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Officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the

Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about
1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the
Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red
Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.

Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great
majority of its estimated 76 million live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area
of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable
agricultural land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely
inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with the majority
spread across the densely-populated centers of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other
major cities in the Nile Delta.

Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most famous
monuments, including the Giza pyramid complex and its Great Sphinx. The southern
city of Luxor contains numerous ancient artifacts, such as the Karnak Temple and
the Valley of the Kings. Egypt is widely regarded as an important political and
cultural nation of the Middle East.

Egypt possesses one of the most developed economies in the Middle East, with
sectors such as tourism, agriculture, industry and service at almost equal rates in
national production. Consequently, the Egyptian economy is rapidly developing, due
in part to legislation aimed at luring investments, coupled with both internal and
political stability, along with recent trade and market liberalization.

At 1,001,450 square kilometers (386,660 sq mi), Egypt is the world's 38th-largest


country. In terms of land area, it is approximately the same size as all of Central
America, twice the size of Spain, four times the size of the United Kingdom, and the
combined size of the US states of Texas and California.

Nevertheless, due to the aridity of Egypt's climate, population centres are


concentrated along the narrow Nile Valley and Delta, meaning that approximately
99% of the population uses only about 5.5% of the total land area.

The coastline of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city


Egypt is bordered by Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and by the Gaza Strip
and Israel to the east. Egypt's important role in geopolitics stems from its strategic
position: a transcontinental nation, it possesses a land bridge (the Isthmus of Suez)
between Africa and Asia, which in turn is traversed by a navigable waterway (the
Suez Canal) that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean via the Red
Sea.

Cairo, is the capital city of Egypt, and is the largest city in Africa, and the Arab
World.It is the largest metropolitan area in Egypt, and is one of the most populous
in the world. Cairo has long been the center of the region's cultural and artistic life,
and has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab World, earning
it the name of the "Hollywood of the East". While Al-Qahirah is the official name of
the city in Arabic, Egyptians often refer to it simply as Misr (the Arabic name for
Egypt itself). Cairo was founded by the Fatimid Caliphate, replacing Fustat as the
seat of the government, and serving as the capital of Egypt ever since.

Cairo has a population of about 6.75 million people, according to the 2006
population census. The number of inhabitants was about a million higher at the time
of the census, but this was adjusted downwards on the 17th of April 2008 when the
new government of Helwan was created from parts of the old Cairo government.
Cairo's metropolitan area has a population of about 17.0 million people. Cairo is the
sixteenth most populous metropolitan area in the world. It is also the most populous
metropolitan area in Africa.

Cairo has a mix of historical and modern cultural sights. This includes the Pyramids,
the Hanging Church, Saladin's Citadel, the Virgin Mary's Tree, the Sphinx, and
Heliopolis, Al-Azhar, the Mosque of Amr ibn al-A'as, Saqqara, the Cairo Tower, and
the Old City. Cairo is nicknamed "The City of A Thousand Minarets".
Education
Cairo has long been the hub of education and educational services not only for
Egypt but also for the whole Arab world. Today, Cairo is the center for many
government offices governing the Egyptian educational system, has the largest
number of educational schools, and higher learning institutes among other cities
and governorates of Egypt.

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