Egypt Geography Facts
The Geography of Egypt can be split into two general sections. Egypt is located in the northern part of Africa; however, it includes the Sinai Peninsula, which is considered part of Southwest Asia. Therefore, Egypt is located in both North Africa and Southwest Asia.
Egypt has shorelines on the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. It borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and the Gaza Strip and Palestine to the east. Egypt, covering 1,001,450 square kilometers of land, is about the same size as Texas and New Mexico combined, four times the size of the UK and double that of France. Its longest distance from north to south is 1,024 kilometers, and from east to west is 1,240 kilometers. Egypt's natural boundaries consist of 2,450 kilometers of coastline along the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea.
Egypt is predominantly desert. An area of only 35,000 square kilometers - 3.5 % of the total land area - is cultivated and permanently settled. Most of the country lies within the wide band of desert that stretches from Africa's Atlantic Coast across the continent and into southwest Asia.
Egypt's geological history has produced four major physical regions:
* the Nile Valley and Delta
* the Western Desert (also known as the Libyan Desert)
* the Eastern Desert (also known as the Arabian Desert)
* the Sinai Peninsula
| 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 |
| Geographic coordinates: |
27 00 N, 30 00 E |
| Area: |
total: 1,001,450
sq km |
| Area - comparative: |
slightly more than three times the size of New Mexico |
| Land boundaries: |
total: 2,665
km |
| Coastline: |
2,450 km |
| Maritime claims: |
territorial sea:
12 nm |
| Climate: |
desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters |
| Terrain: |
vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta |
| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point:
Qattara Depression -133 m |
| Natural resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc |
| Land use: |
arable land:
2.92% |
| Irrigated land: |
34,220 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: |
periodic droughts; frequent earthquakes; flash floods; landslides; hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring; dust storms; sandstorms |
| Environment - current issues: |
agricultural land being lost to urbanization and windblown sands; increasing soil salination below Aswan High Dam; desertification; oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and marine habitats; other water pollution from agricultural pesticides, raw sewage, and industrial effluents; limited natural fresh water resources away from the Nile, which is the only perennial water source; rapid growth in population overstraining the Nile and natural resources |
Source: CIA World Fact Book Egypt
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