About Egypt

Written by Super User. Posted in Welcome

The name " Egypt " is believed to have come from the original name of Egypt 's ancient capital Memphis , "Hout ka-Ptah", meaning "Castle of the ka of Ptah".

This name was often used even for the country as a whole.

The name would become shortened and slightly transformed. If we look into the original consonants h-t-k-p-t (pronounced), the three latter survived into respectively k-p-t, q-p-t or g-p-t. And in the English:

EGYPT

The name of Egypt during ancient times, especially the Old Kingdom , was however Kemet, meaning "Black land". This referred to the fertile soil of the Nile valley. Sometimes an opposite denotation was applied; Deshret, meaning "Red land". This referred to the desert, which also back then was the dominant landscape of the Egyptian territory.

Today, the national name for Egypt is Misr, which comes from Arabic, and means simply "land" or "fortress", referring to the earliest Arabic settlements on Egyptian soil, located south of what would become Cairo.

LIMATE AND GEOGRAPHY:

Egypt is a country stretching over two continents, as Sinai is counted as part of Asia . Except from the Nile Valley , Egypt is almost only desert. Even the coastal areas are very dry. There are no forests.

The Nile Valley which extends at the maximum some kilometers on either side of the river, gives just a about enough ground for agriculture needed by the fast growing population in Egypt . The delta area, where the Nile divides into many smaller rivers, is of major importance to agriculture of Egypt.

The climate in Egypt is generally very hot in summer time, but with big differences between the northern parts and the south. Winter is generally warm. Average summer temperatures can be up to 41ºC in the south, but in average 5-10 oC less in the north. Average winter temperatures are between 13 oC in the north, and 21 oC in the south. Cairo , the capital, is the middle of these two extremes.

' Egypt ' is from Greek, 'Aegyptus', which comes from ancient Egyptian, 'Hik up tah' (meaning House of the Spirit). This was originally used as name of Memphis, the first capital of Egypt.

The present name 'Misr' or 'Masr', was introduced by the Arabs, and is a word denoting a large city. Today that word has lost its original meaning, due to Egypt 's importance in the Arabic world.

GEOGRAPHY:

71.9 million (2003 estimate). 59.2 million at the 1996 census.
Inhabitants:
Population growth rate: 1.7%
Total area: 1,001,450 km²
Water: 6,000 km²
Density: 72 per km²
Border: 2,665 km (Palestine 11 km, Israel 266 km, Sudan 1,273 km, Libya 1,115 km).
Coastline: 2,450 km
Highest point: Mount Catherine 2,629 m
Arable land: 2.9%
Capital: Cairo

DEMOGRAPHY:

Arabic (official).
Languages:
Religions: SunniIslam and Christianity (Copts, Catholic Copts, Greek Orthodox, Protestants)
STATUS: Independent republic, divided into 26 governorates ((muhafazat)).
Days of independence: February 28, 1922 (from British control), July 23, 1952 (Revolution Day).

Egypt was a cradle of civilization that allowed the same basic language and culture to flourish for nearly 3,000 years. For most of this long history, pharaoh was 'Lord of the Two Lands' - the Nile valley and the broad Delta. Each major pyramid was a tomb for a king of Egypt . The pyramid complex was an economic engine too - employing people and redistributing wealth.

With the building of the pyramids, new farms, ranches and whole new towns were founded in the provinces. The livestock and produce from these estates was then passed on to the workforce and to the priests and special classes of people who served the pyramid complex. Thus the pyramids where a major catalyst the development of Egypt as one of the world's first true state.