Location:

Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and the Gaza Strip, and the Red Sea north of Sudan, and includes the Asian Sinai Peninsula

Area:

total: 1,001,450 sq km
land: 995,450 sq km
water: 6,000 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 2,665 km
border countries: Gaza Strip, Israel, Libya, and Sudan.

Climate:

desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters

Natural resources:

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

Land use:

arable land: 2.92%
permanent crops: 0.5%
other: 96.58% (2005)

Population:

78,887,007 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 32.6% (male 13,172,641/female 12,548,346)
15-64 years: 62.9% (male 25,102,754/female 24,519,698)
65 years and over: 4.5% (male 1,510,280/female 2,033,288) (2006 est.)

Median age:

total: 24 years
male: 23.6 years
female: 24.3 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.75% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:

22.94 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:

5.23 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:

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 (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 31.33 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 32.04 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 30.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 71.29 years
male: 68.77 years
female: 73.93 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.83 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

12,000 (2001 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Egyptian(s)
adjective: Egyptian

Ethnic groups:

Egyptian 98%, Berber, Nubian, Bedouin, and Beja 1%, Greek, Armenian, other European (primarily Italian and French) 1%

Religions:

Muslim (mostly Sunni) 90%, Coptic 9%, other Christian 1%

Languages:

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

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57.7%
male: 68.3%
female: 46.9% (2003 est.)