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Egypt

 
     
    • Location: 
      Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and the Gaza Strip 
     
    • Map references: 
      Africa 
     
    • Area: 
     
        total area: 
        1,001,450 sq km 
     
        land area: 
        995,450 sq km 
     
        comparative area: 
        slightly more than three times the size of New Mexico 
     
    • Land boundaries: 
      total 2,689 km, Gaza Strip 11 km, Israel 255 km, Libya 1,150 km, Sudan 1,273 km 
     
    • Coastline: 
      2,450 km 
     
    • Maritime claims: 
     
        contiguous zone: 
        24 nm 
     
        continental shelf: 
        200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation 
     
        exclusive economic zone: 
        200 nm 
     
        territorial sea: 
        12 nm 
     
    • International disputes: 
      administrative boundary with Sudan does not coincide with international boundary creating the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of 20,580 sq km, tensions over this disputed area began to escalate in 1992 and remain high 
     
    • Climate: 
      desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters 
     
    • Terrain: 
      vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta 
     
    • Natural resources: 
      petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc 
     
    • Land use: 
     
        arable land: 
        3% 
     
        permanent crops: 
        2% 
     
        meadows and pastures: 
        0% 
     
        forest and woodland: 
        0% 
     
        other: 
        95% 
     
    • Irrigated land: 
      25,850 sq km (1989 est.) 
     
    • Environment: 
     
        current issues: 
        agricultural land being lost to urbanization and windblown sands; increasing soil salinization below Aswan High Dam; desertification; oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and marine habitats; other water pollution from agricultural pesticides, raw sewage, and industrial effluents; very limited natural fresh water resources away from the Nile which is the only perennial water source; rapid growth in population overstraining natural resources 
     
        natural hazards: 
        periodic droughts; frequent earthquakes, flash floods, landslides, volcanic activity; hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring; duststorms, sandstorms 
     
        international agreements: 
        party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Tropical Timber 94 
     
    • Note: 
      controls Sinai Peninsula, only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemisphere; controls Suez Canal, shortest sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea; size, and juxtaposition to Israel, establish its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics