Egypt By: Alex Mitan

People Most of the people live in the Nile valley and delta. The rest of the country (which is about 96% of Egypt's land) has little population. The official language is Arabic. Educated Egyptians may also speak English and French. Religion: Muslim-90% Coptic-9% Christian-1% Population: 82,079,636 Urban Population: 43.4% of total population Cairo million; Alexandria million They don’t have a big immigrant population.

Government Type: Republic Capital: Cairo Legal System: Based on Islamic and civil law Three branches of Government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Executive branch: Chief of State- President and Vice President are vacant; Head of Government- the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister; Cabinet Legislative branch: Advisory Council- consists of 264 seats; each member serves 6-year terms. People’s Assembly- consists of 518 seats; 64 seats are reserved for women (each member serves 5-year terms) Judicial branch: Supreme Constitution Court Suffrage: must be 18 years of age and it is universal and mandatory (failure to vote can result in a fine or maybe even imprisonment) Constitution: declared September 11, 1971

Elections Executive branch: the president is elected for a 6-year term by popular vote. The next presidential election will take place in August of This will be the 2 nd presidential election in Egypt's history. Legislative branch: Advisory Council- 176 members of 264 are elected by popular vote and 88 of the members are appointed by the president, mid-term elections for half of the members, last election held on June 2007 (next to be held in 2013); People’s Assembly- 508 of the members are elected by popular vote and 10 appointed by the president, last election held on November-December 2010 (next to be held in 2015).

Economy Labor Force: 26.1 million Labor Force- by occupation: agriculture=13.5%, industry=11%, services=51%, unemployment rate=9.7% Population level below poverty-20% Household Income-lowest 10%: 3.9%, highest 10%:27.6% Budget- Income=$46.82 billion, Spending=$64.19 billion GDP (official exchange rate)- $216.8 billion Public debt- 80.5% of GDP Exchange rate Egyptian pounds per US dollar Products of Agriculture- cotton, corn, rice, fruits, wheat, beans, and vegetables; sheep, goats, cattle, and water buffalo Industries- textiles, food processing, chemicals, hydrocarbons, tourism, construction, pharmaceuticals, metals, cement, and light manufacturers

Major Problems Protesters called for the removal of the president because they wanted change; the anger of the protesters have expanded because of abuse, corruption, freedom of expression, unemployment, and the price of food; conflict arose and about 384 people were killed. Unemployment- total unemployment in 1960 was less than 200,000 but by 1986 this estimate rose up to more than two million; some causes of this is lack of proper education, areas are over populated, and personal reasons. Price of Food- prices of food have launched and at the income of $1-$2 a day it is impossible to survive.

Political Factions and Platforms Democratic Peace Party- establishing democracy, solving problems that citizens have, boosting Egypt’s status on the regional and international arenas, uprooting illiteracy, and ensuring women’s rights. National Progressive Unionist Grouping- rejection of religious extremism, building character of the Egyptian citizens, ending the State monopoly over the media, raising awareness of environmental issues, developing the Egyptian industries. Nasserist Party- social change towards progress and development, defense and freedom of national will, renouncing violence and combating terrorism, protecting public freedoms, enhancing the role of the public sector, modernizing the Egyptian industries, developing the agriculture sector, encouraging inter-Arab economic integration, providing free-of-charge medical treatment for citizens, and promoting peace in the world arena. Ahrar Party- the Islamic Sharia is a main source of legislation, freedom of expression and thought, electing the president and vice-president through free polls, enhancing roll of the private sector, ensuring basic rights of laborers and peasants, freedom of the press, independence of the Judiciary, and education development. El-Ghad Party (Tomorrow Party)- political and economic reform, paying a special care for the handicapped, combating drug addiction, and solving the water crisis. Muslim Brotherhood- goal is to install the Qur’an and Sunnah as the “sole reference point for ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community, and state. They have used or supported violence because of an inception in They condemned terrorism and the 9/11 attacks. Have been repeatedly banned in Egypt for attempting to overthrow Cairo’s secular government.