The Arab Republic of Egypt is a republic in north-east Africa. It has a total area of 1,001,450 km2. The climate is desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters. The terrain is vast desert plateau interrupted by Nilevalley and delta. Natural resources are crude oil, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc. The religion is 94% Muslim (mostly Sunni), 6% Coptic Christian and other. The official language is Arabic with English and French also widely understood by the educated classes. Egypt was a kingdom from 3100 BC until 1952 when King Farouk was overthrown in a coup and Egypt became a republic.
Abbreviations
Gazetteer
Research Egypt