| |
-
Climate
-
Egypt’s
location within the North African desert belt, between the Mediterranean
and the 23rd parallel north of the Equator, means that it is
characterised by low annual rainfall as well as sunshine throughout the
year (about 315 days of sunshine). Within Egypt, there is the contrast
between the coastal Mediterranean climate and the hot dryness of the
interior, however in these desert areas there is a sharp of contrast
between day and night temperatures.
The winter months of January and February can be quite cool especially
in the area of the Delta and the Mediterranean. However, the further
south one goes, the higher the temperature and the lower the humidity
will become.
Geography
-
Egypt covers
an area of about one million square kilometres and is bordered to the
north by the Mediterranean, the Red Sea to the east, Libya to the west
and shares the southern border with the Sudan.
People
-
Most
Egyptians are mixed race. They are descendant not only from the Arabs,
but also from the ancient Egyptians, Berbers, Greeks, and Turks among
other races.
The Nubians, in the south of Egypt, are a largely separate people, with
their own language. As for the Bedouin, who live on Sinai and in the
deserts on the mainland, are mostly of Arab descent.
Trade and Industry
-
Oil and
natural gas from the Gulf of Suez and Sinai make up about half of
Egypt’s exports. Tourism and tolls on ships using the Suez Canal also
bring Hard Currency. Industrial production, which is centred outside
Cairo and Alexandria, includes phosphates, coal, manganese, iron and
steel, and aluminium. Cotton is the main export crop.
Fishing
-
There are
three main areas where fishing is practised: The Red Sea, The
Mediterranean and The Nile River’s Lake Nasser.
-
Shellfish, Snappers and Squid are amongst the many types of fish
caught in this area.
-
Deep sea
fishing is common here and this is rapidly becoming a popular
tourist activity.
-
(the
world’s biggest man-made lake) after building the High Dam at Aswan
the government has encouraged the fishing industry to flourish, by
building projects such as a fishing farm and fishery complex at the
Lake Nasser. This has meant that the total catch has been
significantly increased, despite the drop in the number of fish
caught on the Nile river valley and delta. This drop is believed to
be the result of the changes in the flow of the river, as a result
of the building of the Aswan High Dam.
Farming
-
Since
earliest times, Egyptians have farmed on the Nile. Most of the people
are fellaheen - peasant farmers. Only about 4 percent of the land is,
currently, suitable for farming. The Aswan High Dam has made water
permanently available so that crops can be harvested two or three times
a year. It has also allowed thousands of acres of land to be reclaimed
from the desert and irrigated for agriculture.
The use of modern pesticides and fertilisers has increased yields,
especially of cash crops, such as cotton. Most cotton is grown in the
Nile Delta, which has the richest farming land. Only about a quarter of
the land is allocated for the growing of food. Rice, maize, wheat, fuul
(beans), millet, and dates are among Egypt’s food crops. Farmers also
grow, potatoes, tomatoes, other vegetables, and all kinds of fruits.
Some of this produce is exported. Most farmers also keep water buffalo
or dairy cattle for pulling a plow and for their milk.
Recently the Egyptian government has started negotiations with the EEC
to allow exported Egyptian produce to be tax free, once these
negotiations have been concluded it is expected that agricultural
produce will make up a significant part of the foreign exports. The
reason for this being that the farming operational costs (due to year
round farming and abundant water from the Nile) and climate make Egypt
the most advantageous of its Mediterranean neighbours.
Schools
-
Children must
attend school between the ages of 6 and 12. There are state schools,
which are free, as well as private and religious (Islamic) schools.
After the Elementary school, children sit an exam before going on to
Intermediate school. They can then, if they wish, enrol in a secondary
or high school. Afterward, some continue their education at state
universities.
Media
-
All radio and
television broadcasting is owned by the state. There are 7 television
channels. One includes western movies and has a daily news in English as
well as French and another two are in Arabic, one of which is only
broadcast to Cairo. There are 4 regional channels for Alexandria, Suez
Canal region, Upper Egypt and Delta area.
Of the 15 or so daily papers, the oldest is Al-Ahram (The Pyramid).
Egyptian Gazette is the daily English publication. There are also an
edition in French.
There is a daily paper for El Wafd, the main opposition party. Other
political parties have weekly newspapers.
Art
-
Ancient
Egyptians sculptors worked in all kinds of materials and in all colours
- limestone, red carnelian, blue turquoise, yellow jasper, and black
diorite as well as precious metals. They made wood carvings in yew,
acacia, and sycamore. Painting, on the walls of temples and tombs, was
equally colourful. It followed the rule that the heads of the figures,
but not the eyes or the shoulders, were shown in profile.
Modern Egyptian art includes handmade carpets and tapestries with
beautiful designs in silk and fine wool. Other beautiful forms of
Egyptian art include:
-
where
items like plates or trays are engraved with detailed pictures of
ancient Egyptians, Arab or nature scenes.
-
mostly in
gold and silver these have designs varying from the intricate
details of the Arab Bedouin and fellaheen’s typical jewellery called
Kerdan, to ancient Egyptian collar-like jewellery usually embedded
with local stones of various colours. The increase in tourist
numbers over the past few years has meant that a new variety of
jewellery has begun, most of which is very much like what you would
find in the shops here, as well speciality ones for example:
Egyptian Khartoush with your name engraved in Pharaonic letters.
-
this is a
fascinating process where the glass is heated at the end of a long
rod and then the person handling it will blow through the rod until
satisfied with its design. In this fashion, bottles and vases are
made in various colours and designs, also there are ancient Egyptian
perfume bottles which are usually of clear glass with a glass
stopper (used as the perfume applicator) and are then hand painted.
