher El SAYED chancery: 2310 Decatur Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 232-5400 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco

Executive branch [time series]

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); national referendum held 4 October 1993 validated Mubarak's nomination by the People's Assembly to a third 6-year presidential term head of government: Prime Minister Atef Mohammed Najib SEDKY (since 12 November 1986) cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president

Diplomatic representation in the US (FAX) [time series]

[20] (2) 357-3200

Flag [time series]

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

Independence [time series]

28 February 1922 (from UK)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Constitutional Court

Legal system [time series]

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

Legislative branch [time series]

bicameral

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ABEDA, ACC, ACCT (associate), AfDB, AFESD, AG (observer), AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, EBRD, ECA, ESCWA, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMOZ, UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UPU, UNRWA, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Country name (Names) [time series]

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)

National holiday [time series]

Anniversary of the Revolution, 23 July (1952)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

the constitution bans religious-based political parties; nonetheless, the government tolerates limited political activity by the technically illegal Muslim Brotherhood, which constitutes Mubarak's chief political opposition; trade unions and professional associations are officially sanctioned

Legislative branch (People's Assembly (Majlis al-Cha'b)) [time series]

elections last held 29 November 1990 (next to be held NA November 1995); results - NDP 86.3%, NPUG 1.3%, independents 12.4%; seats - (454 total, 444 elected, 10 appointed by the president) NDP 383, NPUG 6, independents 55; note - most opposition parties boycotted; NDP figures include NDP members who ran as independents and other NDP-affiliated independents

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

National Democratic Party (NDP), President Mohammed Hosni MUBARAK, leader, is the dominant party; legal opposition parties are; New Wafd Party (NWP), Fu'ad SIRAJ AL-DIN; Socialist Labor Party, Ibrahim SHUKRI; National Progressive Unionist Grouping (NPUG), Khalid MUHYI-AL-DIN; Socialist Liberal Party (SLP), Mustafa Kamal MURAD; Democratic Unionist Party, Mohammed 'Abd-al-Mun'im TURK; Umma Party, Ahmad al-SABAHI; Misr al-Fatah Party (Young Egypt Party), Ali al-Din SALIH; Nasserist Arab Democratic Party, Dia' al-din DAWUD; Democratic Peoples' Party, Anwar AFIFI; The Greens Party, Kamal KIRAH note: formation of political parties must be approved by government

Suffrage [time series]

18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

Diplomatic representation from the US (US diplomatic representation) [time series]

chief of mission: Ambassador Edward WALKER embassy: (North Gate) 8, Kamel El-Din Saleh Street, Garden City, Cairo mailing address: APO AE 09839-4900 telephone: [20] (2) 355-7371

People

Birth rate [time series]

28.69 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate [time series]

8.87 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

Eastern Hamitic stock (Egyptians, Bedouins, and Berbers) 99%, Greek, Nubian, Armenian, other European (primarily Italian and French) 1%

Infant mortality rate [time series]

76.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force [time series]

15 million (1992 est.) by occupation: government, public sector enterprises, and armed forces 36%, agriculture 34%, privately owned service and manufacturing enterprises 20% (1984) note: shortage of skilled labor; 2,500,000 Egyptians work abroad, mostly in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab states (1993 est.)

Languages [time series]

Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

total population: 60.79 years male: 58.91 years female: 62.76 years (1994 est.)

Literacy [time series]

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 48% male: 63% female: 34%

Nationality [time series]

noun: Egyptian(s) adjective: Egyptian

Net migration rate [time series]

-0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population [time series]

60,765,028 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate [time series]

1.95% (1994 est.)

Religions [time series]

Muslim (mostly Sunni) 94% (official estimate), Coptic Christian and other 6% (official estimate)

Total fertility rate [time series]

3.77 children born/woman (1994 est.)