Egypt is located in north east Africa. Egypt's land covers an area of 995,450 sq km. Only 5% of the country's land is inhabited along the banks of the Nile. The Nile course stretches over 900 miles from the Mediterranean in the north to The Sudan in the south. To the west of Egypt lies Libya and to the east are the desert plateau, red sea, and Sinai.
Egypt's most fertile area is the Nile delta. While Cairo, Egypt's capital, has a population of 15,750,000, Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city has a population of 5.4 million. 

A. The People
In 2007 Egypt's population was estimated to have reached 80,335,036. About 90% of the Egyptians are concentrated in the fertile Nile delta and live on 5% of the country's territory, while 44% of the population lives in urban areas and occupy almost 4000 villages.

Once you arrive to Egypt, you will notice the gay Egyptian spirit. Egyptians are famous for their friendly attitude and warm sense of humor. It is quite well known that once you are in Egypt "you are one of us"; Egyptians have respect for tourists and have tolerance for different races, nationalities and ethnic groups.

B. Geography
Egypt can be divided into 3 main areas:

Eastern Desert
The eastern desert includes the plateau expanding from the Nile valley West to the Red Sea and Sinai East. It also includes Mount St. Catherine which is Egypt's highest mountain reaching 8, 668 feet.

Western Desert
The western desert is about 68 % of the countries total territory; it expands from the Nile valley East to the Libyan borders West and from the Mediterranean coast North to The Sudan South. 

Nile Valley
This fertile valley is a strip of 7 to 9 miles along the Nile and some 6000 square miles in Nile delta. The Nile total length in Egypt is about 9000 miles.

C. Language
Arabic is the official language, however most Egyptians speak English and French. In tourist cities like Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor and Aswan foreign visitors will encounter no difficulty to communicate with the people. 

D. Weather
One can enjoy Egypt's weather all around the year!
Click here to view Egypt's weather 

E. Religion 
Approximately 85% of the Egyptian population are Muslims. While about 9 million are Christians Orthodox who belong to The Coptic Church. In Egypt, mosques and churches can be found next to each other, which is the sign of unity. Jews also have small communities living in Egypt. 

F. Economy
Before the 1952 revolution Egypt's economy relied heavily on agriculture. This is because of the highly fertile soil the Nile water bears to cover the Nile valley enriching the land in a manner that enables Egypt to grow many agricultural products, especially rice, vegetables, onion, sugar cane and fruit. Further more, Egypt is one of the world wide main producers and exporters of long staple cotton. However, since the revolution Egypt started to export oil, finished textiles, canned foods and cars.

The Suez canal is also considered an important  source of revenues as it collects dutiesfrom an average of 70 ships which cross it daily. Tourism is a main part of the economy as well. That is why the country is focusing on flourishing such industry with the new real state investments in tourist cities.  
 
H. Currency
The basic currency is the Egyptian Pound divided to 100 Piasters. Change bank notes are: 5, 10, 25 and 50 Piaster ones. Also we have the following bank notes: 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 (Egyptian Pounds). Silver coins: 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 Piasters.

There is constantly a fluctuating exchange rate which stands in the current period at US$ = EGP 5.51650 and the Euro exchange rate is EUR = EGP 8.22889.