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Egypt (al-Jumhuriya Misr al-'Arabiya)
Territory
Egypt extends on a territory, which is mostly desert, and is fertile and
cultivated only in the valley of the Nile and in the many oasis. At the west of
the valley of the Nile there is the Libyan desert, at the east the Arabic desert.
The vast plateau of the Libyan desert, called “Great sea of sand”, is
interrupted by many areas of pressure as the vast area in Qattara (18.100 km2),
that reaches a depth of 133m below the level of the sea (the lowest point in
Africa) and includes the Siwa, Kharijah, Bahriyah, Farafirah and Dakhilah oasis.
The Arabic desert extends to the coast of the Red Sea and to the Suez canal,
reaching an elevation of about 600m. At the extreme south, at the border with
Sudan, there is the Nubian desert, a vast region with dunes and sandy plains.
Finallu the Sinai peninsula, between Suez gulf and Aqaba; it is mostly
mountainous and culminates in Gebel Katrina (2637m), the highest peak in Egypt;
the region includes also mount Sinai where, according to the Old Testament,
Moses received the tables of the law.
Hydrography
The hydrographic net in Egypt is dominated by the Nile, that enters the
country from Sudan and continues towards north to flow into the Mediterranean
Sea. Along its watercourse, the Nile passes through a valley which is fertile
thanks to big irrigation systems, created with the construction of many dams:
the most impressive ones are the Assuan dams that have permitted the creation of
lake Nasser, a big artificial basin at the border with Sudan. Near Cairo the
valley joins at delta, forming a wide plain which is the most feritl area of the
country: the main branches of the delta are Rosetta and Dalmietta. A group of
salt-water lakes, not very deep, extends towards the end of the delta near the
sea, while a bigger lake, the Birkat Qarun, is in the inner part of the desert,
at north of Al-Fayyum city. The valley of the Nile is geographically and
traditionally divided in two regions, Lower and Upper Egypt, the former is in
the area of the delta, while the latter includes the valley south of Cairo. In
spite of its extension (2900km), the coast presents few creeks, fit for ports,
except for the region of the delta. The climate is characterized by a hot
season, from May to September, and a cool season, from November to March. In
both seasons the temperatures are influenced by the winds that blow from the
north.
TemperaturesIn the
coast region the average temperatures vary from a maximum of 37°C to a minimum
of 14°C. In the desert there are remarkable thermic ranges that vary from a
yearly average of 45,6°C in the day, to a minimum average of 5,6°C after sunset.
In winter the temperatures in the desert often go down to 0°C. The most humid
areas are along the Mediterranean coasts, where there are average yearly
precipitations of about 200mm. Going down towards south, the precipitations
diminish rapidly; in Cairo there are only 28mm of rain each year and in many
desert areas there can be very long periods of drought.
Flora and fauna
The vegetation in the country grows mostly in the region of the delta and in
the oasis, where there are above all date palms; in the arid regions there are
the typical species of desert regions, mostly shrubs, while the papyrus, once
diffused along the banks of the Nile, today grows only in the extreme southern
regions of the country.
The fauna in the country is limited because of the dryness of the climate. In
the semi-desert areas many gazelles live, while in the desert reptiles are met,
such as Cleopatra’s cobra, vipers and lizards. In some areas, mostly in the
delta and the mountainous areas along the Red Sea, we find desert foxes, hyenas,
jackals, mice of the pyramids and mongoose. The crocodiles and the
hippopotamuses once common in the lower part and in the delta of the Nile, today
are only in the high part of the Nile. The ornithology species abound mostly in
the delta and in the valley of the Nile and they include the white heron, the
Hoopoe, the gry plover , the pelican, the heron, the stork, the quail and the
snipe. Among the predators there are the eagle, the falcon, the vulture, the owl,
the kite and the hawk. In the waters of the Nile many fish species live.
Population
The ethnic composition of the country traditionally distinguishes the Copts,
of camitica descent and that cared for commercial activities, and the fellahin
or peasants in the rural areas. Later the two groups underwent the influence of
the Arabic conquest and today they live together in the urban areas where the
Copts now distinguish themselves for their religious faith. In the southern
regions the African influences are more pronounced: here the Nubian live, mostly
in the villages along the Nile, while in the desert regions there are groups of
nomad or semi-nomad shepherds, mainly Bedouins. Some Turkish, Armenian, and
European minorities live in the city. The population in Egypt is of 66.050.004
inhabitants (esteem in 1998), with a density of about 66 units for km2 in the
valley of the Nile which covers less than 4% of the surface area of the whole
country. The administration in Egypt is divided in 26 governorships. The capital
is Cairo (6.452.000 inhabitants in 1992); other important cities are the dock
city Alexandria (“.917.327 inhabitants); Giza (1.883.189 inhabitants), an
industrial center near Cairo; Port Said (401.172 inhabitants), which is in the
point where the Suez canal flows into the Mediterranean, and Suez (327.717
inhabitants) in the southern area of the canal.
Language and religion
The official language is Arabic; in the commercial and tourist sectors also
English. And less, French, are diffused. The Coptic is used almost only in the
religios ceremonies. The official religion is Islam of sunnita rituals,
practiced by 90% of the population. The main religious minority is represented
by the Copts, while less than 1% of the population belongs to the Greek orthodox,
catholic, Armenian churches and various other protestant churches.
Education
The primary school is free and obligatory to twelve years old. After the
obligatory school the students can access to professional institutes or to
humanistic or scientific schools. Among the adult population the alphabetized
rate is 51,4%. In the country there are thirteen universities. The oldest
institute of secondary school in the world is still active and it’s the
University in Al-Azhar, in Cairo, founded in 970 BC as a Koran school; other
important institutes in Cairo are the Ayn Shams university, founded in 1950, the
University in Cairo founded in 1908, and the American University, founded in
1942, and the one in Asyut, founded in 1957. For a study regarding the culture
of the country, see Egyptian mythology; Egyptian art and architecture; Egyptian
language; Coptic art and architecture.
Economy
From the beginning of 1961 many ambits of economy, such as foreign commerce
and wholesale, the banking and insurance systems and the best part of the
manufacturing industry, passed under the state control . In spite of the fact
that sectors of agriculture, of real estate and some industrial sectors remained
in privates’ hands, the government imposed serious controls on them. The
economical development of the country was anyway hindered by the application of
various five-year long plans, that were inadequate and by the losses suffered in
the Arabic-Israeli conflict in 1967. In spite of turning-point of liberalism in
the end of the Seventies and the beginning of the Eighties the crash of the
prices of petroleum and the war in the Gulf in 1990 left the country in a very
different financial condition that depended on foreign help, mostly American.
The government reacted to this situation privatizing more than three-hundred
sate companies and with structural reforms. In 1997 the gross national product
was 72.163.509.080 USA dollars, that correspond to 1.200 head tax dollars.
Agriculture
Egypt is mainly an agricultural country: this ambit in fact covers about 40%
of the work-force. In 1952 the agricultural reform limited the maximum size of
each land property to about 80 hectares, reduced to 40 hectares in 1961 and only
to 20 hectares in 1969. The land requisitioned by the government were
distributed among the fellahin (peasants), but this wasn’t enough to fill the
difference between peasants and rich land-owners. The governmental plans have
increased the ploughed areas, favoring land reclamation work and irrigation of
which the most impressive was the construction of the dams in Assuan. Egypt is
the most important producer of cotton in “long fiber”. Other agricultural
products are corn, wheat, sugar cane, rice and tomatoes. Moreover even millet
and barley are cultivated, besides vegetables and fruit, such as citrus fruit,
dates, figs and grape. Breeding represents a modestly important part as also the
fishing, today in a developing stage near lake Nasser.
