Egypt
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
Arab Republic of Egypt
Geography
Area: 1,001,450 sq. km. (386,000 sq. mi.); approximately equal
to Texas and New Mexico combined.
Cities: Capital--Cairo (pop. estimated at 16 million). Other cities--Alexandria
(6 million), Aswan, Asyut, Port Said, Suez, Ismailia.
Terrain: Desert, except Nile valley and delta.
Climate: Dry, hot summers; moderate winters.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Egyptian(s).
Population (July 2005 est.): 77,505,756.
Annual growth rate (2005 est.): 1.78%.
Ethnic groups: Egyptian, Bedouin Arab, Nubian.
Religions: Muslim 94%, Coptic Christian and other 6%.
Languages: Arabic (official), English, French.
Education: Years compulsory--ages 6-15. Literacy--total adult:
57%
Health: Infant mortality rate (2005 est.)--32.59 deaths/1,000
live births. Life expectancy (2005 est.): 71 years.
Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: 1922.
Constitution: 1971.
Branches: Executive--president, prime minister, cabinet.
Legislative--People's Assembly (444 elected and 10 presidentially
appointed members) and Shura (consultative) Council (176 elected
members, 88 presidentially appointed). Judicial--Supreme Constitutional
Court.
Administrative subdivisions: 26 governorates.
Principal political parties: National Democratic Party (ruling).
Principal opposition parties--New Wafd Party, Liberal Party, National
Progressive Unionist Grouping (Tagammau), and Nasserite Party.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
Economy
GDP (2005 est.): $91.7 billion.
Annual growth rate (2005 est.): 4.8%.
Per capita GDP (2005 est.): $4,282.
Natural resources: Petroleum and natural gas, iron ore, phosphates,
manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc.
Agriculture: Products--cotton, rice, onions, beans, citrus fruits,
wheat, corn, barley, sugar.
Industry: Types--food processing, textiles, chemicals, petrochemicals,
construction, light manufacturing, iron and steel products, aluminum,
cement, military equipment.
Trade (FY 2004): Exports--$10.5 billion: petroleum, clothing and
textiles, cotton, fruits and vegetables, manufactured goods. Major
markets--EU, U.S., Middle East, Japan. Imports--$18.3 billion:
machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products, livestock,
food and beverages, paper and wood products, chemicals. Major
suppliers--EU, U.S., Japan.
PEOPLE AND HISTORY
Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world and the second-most
populous on the African Continent. Nearly all of the country's
70 million people live in Cairo and Alexandria; elsewhere on the
banks of the Nile; in the Nile delta, which fans out north of
Cairo; and along the Suez Canal. These regions are among the world's
most densely populated, containing an average of over 3,820 persons
per square mile (1,540 per sq. km.), as compared to 181 persons
per sq. mi. for the country as a whole.
Small communities spread throughout the desert regions of Egypt
are clustered around oases and historic trade and transportation
routes. The government has tried with mixed success to encourage
migration to newly irrigated land reclaimed from the desert. However,
the proportion of the population living in rural areas has continued
to decrease as people move to the cities in search of employment
and a higher standard of living.
The Egyptians are a fairly homogeneous people of
Hamitic origin. Mediterranean and Arab influences appear in the
north, and there is some mixing in the south with the Nubians
of northern Sudan. Ethnic minorities include a small number of
Bedouin Arab nomads in the eastern and western deserts and in
the Sinai, as well as some 50,000-100,000 Nubians clustered along
the Nile in Upper (southern) Egypt.
The literacy rate is about 57% of the adult population.
Education is free through university and compulsory from ages
six through 15. Rates for primary and secondary education have
strengthened in recent years. Ninety-three percent of children
enter primary school and about one-quarter drop out after the
sixth year; in 1994-95, 87% entered primary school and about half
dropped out after the sixth year. Major universities include Cairo
University (100,000 students), Alexandria University, and the
1,000-year-old Al-Azhar University, one of the world's major centers
of Islamic learning.
Egypt's vast and rich literature constitutes an
important cultural element in the life of the country and in the
Arab world as a whole. Egyptian novelists and poets were among
the first to experiment with modern styles of Arabic literature,
and the forms they developed have been widely imitated. Egyptian
novelist Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arab to win the Nobel prize
for literature. Egyptian books and films are available throughout
the Middle East.
