Egypt (ˈiːdʒɪpt) is a north African country, bordered to the west by Libya, to the south by Sudan, and includes the Sinai Peninsula. The exact location is 27 00 N, 30 00 E. The total area is 1,001,450 sq km. Cairo is the capital, with Arabic the official language.
DemographicsEgypt has a total population of 80,471,869, with a life expectancy of 72.4 year. Ethnically 99.6% is Egyptian and 0.4% other. The country is 90% Muslim (mostly Sunni), 9% Coptic, and 1% other Christian. The literacy rate is 83% for males and 59.4% for females.
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HistoryThe country of Egypt is the site of one of man's earliest and most influential civilization, Ancient Egypt. Over time the region was conquered by outside powers, but she always manage to keep her cohesion and identity as Egyptian. Egypt can trace her rulers by name going back 5,000 years. No nation on earth can do this. The region was conquered by Libyans, Nubians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and later incorporated into the Roman/Byzantine Empire, after 2,000 years of native rulership. After the Byzantium phase, the region was conquered by Arabs and incorporated in islamic civilization, in 640 A.D. The region changed hands and initiated change towards numerous islamic factions, from Abbassid, Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk.
In 1517, after defeating the Mamluks, the Ottomans made Egypt a province of the Ottoman Empire. Egypt was assigned a pasha ,of Turkish origins, who reported to Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire. Overtime, the pashas wielded much authority, independent from Istanbul. They were servants only in name. Pashas eventually became dynastic and hereditary. Initially, Mamluks were forbidden to hold positions in the government. By the 1700s, they began to gain power. The powerful Mamluks began taking the title of beys. The Ottomans revived trade in the Red Sea to counter-act Portuguese commercial acitivity, which for a time took away from the eastern spice trade, a major source of revenue for Egypt. In 1798, due to dis-unity and corruption, the French easily conquered Egypt. In 1801, with assistance from Britain, the Ottoman Empire was able to remove the French from Egypt.
Related Article: Coptic Common Names, Coptic Script , Coptic Language , Afro-Arab , Black and Famous Afro-Arab Muslim , Ancient Egyptian Architecture, Ayyubid Empire , Mamluk Empire , List of Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt , Ancient Egyptian Pantheon ,
Works Cited
CIA Factbook, Egypt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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