Industry
The first attempts to develop industry in the country go back to the XIX
century, but they were hindered by the European powers, particularly by Great
Britain, who was interested in keeping Egypt as a market for its own industrial
products. A restrained development in this sector, before the First World War,
served only to satisfy part of the inner request, while during the Second World
War, this first base developed remarkably, mostly in the textile sector. At the
beginning of the Fifties, after the overthrow of the monarchy, the government
gave priority to the industrial expansion. In 1965, when the first five-year
long plan was completed, the total value of the industrial production, including
the one of electric energy and the mining production, reached 2,71 billion
yearly dollars and, around the middle of the Eighties, was above 13 billion
dollars. At the beginning of the Nineties the industrial sector used the 21% of
the work-force. Particularly important in the country is the textile industry,
which produces cotton and wool threads and jute fabrics. Other important
productions are refined sugar, sulphuric acid, fertilizers, paper, cement,
pneumatics and televisions. The industrial activities include also the
manufacture of iron and steel, the assembly of cars and the refining of
petroleum. Small industries, but important for the country, are represented by
tanneries, beer-factories, factories for the production of ceramics, perfumes,
seed oil, flour and other alimentary products. The main industrial centers are
in the districts in Cairo and in Alexandria. Egypt has a great variety of mining
deposits, some of which, as the gold and granite deposits, are exploited from
antiquity. Today the main mining resource is petroleum, the deposits of which
are in the coastal region on the Red Sea, in el-Alamein and in the Sinai
peninsula. Other important resources are the phosphates, the manganese, the
titanium and the iron ore. In 1991 the extraction of uranium has begun in the
region surrounding Assuan.
Money flow and commerce
The monetary unit is the Egyptian pound issued by the Central Bank in Egypt,
founded in 1961. In the country there are more than two-hundred banks, national
and foreign. The main imported products regard the agricultural and alimentary
sectors, the transport and chemical sector and machinery for the mining industry.
The exported products are crude petroleum and its by-products, rough cotton,
cotton threads and fabrics, and alimentary products. The most important
suppliers are the United States, Germany, Italy, France and Japan. In spite of
the great investments realized and of the strict controls, the country has
serious budget problems for the payments. The main source of foreign currency
comes from the tourist and the extraction industry, particularly developing
after the re-opening of the Suez canal, the conclusion of the peace treaty with
Israel and the return of the occupied territories in Sinai. In the middle of the
Nineties the foreign debt in Egypt amounted to 14 billion dollars.
Transport
The railways are managed by the state and they include a net of about 4810
KM. The main way connects Assuan and the areas at the north of the valley in the
Nile to Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast. The hydro-ways are widely used
and include the whole course of the Nile, the navigable canals (about 1610 km)
and the irrigation canals in the delta of the Nile(more than 17,700km). The
whole development of the roadways is about 64.000 km, of which the 78% is paved.
The national air-company is the Egyptair, that guarantees national and
international connections. There are many airports in the country, while the
main ports are the ones in Alexandria, in Port Said and in Suez.
State System
Egypt is a presidential Republic. According to the Constitution promulgated
September 11th 1971, it is an Arabic socialist, and the official religion is
Islam. The country is divided in 26 governorships, each one guided by a governor
nominated by the President. The governors are assisted by Cabinets formed by
members elected by the citizens. The head of the State is the President of the
Republic, chosen by the People’s Assembly and elected with a referendum of the
people. The President remains in office for six years and he has the power to
formulate the general state politic and supervise their carrying out, to
dissolve the People’s Assembly, to nominate and dismiss the ministers, to
participate to the meetings of the Cabinet and to issue decrees in emergencies,
but only with people’s approval, with a referendum that had to take place before
60 days. The legislative power was given to the unicameral People’s Assembly,
formed by 444 members in office for five years, half of whom are elected by the
workers and the peasants. In addition the President nominates 10 members of the
Coptic community. The People’s Assembly has the power to approve the State
budget, open investigations, impose taxes, approve the general plans and,
finally take away the trust from the Cabinet or from one of its members. The
judicial power is given to an independent system, that is based on elements of
the Islamic law of the shariah, together with laws derived from the English and
French ones. The tribunals are divided in four categories. The supreme
Constitutional court, the supreme judicial court, the cassation court and seven
appeal tribunals, placed in the most important governorships. Each governorship
has a principal tribunal, that examines civil suits and penal cases.
