Geography Egypt spans Asia and Africa, and most of it is located in the northeast of Africa. The Sinai Peninsula east of Suez Canal is located in the southwest corner of Asia. It is bordered by Libya in the west, Sudan in the south, the Red Sea in the east and Palestine in the north, with a coastline of more than 2,700 kilometers. 96% of the territory is desert. The highest peak is Mount Catherine, with an altitude of 2642 meters. The Nile runs through the north and south and flows into the Mediterranean Sea, with a length of 1.530 km, and a narrow valley with a width of about 3 ~ 1.6 km is formed on both banks. A delta of 24,000 square kilometers is formed at the estuary, and 99% of the population lives in river valleys and delta areas, which only occupy 4% of the land area. Suez Canal is the main road connecting Europe, Asia and Africa. The main lakes are Great Bitter Lake, Tinsa Lake and Nasser Reservoir (5,000 square kilometers), the largest artificial lake in Africa formed by Aswan High Dam. The whole territory is dry and rainy, and the Nile Delta and the northern coastal areas belong to the subtropical Mediterranean climate, with an average temperature of 65,438 02℃ in June and 26℃ in July. The average annual precipitation is 50 ~ 200mm. Most of the rest areas have tropical desert climate, which is hot and dry, and the temperature can reach 40℃. The average annual precipitation is less than 50 mm. There is often a Pentecostal wind from April to May every year, which carries sand and damages crops.
Egypt in history is one of the four ancient civilizations in the world. As early as 3 100 BC, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were unified by menes in the south, and the first slavery dynasty was established. At this time, Egyptian culture has matured and hieroglyphics have been used to create Pharaoh's autocratic politics. Successive dynasties built many pyramids, sphinxes and a large number of statues known as the wonders of the world. In 640, Arabs invaded Egypt, and Egypt became a province of Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties. Although the post-Arabs changed dynasties many times, Egypt still maintained its dominant position and accepted Islam. 15 17 Turks invaded and became a province of the Ottoman Empire. 1798 French Napoleon I invaded and ruled for three years. 1882, the British army occupied Egypt and became a British colony, but it still belonged to the Ottoman Empire in name. After the outbreak of World War I, Britain declared Egypt a "protectorate" of Britain. Due to the resistance of the Egyptian people, Britain declared Egypt an independent country on February 28th 1922, but reserved the right to deal with national defense, foreign affairs, ethnic minorities and other issues.
1On July 23rd, 952, the organization of free officers headed by Nasser overthrew the Farouk dynasty, set up a "Revolutionary Steering Committee" and seized power. 1June 8, 953, 18 announced the establishment of the Republic of Egypt, with M. Najib as the first president and prime minister. 1954165438+10 Nasser succeeded Najib as president. 1956, Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal, which defeated the joint military intervention of Britain, France and Israel. 1958, Egypt and Syria merged into the United Arab Republic. 196 1 year, there was a coup in Syria and the United Arab League disintegrated. Nasser died in 1970, and Sadat succeeded him as president. 1 971September1Egypt was renamed Arab Egypt * * * and the Republic. 19811On October 6th, Sadat was assassinated and Mubarak was elected president. Mubarak gradually adjusted his original policy, emphasizing domestic stability, opening up democracy appropriately, dialogue with opposition parties, strengthening social security and suppressing extremists who create terrorist activities; Attach importance to the development of the national economy, implement the open policy, actively attract foreign investment, adhere to the simultaneous development of state-owned and private enterprises, and pay attention to improving people's lives. Diplomacy pays attention to improving relations with Arab countries. 199010/2, Speaker Mahgub was assassinated, Mubarak announced the dissolution of parliament on the same day, and held parliamentary elections on 1 10. The National Democratic Party won and remained in power. 199 1, the government put forward "putting domestic stability first", opening up democracy to a certain extent, easing relations with opposition parties and resolutely cracking down on crimes such as creating terrorist activities, violent incidents and assassinations; We will take prudent measures in economic reform and pay attention to social endurance.
Politically1971September1kloc-0/The permanent constitution adopted by referendum stipulates that Egypt is "a country with a democratic socialist system based on the alliance of working people's forces" and economically "state ownership, cooperative ownership and private ownership" coexist; The president is the head of state and the supreme commander of the armed forces; The President is nominated by the People's Assembly and elected by referendum. 1On May 22nd, 980, the Constitution was amended by referendum, stipulating that the political system was "based on multi-party system"; "The president can be re-elected many times", and the clause of "establishing a consultative conference" has been added. The People's Assembly is the highest legislative body. Members are elected by universal suffrage; Speaker and deputy speaker are elected every year 1 time. The main functions are: nominating presidential candidates; Presided over the formulation and revision of the Constitution; Decide on the major policies of the country; To approve economic and social development plans and national budgets and final accounts; Supervise the government.