Egypt has endured as a unified state for more than
5,000 years, and archeological evidence indicates that a developed
Egyptian society has existed for much longer. Egyptians take pride
in their "pharaonic heritage" and in their descent from
what they consider mankind's earliest civilization. The Arabic
word for Egypt is Misr, which originally connoted "civilization"
or "metropolis."
Archeological findings show that primitive tribes
lived along the Nile long before the dynastic history of the pharaohs
began. By 6000 B.C., organized agriculture had appeared.
In about 3100 B.C., Egypt was united under a ruler
known as Mena, or Menes, who inaugurated the 30 pharaonic dynasties
into which Egypt's ancient history is divided--the Old and the
Middle Kingdoms and the New Empire. The pyramids at Giza (near
Cairo), which were built in the fourth dynasty, testify to the
power of the pharaonic religion and state. The Great Pyramid,
the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu (also known as Cheops), is the only
surviving monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Ancient Egypt reached the peak of its power, wealth, and territorial
extent in the period called the New Empire (1567-1085 B.C.).
Persian, Greek, Roman, and Arab Conquerors
In 525 B., Cambyses, the son of Cyrus the Great, led a Persian
invasion force that dethroned the last pharaoh of the 26th Dynasty.
The country remained a Persian province until conquered by Alexander
the Great in 322 BC, ushering in Ptolemeic rule Egypt that lasted
for nearly 300 years.
Following a brief Persian reconquest, Egypt was
invaded and conquered by Arab forces in 642. A process of Arabization
and Islamization ensued. Although a Coptic Christian minority
remained--and remains today, constituting about 10% of the population--the
Arab language inexorably supplanted the indigenous Coptic tongue.
For the next 1,300 years, a succession of Arab, Mameluke, and
Ottoman caliphs, beys, and sultans ruled the country.
European Influence
The Ottoman Turks controlled Egypt from 1517 until 1882, except
for a brief period of French rule under Napoleon Bonaparte. In
1805, Mohammed Ali, commander of an Albanian contingent of Ottoman
troops, was appointed Pasha, founding the dynasty that ruled Egypt
until his great-great grandson, Farouk I, was overthrown in 1952.
Mohammed Ali the Great ruled Egypt until 1848, writing the first
chapter in the modern history of Egypt. The growth of modern urban
Cairo began in the reign of Ismail (1863-79). Eager to Westernize
the capital, he ordered the construction of a European-style city
to the west of the medieval core. The Suez Canal was completed
in his reign in 1869, and its completion was celebrated by many
events, including the commissioning of Verdi's "Aida"
for the new opera house and the building of great palaces such
as the Omar Khayyam (originally constructed to entertain the French
Empress Eugenie, which is now the central section of the Cairo
Marriott Hotel).
In 1882, British expeditionary forces crushed a
revolt against the Ottoman rulers, marking the beginning of British
occupation and the virtual inclusion of Egypt within the British
Empire. In deference to growing nationalism, the U.K. unilaterally
declared Egyptian independence in 1922. British influence, however,
continued to dominate Egypt's political life and fostered fiscal,
administrative, and governmental reforms.
In the pre-1952 revolution period, three political
forces competed with one another: the Wafd, a broadly based nationalist
political organization strongly opposed to British influence;
King Fuad, whom the British had installed during World War II;
and the British themselves, who were determined to maintain control
over the Canal. Other political forces emerging in this period
included the communist party (1925) and the Muslim Brotherhood
(1928), which eventually became a potent political and religious
force.
During World War II, British troops used Egypt as
a base for Allied operations throughout the region. British troops
were withdrawn to the Suez Canal area in 1947, but nationalist,
anti-British feelings continued to grow after the war. On July
22-23, 1952, a group of disaffected army officers (the "free
officers") led by Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew King
Farouk, whom the military blamed for Egypt's poor performance
in the 1948 war with Israel. Following a brief experiment with
civilian rule, they abrogated the 1923 constitution and declared
Egypt a republic on June 19, 1953. Nasser evolved into a charismatic
leader, not only of Egypt, but the Arab world, promoting and implementing
"Arab socialism." He nationalized Egypt’s economy.
Nasser helped establish the Non-aligned Movement
of developing countries in September 1961, and continued to be
a leading force in the movement until his death in 1970. When
the United States held up military sales in reaction to Egyptian
neutrality vis-à-vis Moscow, Nasser concluded an arms deal
with Czechoslovakia in September 1955.