Political
parties
From 1961 to 1977 the Arabic socialist union (UAS) was the only legal
political party of the country. When in 1977 a multi-party system was introduced,
the UAS was replaced by other new parties. At the beginning of the Nineties, the
main political groups were the National Democratic Party, pro-government, the
fundamentalist Islamic Group of the Muslim Brotherhood (officially illegal) and
the Socialist Party of work.
Hystory
The Caliphates
The religious intolerance that
had characterized the period of the Byzantine domination, with the edicts
proclaimed by the basileus Eraclio that imposed the baptism to the Jews and the
doctrine of the Byzantine church to the Coptic Christians, brought Egypt to not
oppose a great resistance to the Arabic domination. As they entered the ambit
influenced by the caliphates, the Egyptians were progressively influenced by
Islam; but part of the population was able to keep their own religion paying an
individual tax (kharaj). During the following two centuries, Egypt was reigned
by governors nominated by the caliph, who was at the head of the Muslim
community, and the Arabic language progressively substituted the Coptic one,
that was kept only in liturgy. Under the abassidi caliphs, Egypt was torn to
pieces by many insurrections generated by the conflicts between the different
Muslim sects. In 868 Ahmad ibn Tulun liberated Egypt from the Abassidi’s
guardianship, founding a dynasty that kept the power until 905. The Ikhsiditi
dynasty that conquered the power in 935, was subjugated by the Fatimidi in 969,
through Gawar’s work, who founded Cairo, moving the capital to it. Under the
Fatimidi’s domination, who were of sciita religion, Egypt knew a period of
cultural blooming, becoming the most important Islamic country. Later the
Fatimidi lost some territories in northern Africa, the Syria and part of
Palestine. Threatened by the army of the crusades, the fatimidi caliphates asked
Nur ad-Din for help, he was master of Aleppo, and in 1168 he sent an army.
Saladino, one of Nur ad-Din’s generals, was nominated visir in Egypt and in 1171
he founded there the Ayyubiti dynasty, restoring the sunnita orthodoxy; he
re-conquered a great part of Syria and of Palestine, rendering Egypt a great
military power. After Saladin’s death (1193) the reign was weakened by internal
fights, that favored the ascent to the power of the Mamelucchi. They had a main
role in the battle against the crusades guided by Louis IX and they were able to
drive them back in 1249; the following year they defeated the Ayyubiti and
established their own dynasty.
The Mameluks
The Mameluksi governed Egypt from 1250
to 1517 with two dynasties, the Bahriti one and the Burgiti one. Some of them
were valorous leaders, as Baybars I, who in 1260 stopped the Mongolian advance.
Other two Mongolian invasions were stopped by the Mameluks, who eliminated the
presence of the crusades in Middle East, conquering Akko in 1291, the last
crusade fortress in Palestine.Between the XIII and the XIV century, the reign of
the Mameluks expanded toward north up to the borders with Minor Asia. The
Mameluks’ age was one of great splendour for art and culture, besides for the
economy, thanks mostly to the commerce of spices with the West. At the beginning
of the XVI the Mameluks were threatened by the Ottoman empire: in 1517 egypt was
occupied and conquered by the ottoman sultan Selim’s I army. Under the ottoman
empire the Mameluks continued to administrate the country, even during the
occupation by Napoleone’s Bonaparte French troops.
Muhammad Ali’s ascension and the British domination.
