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Egypt, Arab. Misr, officially Arab Republic of Egypt, republic (1995 est. pop. 62,360,000), 386,659 sq mi (1,001,449 sq km), NE Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea (N), Israel and the Red Sea (E), Sudan (S), and Libya (W); the Sinai peninsula, the only part of Egypt located in Asia, is separated from the rest of the country by the Suez Canal. Major cities include Cairo (the capital) and Alexandria. The principal physiographic feature is the Nile R., which flows the length of the country from south to north and separates the Libyan (Western) and Arabian (Eastern) deserts that comprise 90% of the land area. Bordering the Nile between Aswan and Cairo are narrow strips of cultivated land, home of the vast majority of Egypt's inhabitants. Although the country's industrial base increased considerably in the 20th cent., the economy has been severely strained by Egypt's limited farmland and its large and rapidly growing population. Agriculture, which employs about 40% of its population, depends on the Nile for its fertility. Completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1970 greatly increased arable land, which still constitutes less than 5% of Egypt's total land area. Cotton is the leading cash crop. Major manufactures include refined oil, chemicals, textiles, and processed foods. The Suez Canal and tourism are sources of foreign exchange. Egypt's inhabitants are mainly a complex racial mixture, descended from the ancient Egyptians, Berbers, sub-Saharan Africans, Arabs, Greeks, and Turks. The majority are Sunni Muslims, but there is a substantial minority of Coptic Christians. Arabic is the official language.
Ancient Egypt
Egyptian civilization, one of the world's oldest, developed in the valley of the Nile over 5,000 years ago. The rival kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united as a centralized state 3200 BC; by a king named Menes, who established his capital at Memphis. A high culture developed early, and the use of writing was introduced. During the Old Kingdom (31102258 BC;) Egyptian culture and commerce flourished, and the great pyramids were built. Its fall introduced a period of anarchy, which ended 2000 BC; with the establishment of the Middle Kingdom, with its capital at Thebes. Civilization again flourished until in 1786 BC; weak rulers allowed the country to pass under the rule of foreign nomads, known as the Hyksos. The Hyksos were expelled 1570 BC;, and the New Kingdom was established. During the XVIII dynasty (15701342 BC;) ancient Egyptian civilization reached its zenith; a vast empire was established and Thebes and Memphis became the political, commercial, and cultural centers of the world. After the XX dynasty (12001085 BC;) Egypt came increasingly under foreign domination, with periods of rule by Libya, Sudan, Assyria, Nubia, and Persia. Following a brief reestablishment of native power in 405 BC;, Egypt fell without a struggle to Alexander the Great in 332 BC; After Alexander's death (323 BC;) Egypt was inherited by his general, Ptolemy, who founded the dynasty of Ptolemies and under whom the new city of Alexandria became the intellectual and religious center of the Hellenistic world. The Ptolemies maintained a formidable empire for more than two centuries until, weakened by internal dynastic disputes, Egypt fell to Rome in 30 BC; Christianity was readily accepted in Egypt, which became part of the Byzantine Empire about AD; 395. With the Arab conquest (63942) Egypt became an integral part of the Muslim world.
Modern Egypt
After 500 years as part of the caliphate, Egypt was seized by the Mamluks in 1250 and the Ottoman Turks in 1517. The first close contact with the West occurred in 1798, when French forces under Napoleon occupied the country; they were expelled in 1801 by combined Ottoman and British troops. In 1805 Muhammad Ali, a common soldier, was appointed pasha of Egypt; under his rule the foundations of the modern state of Egypt were established. The construction of the Suez Canal (185969) put Egypt deeply into debt, and, although nominally still part of the Ottoman Empire, the country was forced to appoint a French-British commission to manage its financial affairs. The British consolidated their control between 1883 and 1907, and during World War I, when Turkey joined the Central Powers, Great Britain declared Egypt a British protectorate, which effectively persisted for some years after independence in 1923.
Independent Egypt
Egypt bitterly opposed the UN partition of Palestine in 1948 and played an important role in the Arab-Israeli Wars that followed. In 1952 the Egyptian army deposed King Farouk in a coup; a republic was established in 1953, and Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser became president (1954). For a brief period Egypt and Syria merged (1958) in the United Arab Republic, then were joined by Yemen in the United Arab States; the union was dissolved in 1961. Inaugurating a program of economic and social reform, modernization of the army, and construction of the Aswan High Dam, Nasser, with the aid of the USSR, strove to make Egypt the undisputed leader of the Arab world. His rallying cry was denunciation of Israel; in 1967 Egypt lost much territory in the Six-Day War, which also shattered its economy and armed forces. Nasser died in 1970 and was succeeded by Anwar al-Sadat, who regained some of Egypt's lost territory in the Yom Kippur War (1973) and reversed a 20-year trend by ending Soviet influence and seeking closer ties with the West. In 1977 Sadat angered his Arab allies by traveling to Jerusalem as a conciliatory gesture to Israel; the two nations signed a peace treaty in 1979. In 1981 Sadat was assassinated by Muslim fundamentalists, and Hosni Mubarak, who pledged to continue Sadat's policies, became president. The Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai and its return to Egypt, which began in 1979, was completed in 1982. Egypt provided troops for the U.S.-led coalition in the Persian Gulf War (1991). In the late 1980s and the 1990s Muslim fundamentalists increasingly opposed the government, and some 1,200 people were killed by militants between 1992 and 1997. Mubarak was elected to a fourth six-year term in 1999.
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Midaq Alley By Naguib Mahfouz
Never has Nobel Prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz's talent for rich and luxurious storytelling been more evident than in this outstanding novel....
means 5 languages other than English or Arabic
means it is available in Arabic only and +
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