When the U.S. and the World Bank withdrew their
offer to help finance the Aswan High Dam in mid-1956, Nasser nationalized
the privately owned Suez Canal Company. The crisis that followed,
exacerbated by growing tensions with Israel over guerrilla attacks
from Gaza and Israeli reprisals, resulted in the invasion of Egypt
that October by France, Britain, and Israel.
Nasser's domestic policies were arbitrary and frequently
oppressive, yet generally popular. All opposition was stamped
out, and opponents of the regime frequently were imprisoned without
trial. Nasser's foreign and military policies helped provoke the
Israeli attack of June 1967 that virtually destroyed Egypt's armed
forces along with those of Jordan and Syria. Israel also occupied
the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan
Heights. Nasser, nonetheless, was revered by the masses in Egypt
and elsewhere in the Arab world until his death in 1970.
After Nasser's death, another of the original "free
officers," Vice President Anwar el-Sadat, was elected President.
In 1971, Sadat concluded a treaty of friendship with the Soviet
Union, but a year later, ordered Soviet advisers to leave. In
1973, he launched the October war with Israel, in which Egypt's
armed forces achieved initial successes but were defeated in Israeli
counterattacks.
Camp David and the Peace Process
In a momentous change from the Nasser era, President Sadat shifted
Egypt from a policy of confrontation with Israel to one of peaceful
accommodation through negotiations. Following the Sinai Disengagement
Agreements of 1974 and 1975, Sadat created a fresh opening for
progress by his dramatic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977.
This led to President Jimmy Carter's invitation to President Sadat
and Prime Minister Begin to join him in trilateral negotiations
at Camp David.
The outcome was the historic Camp David accords,
signed by Egypt and Israel and witnessed by the U.S. on September
17, 1978. The accords led to the March 26, 1979, signing of the
Egypt-Israel peace treaty, by which Egypt regained control of
the Sinai in May 1982. Throughout this period, U.S.-Egyptian relations
steadily improved, but Sadat's willingness to break ranks by making
peace with Israel earned him the enmity of most other Arab states.
Domestic Change
Sadat introduced greater political freedom and a new economic
policy, the most important aspect of which was the infitah or
"open door." This relaxed government controls over the
economy and encouraged private, including foreign, investment.
Sadat dismantled much of the existing political machine and brought
to trial a number of former government officials accused of criminal
excesses during the Nasser era.
Liberalization also included the reinstitution of
due process and the legal banning of torture. Sadat tried to expand
participation in the political process in the mid-1970s but later
abandoned this effort. In the last years of his life, Egypt was
racked by violence arising from discontent with Sadat's rule and
sectarian tensions, and it experienced a renewed measure of repression.
From Sadat to Mubarak
On October 6, 1981, Islamic extremists assassinated President
Sadat. Hosni Mubarak, Vice President since 1975 and air force
commander during the October 1973 war, was elected President later
that month. He was subsequently confirmed by popular referendum
for four more 6-year terms, most recently in September 2005. Mubarak
has maintained Egypt's commitment to the Camp David peace process,
while at the same time re-establishing Egypt's position as an
Arab leader. Egypt was readmitted to the Arab League in 1989.
Egypt also has played a moderating role in such international
fora as the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Since 1991, Mubarak has overseen a domestic economic
reform program to reduce the size of the public sector and expand
the role of the private sector. There has been less progress in
political reform. The November 2000 People's Assembly elections
saw 34 members of the opposition win seats in the 454-seat assembly,
facing a clear majority of 388 ultimately affiliated with the
ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). Opposition parties continue
to face various difficulties in mounting credible electoral challenges
to the NDP. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928,
remains an illegal organization and is not recognized as a political
party (current Egyptian law prohibits the formation of political
parties based on religion). Members are known publicly and openly
speak their views, although they do not explicitly identify themselves
as members of the organization. Members of the Brotherhood have
been elected to the People's Assembly and local councils as independents.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The Egyptian Constitution provides for a strong executive. Authority
is vested in an elected president who can appoint one or more
vice presidents, a prime minister, and a cabinet. The president's
term runs for 6 years. Egypt's legislative body, the People's
Assembly, has 454 members--444 popularly elected and 10 appointed
by the president. The constitution reserves 50% of the assembly
seats for "workers and peasants." The assembly sits
for a 5-year term but can be dissolved earlier by the President.
