Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Egypt. note: controls Sinai Peninsula, the only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemisphere; controls Suez Canal, a sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea; size, and juxtaposition to Israel, establish its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics; dependence on upstream neighbors; dominance of Nile basin issues. Mother's mean age at first birth is 22.6 years (2014 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 17 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
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 |
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Geographic coordinates | 27 00 N, 30 00 E |
Map references | Africa |
Tarrain | vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta |
Natural Resources | petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, rare earth elements, zinc |
Natural Hazards | periodic droughts; frequent earthquakes; flash floods; landslides; hot, driving windstorms called khamsin occur in spring; dust storms; sandstorms |
Irrigated Land | 36,500 sq km (2012) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | An Nīl (Nile) river mouth (shared with Rwanda [s], Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan) - 6,650 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
Major aquifers | Nubian Aquifer System |
Land Boundaries | 2,612 km |
Border Countries | Gaza Strip 13 km; Israel 208 km; Libya 1,115 km; Sudan 1,276 km |
Coastline | 2,450 km |
Climate | desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 995,450 sq km |
Water Area | 6,000 sq km |
comparative Area | more than eight times the size of Ohio; slightly more than three times the size of New Mexico |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 12 nm |
Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm or the equidistant median line with Cyprus |
Continental shelf | 200 nm |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Mount Catherine 2,629 m |
Lowest point | Qattara Depression -133 m |
Mean elevation | 321 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 4.1% (2022 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 3.1% (2022 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 1% (2022 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 0% (2022 est.) |
Forest | 0% (2022 est.) |
Other | 95.9% (2022 est.) |
Approximately 95% of the population lives within 20 km of the Nile River and its delta; vast areas of the country remain sparsely populated or uninhabited as shown in this population distribution map
In Egypt, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Egyptian 99.7%, other 0.3% (2006 est.)
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | 1.49% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 19.5 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 4.3 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 4.6% of GDP (2021) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 1.4 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
Total fertility rate | 2.65 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 1.28 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 58.5% (2014) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 71.1% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 2.5% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Egyptian | Egyptian(s) |
Languages | |
Religions | Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 90%, Christian (majority Coptic Orthodox, other Christians include Armenian Apostolic, Catholic, Maronite, Orthodox, and Anglican) 10% |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 33.8% (male 19,349,395/female 18,243,571) |
15-64 years | 60.6% (male 34,646,369/female 32,792,151) |
65 years and over | 5.6% (2024 est.) (male 3,146,720/female 3,069,042) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 60.8 |
Youth dependency ratio | 53.2 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 7.7 |
Potential support ratio | 13 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 24.4 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 24.3 years |
Female | 24.4 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 43.1% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 1.9% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 22.183 million CAIRO (capital), 5.588 million Alexandria, 778,000 Bur Sa'id (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.06 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.06 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 1.06 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 1.03 male(s)/female |
Total population | 1.06 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 16.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 17.8 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 15.9 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 75 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 73.8 years |
Female | 76.2 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 99.7% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 99.7% of population |
Improved: total | total: 99.7% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.3% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0.3% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0.3% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 99.9% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 98.2% of population |
Improved: total | total: 98.9% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.1% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 1.8% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 1.1% of population (2020 est.) |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 0.14 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 0.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 0.04 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 24.3% (2020 est.) |
Male | 48.1% (2020 est.) |
Female | 0.4% (2020 est.) |
Want to know more about Egypt? Check all different factbooks for Egypt below.