North Africa: Egypt Unit 4

Climate / Terrain Egypt is an arid desert with little or no vegetation The Nile River (longest river in the world) cuts through the plateau and renders the country habitable Hot desert climate Only an inch of rainfall each year Egypt divided into 2 sections: Upper Egypt (south) & Lower Egypt (north) Named this way because the Nile River flows from south to north

Government / Economy Capital: Cairo Form of Government: Republic Head of State: President Economy: oil, gas, tourism Currency: Egyptian Pound 1 USD = 7.83 Egyptian Pound

Demography / Culture Population: 88,487,396 90% are Muslim Ethnic groups: Egyptian 99.6 % Life expectancy: 70 (M) and 76 (F) Literacy rate: 91.7% (M) and 65.8% (F) Children are highly valued in Egypt Seen as great blessings

Brief History 16th century, part of the Ottoman Empire 1882, British invaded and occupied Egypt The British wanted control of the Suez Canal to shorten the trip from Asia to Europe Egypt gained independence from Great Britain in 1952 and took control of Suez Canal in 1956 Fought series of wars with Israel in the 1970s Due to the refusal of Israel’s neighbors to accept Jewish sovereignty in the Middle East

Tourism Great Pyramids Sphinx

Interesting Facts Pyramids were built as tombs for pharaohs and their families Mummies!!! Believed that by preserving a dead person’s body their soul would live on in the afterlife Men and women wore makeup (ancient) Cats were considered a sacred animal

Food