There also is a 264-member Shura (consultative) Council, in which
88 members are appointed and 174 elected for 6-year terms. Below
the national level, authority is exercised by and through governors
and mayors appointed by the central government and by popularly
elected local councils.
Opposition party organizations make their views
public and represent their followers at various levels in the
political system, but power is concentrated in the hands of the
President and the National Democratic Party majority in the People's
Assembly and those institutions dominate the political system.
In addition to the ruling National Democratic Party, there are
18 other legally recognized parties, whereas in 2004 there were
only 16 other legally recognized parties.
The November 2000 elections were generally considered
to have been more transparent and better executed than past elections,
because of universal judicial monitoring of polling stations.
On the other hand, opposition parties continue to lodge credible
complaints about electoral manipulation by the government. There
are significant restrictions on the political process and freedom
of expression for non-governmental organizations, including professional
syndicates and organizations promoting respect for human rights.
Progress was seen in the September 2005 presidential
elections when parties were allowed to field candidates against
President Mubarak and his National Democratic Party. In early
2005, President Mubarak proposed amending the constitution to
allow, for the first time in Egypt's history, competitive, multi-candidate
elections. An amendment was drafted by parliament and approved
by public referendum in late May 2005. In September 2005, President
Mubarak was reelected, according to official results, with 88%
of the vote. His two principal challengers, Ayman Nour and No'man
Gom'a, took 7% and 3% of the vote respectively. A new People's
Assembly will be elected for a 5-year term in three stages in
November and December 2005.
Egypt's judicial system is based on European (primarily
French) legal concepts and methods. Under the Mubarak government,
the courts have demonstrated increasing independence, and the
principles of due process and judicial review have gained greater
respect. The legal code is derived largely from the Napoleonic
Code. Marriage and personal status (family law) are primarily
based on the religious law of the individual concerned, which
for most Egyptians is Islamic Law (Sharia).
Principal Government Officials
President--Mohamed Hosny Mubarak
Prime Minister--Dr. Ahmed Nazif
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Ambassador Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Ambassador to the United States--Ambassador Nabil Fahmy
Permanent Representative to the United Nations--Ambassador Maged
Abdel Fattah
Egypt maintains an embassy in the United States
at 3521 International Court N.W., Washington, D.C., 20008 (tel.
202-895-5400). The Washington consulate has the same address (tel.
202-966-6342). The Egyptian Mission to the United Nations is located
at 304 East 44th Street, New York, N.Y. (tel. 212-305-0300). Egyptian
consulates general are located at: 1110 Second Avenue, New York,
N.Y., 10022 (tel. 212-759-7120); 1990 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite
2180, Houston, TX, 77056 (tel. 713-961-4915); 500 N. Michigan
Avenue, Suite 1900, Chicago, IL, 60611 (tel. 312-828-9162); and
3001 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94115 (tel. 415-346-9700).
NATIONAL SECURITY
Egypt's armed forces, among the largest in the region, include
the army, air defense, air force, and navy. The armed forces inventory
includes equipment from the United States, France, Italy, the
United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and China. Equipment
from the former Soviet Union is being progressively replaced by
more modern American, French, and British equipment, a significant
portion of which is built under license in Egypt. To bolster stability
and moderation in the region, Egypt has provided military assistance
and training to a number of African and Arab states. Egypt remains
a strong military and strategic partner of the United States.
ECONOMY
With the installation of the current cabinet in July 2004, the
Government of Egypt has re-invigorated a stalled economic reform
program begun in 1991, but moribund since the mid-1990s. In the
past year, the cabinet economic team has simplified and reduced
tariffs and taxes, improved the transparency of the national budget,
revived stalled privatizations of public enterprises and implemented
economic legislation designed to foster private sector-driven
economic growth and improve Egypt's competitiveness. Despite these
achievements, the economy is still hampered by government intervention,
substantial subsidies for food, housing, and energy, and bloated
public sector payrolls. Moreover, the public sector still controls
most heavy industry.
In sectoral terms, agriculture is mainly in private
hands, and has been largely deregulated, with the exception of
cotton and sugar production. Construction, non-financial services,
and domestic marketing are also largely private. The Egyptian
economy, however, relies heavily on tourism, oil and gas exports,
and Suez Canal revenues, much of which is controlled by the public
sector and is also vulnerable to outside factors. The tourism
sector suffered tremendously following a terrorist attack in Luxor
in October 1997. The tourism sector feared a repeat of the downturn
in tourist numbers when terrorists attacked resorts in the Sinai
Peninsula in 2004 and 2005. So far, however, the sector has not
suffered as greatly as expected.
