1. North Africa: Egypt
Unit 4

3. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. Tourism
Great Pyramids
Sphinx

9. 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

10. Food