Music
-
The various
kinds of traditional music from different parts of the country often
have their own rhythms and their own instruments. Saiy’idi is the music
of the Nile Valley. It has a rhythm that horses are trained to dance to,
and uses the naharsan, a kind of drum, and the mismar saiyidi, a wooden
trumpet. Other traditional music includes Fellahi (from the Delta
region), Bedouin, classical Arab, Islamic, Sawahlee (from the
Mediterranean coast), and Nubian. Al Jeel, a type of disco music mixed
with Bedouin and Nubian rhythms, is currently popular with young people.
Religion
-
Nine-tenth of
the people are Muslims. Coptic Christians make up most of the remaining
Christian population.
Festivals
-
Many
festivals take place throughout the year. Some are Muslim, some are
Christian, some are celebrated nationally, others locally. Muslims
festivals and moulids (saints days) follow the Islamic calendar, and do
not fall on the same date each year.
Some of the major festivals are:
-
this is a
very popular international sporting event, it lasts for about 10
days during which contenders go west from Guiza (by the Pyramids),
to the Oases in the western desert. And then south through Luxor,
Aswan and continuing on to Abu Simbel. Then, they head north into
the eastern desert, and go through Sinai to the Red Sea and then
back to Cairo. In 1992, a massive 700 contenders joined in the
Rally.
-
this is a
holiday lasting 3 days and is a celebration of the end of the
fasting month of Ramadan. Children get presents of money, clothes
and sweets from the many relatives they visit over the holiday.
-
a
celebration of Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, and is an occasion for
street processions in many towns and cities.
-
A
national holiday, where it literally means "smelling the breeze" and
denotes the start of spring. This day originates from ancient
Egyptian times and is celebrated with large family gatherings and
day-long picnics.
Plants
-
The Papyrus
plant, which was used by the ancient Egyptians to make the earliest form
of paper, is unfortunately no longer growing in abundance on the Nile’s
banks_but can be obtained and found in Botanical gardens.
Another plant that was highly appreciated by the pharaohs of ancient
Egypt is the lotus flower, it was always included in paintings and was
commonly carved at the tops of the columns in ancient temples. This
plant, a flower, still grows in the area of the Nile delta.
Animals
-
The Nile
Valley and the Delta are, between them, home to a variety of birds. They
include turtles doves, blue throats, redstarts, and stonechats as well
as water birds such as ibises, storks, and the great crested grebe, and
falcons and kestrels.
The Egyptian cobra, a longer black-necked cobra is found in remote areas
of southern Egypt Also, there are various animals of the dessert
including hyenas, jackals and gazelles.
Sport
-
Soccer is the
national sport and the favourite of both players and spectators. There
is great rivalry between both the players and the fans of Ahly and
Zamalek, the two top teams in Cairo. Other popular sports are, Squash
and Hand ball.
Most cities have public swimming pools, and tennis, and rowing are
becoming very popular. Horse racing traditionally takes place in the
desert, and camels are raced there too. Deep sea fishing and sub-aqua
sports such as wind surfing are rapidly becoming popular with locals and
even more with tourists. The popularity is so great that there are now
two international competitions every year. Also, an international wind
surfing competition, usually lasting one week, has started and has
involved as many as 26 countries at one time.
History
-
- The average Egyptian is descendant from a
great number of races, for that reason it is a country with such a rich
history that it would do it little justice to try to recite it in any
detail in this report. However, to give a general idea of the history it
can be divided into five main periods_during which more than one race
was ruling:
-
- Pharaonic Period: this period
started in 3,100 BC after a ruler called Mena united the two
kingdoms that now form upper Egypt (the Nile Valley) and lower Egypt
(the Nile Delta). This is the period when the famous monuments of
the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Guiza, were built and a time when
Egyptian civilisation flourished for about 2,500 years.
-
- Greco-Roman Period: this was between
332 BC and 312 AD a period during which the Persians ruled for a
very short period, and then were over taken by the Greek conqueror
"Alexander the Great", who then created the city of Alexandria
overlooking the Mediterranean from which many Greeks ruled. This
city was the home of two of the wonders of the ancient world, the
great library of Alexandria and the Alexandria light house. At
around 30 BC, the Romans took over the rule of the area.
-
- Coptic Period: this is when
Christianity was declared a state religion under the Roman’s rule in
312 AD, however Christianity had always been present in Egypt, where
Jesus is said to have spent his early years in Egypt, also, it is
believed that the first two monks were Egyptian. There are many
remains of the art from this era in the
British Museum in
London.
-
- Islamic Period: in 640 AD Egypt was
conquered by the Arabs who introduced the religion of Islam for the
first time, various Arab rulers took over the rule of Egypt, first
were Arabs from Damascus, then Fatimids from North Africa. Next came
Saladin, who is known for his wars against the crusaders. In the
16th century Egypt became a province of the Ottoman Turks.
After World War I (1914-1918), the Ottoman Empire fell but the
Turkish king remained ruler of Egypt while it was ‘put under the
protection of’ Britain. From 1919, the Egyptian people started their
struggle for their right to become an independent state and to have
the freedom to control their destiny, and many "heroes" rose during
that period.
-
- Independent Egypt: By 1956, Egypt
became the first Arab republic in the Middle East.
The current president to the country is Mr. Hosni Mubarak.
Language
Egypt’s
official language is Arabic. Arabic is spoken by most of the people of
North Africa and West Asia. However, the spoken language differs from
country to country, though the written language remains the same.
Because Egyptian movies are very popular in the Arab world, Arabic as it
is spoken in Egypt is understood by most Arabs. English is the second
language, and many Egyptians can speak French as well.
|
|
|
|