The U.S. has a large assistance program in Egypt
and provides funding for a variety of programs in addition to
some cash transfers. A portion of U.S. assistance to Egypt under
the 2003 Iraq war supplemental appropriations was provided in
the form of bond guarantees, which were contingent upon Egyptian
compliance with a series of economic conditions. Egypt met the
conditions and in September 2005 issued $1.25 billion in 10-year
bonds that were fully guaranteed by the United States. To support
the Middle East peace process through regional economic integration,
the United States permits products to be imported from Egypt without
tariffs if they have been produced in Qualified Industrial Zones
and 11.7% of the inputs of these products originate from Israel.
Agriculture
Approximately one-third of Egyptian labor is engaged directly
in farming, and many others work in the processing or trading
of agricultural products. Nearly all of Egypt’s agricultural
production takes place in some 2.5 million hectares (6 million
acres) of fertile soil in the Nile Valley and Delta. Some desert
lands are being developed for agriculture, including the ambitious
Toshka project in Upper Egypt, but some other fertile lands in
the Nile Valley and Delta are being lost to urbanization and erosion.
Warm weather and plentiful water permit several
crops a year. Further improvement is possible, but land is worked
intensively and yields are high. Cotton, rice, wheat, corn, sugarcane,
sugar beets, onions, and beans are the principal crops. Increasingly,
a few modern operations are producing fruits, vegetables and flowers,
in addition to cotton, for export. While the desert hosts some
large, modern farms, more common traditional farms occupy one
acre each, typically in a canal-irrigated area along the banks
of the Nile. Many small farmers also have cows, water buffaloes,
and chicken, although larger modern farms are becoming more important.
The United States is a major supplier of wheat,
corn, and soybean products to Egypt, almost all through commercial
sales. Egypt is, in fact, traditionally the U.S.'s largest market
for wheat sales. U.S. agricultural sales to Egypt average $1 billion
annually. U.S. food assistance programs to Egypt ended in 1992
as Egypt became more prosperous. Egypt continues to receive modest
food assistance through the World Food Program and from France.
"Egypt," wrote the Greek historian Herodotus
25 centuries ago, "is the gift of the Nile." The land's
seemingly inexhaustible resources of water and soil carried by
this mighty river created in the Nile Valley and Delta the world's
most extensive oasis. Without the Nile, Egypt would be little
more than a desert wasteland.
The river carves a narrow, cultivated floodplain,
never more than 20 kilometers wide, as it travels northward toward
Cairo from Lake Nasser on the Sudanese border, behind the Aswan
High Dam. Just north of Cairo, the Nile spreads out over what
was once a broad estuary that has been filled by riverine deposits
to form a fertile delta about 250 kilometers wide (150 mi.) at
the seaward base and about 160 kilometers (96 mi.) from south
to north.
Before the construction of dams on the Nile, particularly
the Aswan High Dam (started in 1952, completed in 1970), the fertility
of the Nile Valley was sustained by the water flow and the silt
deposited by the annual flood. Sediment is now obstructed by the
Aswan High Dam and retained in Lake Nasser. The interruption of
yearly, natural fertilization and the increasing salinity of the
soil has been a manageable problem resulting from the dam. The
benefits remain impressive: more intensive farming on millions
of acres of land made possible by improved irrigation, prevention
of flood damage, and the generation of billions of low-cost kilowatt
hours of electricity.
The Western Desert accounts for about two-thirds
of the country's land area. For the most part, it is a massive
sandy plateau marked by seven major depressions. One of these,
Fayoum, was connected about 3,600 years ago to the Nile by canals.
Today, it is an important irrigated agricultural area.
Natural Resources
In addition to the agricultural capacity of the Nile Valley and
Delta, Egypt's natural resources include petroleum, natural gas,
phosphates, and iron ore. Crude oil is found primarily in the
Gulf of Suez and in the Western Desert. Natural gas is found mainly
in the Nile Delta, off the Mediterranean seashore, and in the
Western Desert. Oil and gas accounts for approximately 12% of
GDP. Export of petroleum and related products (including bunker
and aviation sales) amounted to $2.7 billion in fiscal year 2003-04.
