PEOPLE
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 79 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 58% 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 today, compared with 87% in 1994. 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 new styles of Arabic literature,
and the forms they developed have been widely imitated. Egyptian
novelist Naguib Mahjfouz was the first Arab to win the Nobel prize
for literature. Egyptian books and films are available throughout
the Middle East.
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Egyptian(s).
Population (July 2007 est.): 80,335,036.
Annual growth rate (2007 est.): 1.72%.
Ethnic groups: Egyptian, Bedouin Arab, Nubian.
Religions: Muslim 90%, Coptic Christian 9%, other Christian 1%.
Languages: Arabic (official), English, French.
Education: Years compulsory--ages 6-15. Literacy--total adult 58%.
Health: Infant mortality rate (2006 est.)--31.33 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy (2006 est.)--71 years.
