"Egypt is the gift of the Nile" as
Hwrodotus once said
Almost 98% of the Egyptian population
lives on less than 4% of the land, which would be the narrow
strip of land that borders the banks of the Nile River. The rest
of the country is pretty much desert, with the exception of some
oases here and there, particularly in the western desert. Egypt
lies on the northwestern corner of Africa. It boasts a long
coastline on both the Mediterranean Sea to the North, and the
Red Sea to the east.
The Nile flows to the North, from the bowels of Africa, cutting
into the Sudan, where Egypt borders the Sudan, up until it
spills into the Mediterranean. North of Cairo, the Nile is split
into two main branches: Damietta and Rosetta, creating the
fertile Nile delta. The Nile basically splits Egypt into two
unequal segments: the western desert which is the larger
portion, and the eastern.
To the west of Egypt, beyond the western desert, lies Libya.
Sinai, the triangular peninsula situated in the top left hand
corner of Egypt, is said to be in Asia. Sinai is bounded on the
north by the Mediterranean, on the west by the Gulf of Suez and
on the east by the Gaza strip, Israel and the Gulf on Aqaba. It
is mainly desert but has some of the most beautiful underwater
habitation. Apart from the mountains of Sinai, the land in Egypt
is relatively flat.
Mt. Catherine is the highest point of elevation, measuring 2650
meters above sea level. The Qattara Depression is the lowest,
measuring 133 meters below sea level. Egypt occupies an area of
998,000 square kilometers, of which 96% is pure desert. With a
few oases here and there, most of the farmland of Egypt is
limited to the Nile Valley and Delta, which have rich fertile
soils. The vast majority of remaining land is covered by
infertile rocky or sandy soils that are unsuitable for
agriculture. |