Crude oil production has been in decline for several
years, from a high of more than 920,000 barrels per day (BPD)
in 1995 to less than 660,000 BPD as of July 2005. To minimize
the growing domestic demand of petroleum products, currently estimated
at 25 million metric tons per year, Egypt is encouraging the production
of natural gas. Over the last 5 years, production of natural gas
has increased by approximately 75% to reach about 3.3 billion
cubic feet per day (BCFD) by the end of FY 2003/04. Currently,
gas accounts for almost 50% of all hydrocarbon usage in Egypt.
Over the last 22 years, more than 230 oil and gas
exploration agreements have been signed and multinational oil
companies spent more than $27 billion in exploration companions.
As of September 2003, crude oil reserves were estimated at 2.8
billion barrels, and proven natural gas reserves were estimated
at 62 trillion cubic feet (TCF) with probable additional reserves
totaling another 40-60 TCF. Texas-based Apache Oil Company is
the largest American investor in Egypt, with a total investment
of more than $2.8 billion since 1996.
Egypt's excess of natural gas will more than meet
its domestic demand for many years to come. The Ministry of Petroleum
has determined that expanding the Egyptian petrochemical industry
and increasing exports of natural gas as its most significant
strategic objectives. As of September 2005, three liquefied natural
gas (LNG) trains have been in operation. The first is in Damietta
on the eastern side of the Delta and started exporting in early
2005. It is headed by the Spanish electric utility, Union Fenosa.
The second LNG project is located at Idku on the western side
of the Delta and has started exporting in 2005. The first train
started in April 2005, and the second in September. British Gas
(BG) Group and the Malaysian state oil company Petronas are the
major investors. Another project that will utilize gas for export
and domestic consumption is the Mediterranean Gas Complex in Port
Said where the Italian company AGIP and BP are the main shareholders.
This facility will have a total cost of about $315 million and
went on line in late 2004.
Egypt and Jordan established the Eastern Gas Company
to export natural gas to Jordan, and then later to Syria and Lebanon.
In summer 2003 Egypt began exporting gas to Jordan via a new pipeline
from El Arish on Egypt’s north Sinai cost to Taba on the
Gulf of Aqaba, and then underwater to the Jordanian city of Aqaba.
Gas exports to Jordan generated gross revenues of approximately
$60 million in 2003/04 and are currently reaching $85-100 million.
Transport and Communication
Transportation facilities in Egypt are centered in Cairo and largely
follow the pattern of settlement along the Nile. The main line
of the nation's 4,800-kilometer (2,800-mi.) railway network runs
from Alexandria to Aswan. The well-maintained road network has
expanded rapidly to over 21,000 miles, covering the Nile Valley
and Delta, Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, the Sinai, and the
Western oases.
Egypt Air provides reliable domestic air service
to major tourist destinations from its Cairo hub, in addition
to overseas routes. The Nile River system (about 1,600 km. or
1,000 mi.) and the principal canals (1,600 km.) are important
locally for transportation. The Suez Canal is a major waterway
of international commerce and navigation, linking the Mediterranean
and Red Seas. Major ports are Alexandria, Port Said, and Damietta
on the Mediterranean, and Suez and Safraga on the Red Sea.
Egypt has long been the cultural and informational
center of the Arab world, and Cairo is the region's largest publishing
and broadcasting center. There are eight daily newspapers with
a total circulation of more than 2 million, and a number of monthly
newspapers, magazines, and journals. The majority of political
parties have their own newspapers, and these papers conduct a
lively, often highly partisan, debate on public issues.
Egyptian ground-broadcast television (ETV) is government
controlled and depends heavily on commercial revenue. ETV sells
its specially produced programs and soap operas to the entire
Arab world. In addition to Egyptian programming, the Middle East
Broadcast Company, a Saudi television station transmitting from
London (MBC), Arab Radio and Television (ART), Al-Jazira television,
and other Gulf stations as well as Western networks such as CNN
and BBC, provide access to more international programs to Egyptians
who own satellite receivers.
ETV has two main channels, six regional channels,
and three satellite channels. Of the two main channels, Channel
I uses mainly Arabic, while Channel II is dedicated to foreigners
and more cultured viewers, broadcasting news in English and French
as well as Arabic.