The French occupation in Egypt, although short 81798-1801), determined the
crisis of the political institutes in the country. In 1805 Muhammad Ali, a
Turkish general of Albanian origin, seized the power and was nominated governor;
in 1811 he defeated the Mameluks and began a vast program of reforms in the
political, economical and social ambits. The work begun by Muhammad Ali was
continued by his successors, among them his son Said and his nephew Ismail. The
international loans to finance the works on the Suez canal, opened in 1869,
brought Egypt to bankruptcy and to the interference of the western countries in
the Egyptian politic. In 1882, to calm down a revolt guided by the officers in
the army, the English occupied militarily Egypt.
Egypt, although remaining formally under the Ottoman sovereignty, was actually
governed by the British authorities up to 1914, when, at the first World War, it
was declared a protectorate: Abbas II was deposed in favor of his uncle, Hussein
Kamil.
The monarchy
In 1922 Great Britain, urged by the
nationalist Egyptian movements, declared the independence of the country and
proclaimed king, Fuad I. Great Britain, though, reserved itself the right to
intervene in the foreign business and in the defense matters, and to keep their
troops on Egyptian territory. The Constitution, promulgated in 1924, established
a bicameral parliamentary system, in which the king had the executive power and
nominated the Prime Minister. The political scene in the following thirty years
was dominated by the difficult equilibrium between the sovereign’s power, the
Wafd (the national party founded in 1919)power and the British authorities.
Finally in 1936 a treaty Anglo-Egyptian was signed and it reduced the military
occupation in the country, without releasing completely Egypt by the foreign
domination. At the end of the Second World War, in which Egypt took part as it
was allied with Great Britain, the tensions between the king and the political
parties increased; the intervention, in 1948, in the war against Israel (see
Arabic-Israeli war) made the situation even worse until the coup in 1952,
organized by general Muhammad Nagib: king Faruq I was deposed and the following
year Nagib proclaimed himself president of the new Egyptian republic.
Nasser’s government
Nagib was not able to have a real authority on the country and was progressively
deprived of authority by Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was a member of the Council of
the command of the revolution. In April 1954 Nasser put himself at the command
of the country, assuming in July 1956 the office of President. Nasser began a
foreign politic to create strong bonds with the Arabic states and he joined the
alliance of the nations not-aligned. The refusal, by the International Bank for
the rebuilding and the development, for the financial request for the
construction of the dam in Assuan 81956) lead Nasser to nationalize the Company
of the Suez canal, causing the intervention by Great Britain and France. In 1956
Israel, agreeing with two European nations, invaded Egypt, pushing up to the
region of the canal. The pressure by United States and Soviet union provoked the
intervention of the United Nations, that sent some military contingents between
Egypt and Israel. In February 1958 Nasser realized the union between Syria and
Egypt, forming the United Arabic Republic (RAU), that anyway was dissolved three
years later for the defection of Syria (Egypt kept this denomination until
1971). In the inner politic, Nasser suppressed the political opposition and
introduced an only-party-system, the Arabic Socialist Union.
In 1962 Egypt took part in the civil war against Yemen, supporting the
republican movement against monarchy. In 1967, the withdrawal of the forces of
ONU from Egypt obtained by Nasser and the closing of the Tirana strait, that
allowed Israel to access the Red Sea, were the reasons that caused the Six days
war, during which Israel occupied the Sinai peninsula and Gaza. The Egyptian
defeat decreased Nasser’s prestige, and he had to adopt more moderate positions.
To Nasser, who died suddenly in 1970, Anwar al-Sadat succeded.
