Egypt facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Arab Republic of Egypt جمهورية مصر العربية Ǧumhūriyyat Mar al-ʿArabiyyah
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: "Bilady, Bilady, Bilady" "My country, my country, my country"

Capital and largest city	Cairo 30°2′N 31°13′E / 30.033°N 31.217°E / 30.033; 31.217
Official languages	Arabic
Recognised national languages	Egyptian Arabic • Modern Standard Arabic
Other languages	English, French
Demonym(s)	Egyptian
Government	Provisional government

• President	Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
• Prime Minister	Moustafa Madbouly

Legislature	House of Representatives
Establishment

• Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt	c. 3200 BC
• Muhammad Ali Dynasty inaugurated	9 July 1805
• Independence from the United Kingdom	28 February 1922
• Republican regime	18 June 1953
• Revolution Day	25 January 2011
• Current Constitution	18 January 2014

Population
• 2015 estimate	90,120,000 (14th)
• 2006 census	76,699,427 (total) incl. 3,901,396 abroad
• Density	197.5/sq mi (76.3/km²) (126th)
ISO 3166 code	EG
a. Literary Arabic is the sole official language. Egyptian Arabic is the national spoken language. Other dialects and minority languages are used regionally. b. De facto interim head of state. c. Densities are based on 2006 population figures. The gap between arithmetic and real densities is due to the fact that 98% of Egyptians live on 3% of the territory.

Egypt is a country in northeast Africa. Its capital city is Cairo. Egypt is famous for its ancient monuments, such as the Pyramids and the Sphinx.

History
Geography
Politics
- Revolution of 2011
Demographics
- Religion
- Languages
Famous people
Culture
Tourism
Transport
Images for kids
See also

History

Ancient Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country in the world as it used to be ruled by pharaohs. As a province of the Roman Empire, it became Christian and some Coptic Church people are there after more than a thousand years of Muslim rule. The Fatimid Caliphate ruled Egypt in the tenth through twelfth centuries. Mamlukes ruled it until 1798 when Napoleon defeated them. Muhammad Ali Pasha soon took over and started a dynasty of Khedives under the Ottoman Empire. The Empire fell apart after World War I. Egypt became an independent country in 1922 and the khedive became a king. Egypt is a member of the United Nations and the Arab League. It became a republic after the Army's revolution of 1952.

Geography

Egypt is a large country, but a large portion of it is desert. Most people (95% of Egypt's total people) live in areas around the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Nile River. This includes the cities of Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, and Port Said. Not many people live in the desert. Today, Egypt has about 90 million people.

Egypt is divided into 29 areas, called Governorates of Egypt.

Politics

Egypt is a country which has had many different rulers and many political systems. After World War II, Egypt was still ruled by a king, Farouk of Egypt (11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965). He was the last ruler of the Muhammad Ali dynasty.

Farouk was overthrown on 23 July 1952 by a military coup. The coup was led by Muhammad Naguib, and Gamal Abdel Nasser. From then on, Egypt had military rulers or rulers who had the backing of the army and many citizens.

Nasser became President, from 1956 to 1970. Later rulers were Anwar Sadat, and Hosni Mubarak.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi became President in 2014.

Revolution of 2011

Main page: 2011 Egyptian revolution

In January 2011, thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo. They wanted Hosni Mubarak to leave office. He had been the President for almost 30 years. On February 11, 2011, Vice President Omar Suleiman made an announcement. He said that Mubarak agreed to leave office. In 2012, Egypt had a democratic election for the post of President. The winner was the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi.

The events which followed are still controversial, but one aspect stands out. Morsi issued a declaration that in effect gave him unlimited powers. He had the power to legislate (make laws) without legal overview by the courts. This caused widespread protests. On 3 July 2013, he was unseated by a military coup council (a coup d'état). After an election in June 2014, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi became President of Egypt. Islamist movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, rejected the change of regime as a military coup, and not democratic.

Demographics

Religion

Today, the people of Egypt are mostly Sunni Muslims. There are many Christians in Egypt today. Many of these belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

Languages

The official language in Egypt is Arabic. The majority speak Egyptian Arabic but many speak other dialects. Some Egyptians still speak Coptic and English. They also speak French and German in Egypt. These are taught in Egypt as additional languages.

Famous people

Many famous people are from Egypt. Some of these include Omar Sharif, who was an international actor, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was the first person from Africa to lead the United Nations, and four Nobel Prize winners: Anwar Sadat, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978, Naguib Mahfouz, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, Ahmed Zewail, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999, and Mohamed ElBaradei, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. Mohamed Salah is a famous footballer who plays for Liverpool in England. A famous Egyptian singer is called Amr Diab.

Culture

Egypt is a country with an immense cultural mix. Life in the countryside differs from life in the large cities. There are differences between the families which are Muslim, and the smaller number which are Coptic Christians. There are noticeable differences in the standards of education.

Tourism

Pyramid of Menkaure

Tourism is one of the most important national incomes in Egypt. In 2008, about 12 million tourists visited Egypt providing nearly $12 billion of national income to Egypt. Tourism affects the economy of the country as a whole.

Giza Necropolis is one of Egypt's iconic sites. It is a popular destination for tourists to visit. It includes the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Transport

There are methods of transport in Egypt. The Suez Canal carries ships of many countries.

Cairo Metro, Sadat Station

Cairo Metro is one of the most important projects in Egypt. It consists of 3 lines. Metro is the most preferable transport in Egypt due to persistent major traffic jams in the streets of Cairo. Metro line 4 is being developed to reach the New Cairo District.

Egypt established EgyptAir in 1932. The airline is based in Cairo International Airport and is owned by the government.

Images for kids

Temple of Derr ruins in 1960
The Giza Necropolis is the oldest of the ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.
Egyptian soldier of the Achaemenid army, c. 480 BCE. Xerxes I tomb relief.
The Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion, at the Temple of Dendera
The Amr ibn al-As mosque in Cairo, recognized as the oldest in Africa
The Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo, of Ahmad Ibn Tulun
The Al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo, of Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the sixth caliph, as renovated by Dawoodi Bohra
Napoleon defeated the Mamluk troops in the Battle of the Pyramids, 21 July 1798, painted by Lejeune.
Egypt under Muhammad Ali dynasty
Muhammad Ali was the founder of the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the first Khedive of Egypt and Sudan.
The battle of Tel el-Kebir in 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War
Female nationalists demonstrating in Cairo, 1919
Fuad I of Egypt with Edward, Prince of Wales, 1932
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in Mansoura, 1960
Smoke rises from oil tanks beside the Suez Canal hit during the initial Anglo-French assault on Egypt, 5 November 1956.
Egyptian tanks advancing in the Sinai desert during the Yom Kippur War, 1973
Celebrating the signing of the 1978 Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter, Anwar Sadat
Cairo grew into a metropolitan area with a population of over 20 million.
Women in Cairo wear face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt in March 2020.
Egypt's topography
The Qattara Depression in Egypt's north west
The Eastern Imperial Eagle is the national animal of Egypt.
Smart Village, a business district established in 2001 to facilitate the growth of high-tech businesses
The Suez Canal
Tourists riding an Arabian camel in front of Pyramid of Khafre. The Giza Necropolis is one of Egypt's main tourist attractions.
An offshore platform in the Darfeel Gas Field
The Suez Canal Bridge
Green irrigated land along the Nile amidst the desert and in the delta
Egypt's population density (people per km2)
St. Mark Coptic Cathedral in Alexandria
Cairo University
Egyptian literacy rate among the population aged 15 years and older by UNESCO Institute of Statistics
Al-Azhar Park is listed as one of the world's sixty great public spaces by the Project for Public Spaces.
The "weighing of the heart" scene from the Book of the Dead
Naguib Mahfouz, the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
Salah Zulfikar, film star
Soad Hosny, film star
Tanoura dancers performing in Wekalet El Ghoury, Cairo
The Egyptian Museum of Cairo
Tutankhamun's burial mask is one of the major attractions of the Egyptian Museum of Cairo.
Kushari, one of Egypt's national dishes
A crowd at Cairo Stadium watching the Egypt national football team