Egyptian Satellite channels broadcast to the Middle
East, Europe, and the U.S. East Coast. In April 1998, Egypt launched
its own satellite known as NileSat 101. Seven specialized channels
cover news, culture, sports, education, entertainment, health,
and drama. A second, digital satellite, Nilesat 102, was launched
in August 2000. Many of its channels are rented to other stations.
Three new private satellite-based TV stations were
launched in November 2001, marking a great change in Egyptian
government policy. Dream TV 1 and 2 produce cultural programming,
broadcast contemporary video clips and films featuring Arab and
international actors, as well as soap operas; another private
station focuses on business and general news. Both private channels
transmit on NileSat.
Radio in Egypt almost all government controlled,
using 44 short-wave frequencies, 18 medium-wave stations, and
four FM stations. There are seven regional radio stations covering
the country. Egyptian Radio transmits 60 hours daily overseas
in 33 languages and three hundred hours daily within Egypt. In
2000, Radio Cairo introduced new specialized (thematic) channels
on its FM station. So far, they include news, music, and sports.
Radio enjoys more freedom than TV in its news programs, talk shows
and analysis.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Geography, population, history, military strength, and diplomatic
expertise give Egypt extensive political influence in the Middle
East and within the Nonaligned Movement as a whole. Cairo has
been a crossroads of Arab commerce and culture for millennia,
and its intellectual and Islamic institutions are at the center
of the region's social and cultural development.
The Arab League headquarters is in Cairo, and the
Secretary General of the League is traditionally an Egyptian.
Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Amre Moussa is the present Secretary
General of the Arab League. President Mubarak has often chaired
the Organization of African Unity, which is now becoming the African
Union. Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali served
as Secretary General of the United Nations from 1991 to 1996.
Egypt is a key partner in the search for peace in
the Middle East and resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Sadat's groundbreaking trip to Israel in 1977, the 1978 Camp David
Accords, and the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty represented a
fundamental shift in the politics of the region--from a strategy
of confrontation to one of peace as a strategic choice. Egypt
was subsequently ostracized by other Arab states and ejected from
the Arab League from 1979 to 1989. Egypt played an important role
in the negotiations leading to the Madrid Peace Conference in
1991, which, under U.S. and Russian sponsorship, brought together
all parties in the region to discuss Middle East peace. This support
has continued to the present, with President Mubarak often intervening
personally to promote peace negotiations. In 1996, he hosted the
Sharm El-Sheikh "Summit of the Peacemakers" attended
by President Clinton and other world leaders. In 2000, he hosted
two summits at Sharm El-Sheikh and one at Taba in an effort to
resume the Camp David negotiations suspended in July of 2000,
and in June 2003, Mubarak hosted President Bush for another summit
on the Middle East peace process. Throughout mid-2004, Egypt worked
closely with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to facilitate
stability following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, which
occurred in August and September of 2005. Prior to this Egypt
and Israel reached an agreement that allowed Egypt to deploy additional
forces along the Philadelphi Corridor in an attempt to control
the border and prevent the smuggling of weapons.
Egypt played a key role during the 1990-91 Gulf
crisis. President Mubarak helped assemble the international coalition
and deployed 35,000 Egyptian troops against Iraq to liberate Kuwait.
The Egyptian contingent was the third largest in the coalition
forces, after the U.S. and U.K. In the aftermath of the Gulf war,
Egypt signed the Damascus declaration with Syria and the Gulf
states to strengthen Gulf security. Egypt continues to contribute
regularly to UN peacekeeping missions, most recently in East Timor,
Sierra Leone, and Liberia. In August 2004, Egypt was actively
engaged in seeking a solution to the crisis in the Darfur region
of Sudan, including the dispatch of military monitors. Following
the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States,
Egypt, which has itself been the target of terrorist attacks,
has been a key supporter of the U.S. war against terrorists and
terrorist organizations such as Osama bin Ladin and al-Qaeda,
and actively supported the Iraqi Governing Council, as well as
the subsequent government of Prime Minister Allawi. In July 2005
terrorists attacked the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh. In the
same month, Egypt's envoy to Iraq was assassinated.
U.S.-EGYPTIAN RELATIONS
The United States and Egypt enjoy a strong and friendly relationship
based on shared mutual interest in Middle East peace and stability,
revitalizing the Egyptian economy and strengthening trade relations,
and promoting regional security. Over the years, Egypt and the
United States have worked together assiduously to expand Middle
East peace negotiations, hosting talks, negotiations, and the
Middle East and North Africa Economic (MENA) Conference. Multinational
exercises, U.S. assistance to Egypt's military modernization program,
and Egypt's role as a contributor to various UN peacekeeping operations
continually reinforce the U.S.-Egyptian military relationship.