Sadat’s presidency
In September 1971 Sadat promulgated a new Constitution; the inner politic
impressed from the start a liberal turning-point to the economy of the nation,
in contrast with his predecessor’s position. In foreign politic, in the attempt
to render Egypt militarily stronger, he made treaties of cooperation with the
Soviet Union. Sadat’s main aim was to conquer Sinai and this reconciled Egypt
with Saudi Arabia, that financed the purchase of arms by URSS. On October 6th
1973, during the Jewish celebration Yom Kippur, Egypt suddenly attacked Israel
through the Suez canal, beginning the Kippur war. At the beginning the war
favored Egypt, but the Israeli forces reacted readily and re-conquered the lost
territories and surrounded the enemy on the Suez canal. The United Nations
imposed an end and established a line of armistice between the Egyptian and
Israeli armies. Although not winning the war, Egypt had been able to question
the borders of 1967, and, helped by diplomatic efforts by the American state
secretary Henry Kissinger, Sadat accepted to begin peace treaties. In 1974 and
in 1975 Egypt and Israel concluded two treaties that forsaw the return of part
of Sinai (including some oil-wells) to Egypt. In 1975 the Suez canal was opened
again. After Sadat’s visit in Israel (November 1977) there were some colloquies
mediated by the United States; the negotiations ended with the treaty of Camp
david, signed September 17th 1978, followed by the signing of a real peace
treaty in Washington (March 26th 1979). After the peace with Israel, Egypt was
expelled from the Arabic League, that moved its site from Cairo to Tunis.
October 6th 1981, Sadat was murdered by some members of an Islamic
fundamentalist group, during a military parade to celebrate the anniversary of
the Kippur war. The Parliament nominate as his successor the vice-president
Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak’s presidency
For the inner politic, Mubarak continued in Sadat’s direction; in foreign
politic he tried to get Egypt close again to the Arabic countries. Elected again
in 1987, Mubarak obtained that Egypt should be admitted back in the Arabic
League, improving at the same time the relations with Israel and searching for a
mediation with the OLP. In 1990 Egypt participated to the coalition guided by
the United States against Iraq (see the war in the Gulf) with a contingent of
about 30.000 men.
The fundamentalist onset
Elected for the
third time to the presidency in 1993, Mubarak had to face the ideological and
military actions by many fundamentalist groups (among them, stand out the Muslim
Brotherhood and Al-Jama al-Islamiya), that had increased from the Eighties. The
Egyptian government held a repressing politic, that got harsher in the years,
but that wasn’t enough to oppose with efficacious the diffusion of Islamic
ideologies in the country (favored above all by the people’s discomfort for the
serious economical crisis), in spite of using emergency laws, of the arrest of
thousands of people who were suspected of taking part in the organizations of
the Islamic galaxy, of the military tribunals and of the death sentences.
In 1997 the Islamic radical fundamentalism, turned its action toward the tourist
industry, that were the main resources for the country. In September, an attack
in Cairo caused the death of nine German tourists. Another tragic episode of
this strategy was on November 17th, in the important archaeological site in
Luxor, when during an armed attack, claimed by Al-Jama al-Islamiya, more than
seventy people died, among them 58 foreign tourists. The Egyptian government
reacted to the terrorism emergency with many arrests and limiting the freedom of
the press, against which there were strong protests. In 1998 the paralysis in
the peace process in Palestine caused a cooling of the relations between Egypt
and Israel; in December the Egyptian government deplored the new military
intervention of the United States against Iraq.
Recent developments
The radical Islamic
fundamentalism phenomenon, after the repression by the regime after the attack I
Luxor, has decreased. Moreover the regime has obtained a public sentence against
the violence by many members of the radical Islamic organizations. Anyway the
repression has strongly damaged even the oppositions and has reduced the freedom
of the press. Concerning the economical situation, the government has increased
its liberalization and privatization politic, that has cared for only marginally
about the abnormal public administration sector (more than five million
employees), that for the regime represents the greatest source of consent. The
economical strategy followed has instead caused an extension of the poorest
classes, that include by now almost half of the population. In October 1999
Mubarak has been confirmed president of the country, obtaining the fourth
consecutive commission. In the successive legislative elections in October and
November 2000, Mubarak’s democratic national party has obtained 353 of the 444
chairs in the Egyptian Parliament.
Egyptian national hymn from
Guida SuperEva
arabic culture |
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