An important pillar of the bilateral relationship
remains U.S. security and economic assistance to Egypt, which
expanded significantly in the wake of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace
Treaty in 1979. U.S. military aid to Egypt totals over $1.3 billion
annually. In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) provided over $25 billion in economic and development
assistance to Egypt between 1975 and 2002. A shift in assistance
from infrastructure, health, food supply, and agriculture toward
market-based economic development, good governance, and training
programs is reflected in the motto, "From Aid to Trade."
The Commodity Import Program, through which USAID provides hundreds
of millions of dollars in financing to enable the Egyptian private
sector to import U.S. goods, remains one of the largest and most
popular USAID programs. Since 2003, U.S. assistance is also focusing
more on economic reform, education, civil society, and other programs
supported by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).
U.S. military cooperation has helped Egypt modernize
its armed forces and strengthen regional security and stability.
Under Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programs, the U.S. has
provided F-4 jet aircraft, F-16 jet fighters, M-60A3 and M1A1
tanks, armored personnel carriers, Apache helicopters, antiaircraft
missile batteries, aerial surveillance aircraft, and other equipment.
The U.S. and Egypt also participate in combined military exercises,
including deployments of U.S. troops to Egypt. Every other year,
Egypt hosts Operation Bright Star, a multilateral military exercise
with the U.S., and the largest military exercise in the region.
Units of the U.S. 6th Fleet are regular visitors to Egyptian ports.
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--Francis J. Ricciardone
Deputy Chief of Mission--Stuart E. Jones
Economic/Political Affairs--Michael H. Corbin
Consular Affairs--Peter Kaestner
Management Affairs--Steve J. White
Public Affairs--Haynes Mahoney
Foreign Commercial Service--James Joy
Foreign Agricultural Service--Asif Chaudhry
The U.S. Embassy is located at 8 Kamal ElDin Salah
St., Garden City, Cairo, Egypt, tel: [20] [2] 797-3300, fax [20]
[2] 797-3200.
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program provides
Consular Information Sheets, Travel Warnings, and Public Announcements.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include
information on entry requirements, currency regulations, health
conditions, areas of instability, crime and security, political
disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. posts in the country.
Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends
that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Public Announcements
are issued as a means to disseminate information quickly about
terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas
that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers.
Free copies of this information are available by calling the Bureau
of Consular Affairs at 202-647-5225 or via the fax-on-demand system:
202-647-3000. Consular Information Sheets and Travel Warnings
also are available on the Consular Affairs Internet home page:
http://travel.state.gov. Consular Affairs Tips for Travelers publication
series, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning
a safe trip abroad, are on the Internet and hard copies can be
purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government
Printing Office, telephone: 202-512-1800; fax 202-512-2250.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling
abroad may be obtained from the Office of Overseas Citizens Services
at (202) 647-5225. For after-hours emergencies, Sundays and holidays,
call 202-647-4000.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC)
is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public contact
center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT
(1-877-487-2778). Customer service representatives and operators
for TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.,
Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information
with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta,
Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site
at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give the most recent health
advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and
advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries.
A booklet entitled Health Information for International Travel
(HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.
Information on travel conditions, visa requirements,
currency and customs regulations, legal holidays, and other items
of interest to travelers also may be obtained before your departure
from a country's embassy and/or consulates in the U.S. (for this
country, see "Principal Government Officials" listing
in this publication).
U.S. citizens who are long-term visitors or traveling
in dangerous areas are encouraged to register their travel via
the State Department’s travel registration web site at https://travelregistration.state.gov
or at the Consular section of the U.S. embassy upon arrival in
a country by filling out a short form and sending in a copy of
their passports. This may help family members contact you in case
of an emergency.
Further Electronic Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at http://www.state.gov,
the Department of State web site provides timely, global access
to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background
Notes and daily press briefings along with the directory of key
officers of Foreign Service posts and more.
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related
assistance and market information offered by the federal government
and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help with the
export process, and more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department
of Commerce, provides authoritative economic, business, and international
trade information from the Federal government. The site includes
current and historical trade-related releases, international market
research, trade opportunities, and country analysis and provides
access to the National Trade Data Bank.