Egypt has announced the dissolution of all political parties since the 1952 revolution. Sadat announced the multiparty system in 1976. There are six main political parties: ① Egyptian National Democratic Party, the ruling party. 1978 was established in July. (2) Egypt Xinhua Fu, the main opposition party. 1978 was established in February. ③ Egyptian Socialist Labour Party. 1978 was established in February. (4) Egyptian Liberal Socialist Labour Party. 1976 1 was established, and its predecessor was the Forum of Liberal Socialists. ⑤ Egyptian National Progressive Unity Party. Formerly known as 1975, the National Progress Forum was renamed as 1976 1 1 in June. ⑥ Al-Umma Party. 1983 was established in July.
After Nasser overthrew the Farouk dynasty in 1952, he nationalized large-scale industry and commerce, banking, insurance, transportation and import and export trade. 1974 president Sadat announced the implementation of the "economic opening" policy, actively seeking foreign aid, vigorously introducing foreign capital, developing free zones and special economic zones, developing private enterprises and promoting state-owned enterprises. From 1974 to 1982, the annual economic growth rate reached 8%. After Mubarak took office, he continued to adjust economic policies, carry out financial, economic and management reforms, and implement the "productive opening policy". While developing state-owned enterprises, we will continue to relax restrictions on private enterprises. Emphasis was placed on increasing production and saving, improving efficiency, restricting imports, encouraging exports, overcoming economic difficulties with the spirit of self-reliance, and the economy developed. 199 1 year, because Egypt stood against Iraq's annexation of Kuwait in the Gulf War, it was appreciated by the United States and other western countries and Gulf Arab countries, and more than 20 countries and international financial institutions successively provided loans and emergency assistance to Egypt. In addition, the United States has forgiven Egypt's military debts, and Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have also forgiven Egypt's debts. In May of the same year, the creditor countries of the Paris Club cancelled Egypt's debt of about 1 1 billion dollars. Egypt's economic difficulties have been alleviated. The GDP of 1999 is $83.2 billion. 1998 exchange rate: 3.39 Egyptian pounds 1 USD.
Egypt is rich in resources, with preliminarily proved reserves: 6 billion barrels of oil, 328.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas, about 654.38+0.2 billion tons of phosphate and 654.38+0.82 billion tons of iron ore; In addition, there are manganese, coal, gold, zinc, chromium, silver, molybdenum, copper, talc and so on. Egypt's industries are mainly light industries such as textiles and food processing. Heavy industries such as petroleum, copper, iron, electric power, fertilizer, cement and machinery have made great progress, especially the petroleum industry.
Agriculture plays an important role in Egypt's national economy. The rural population accounts for 52% of the national population. 1998 the arable land in China accounts for 3.5% of the national area. The government attaches great importance to agricultural development and the expansion of cultivated land. The main crops are cotton, wheat, rice, sorghum, corn, sugarcane, flax, peanuts, fruits and vegetables.
Egypt has a splendid culture, a long history, magnificent and rich historical sites, and has extremely advantageous conditions for developing tourism. The main tourist attractions are the pyramids, the Sphinx, the Azhar Mosque, the ancient castle, the Greek-Roman Museum, the Kataba Castle, the Montassar Palace, the Luxor Temple, the Karnak Temple, the Ancient Tomb Valley, the Aswan Dam and so on. Tourism income is one of the main sources of foreign exchange in Egypt.
The transportation in Egypt is very convenient. The transportation capacity of land, sea and air has improved rapidly. This railway is 7000 kilometers long. The first subway in Cairo is 42.5 kilometers long, and the first phase of the project was completed and opened to traffic in September 1987. The total length of the highway is 48,000 kilometers. There are 7 seaports with an annual throughput of 30.5 million tons. The main ports are Alexandria, Port Said and Suez. There are five international airports, and Cairo Airport is an important international airport connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. In addition to taxes, financial sources mainly rely on oil, remittances, canals and tourism.
Egypt has trade relations with more than 120 countries and regions, and the main trade targets are the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Japan and other countries. Egypt has also received more foreign aid. The United States is a major donor to Egypt. Countries and organizations that provide aid and loans to Egypt include Germany, Japan, Britain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. 1990 After the Gulf War, the West and Gulf countries reduced or exempted Egypt's debt by * * * 25.5 billion US dollars. In addition, Egypt has received more than $654,380 billion in grants or emergency assistance from Gulf countries, the United States, Western European countries, Japan, Canada and South Korea.
In terms of people's life, the Egyptian government has long implemented a family subsidy system. In addition, price subsidies are given to rice, flour, edible oil, sugar and energy.
Culture and Education Egypt implements a universal and compulsory primary education system. There are 13 comprehensive universities in China, including cairo university, Alexandria university and Ain? Shems University, Azhar University, etc. , with 30 thousand university teachers; There are 25,000 middle schools with 750,000 teachers.
There are 7 daily newspapers and more than 70 periodicals in Egypt, mainly in Arabic, and a few in French and English. Newspapers include Pyramid, Al-Nahyan, Evening News and Izvestia, all in Arabic; The more influential French newspapers are Egyptian Advance and Egyptian Daily. Journals are all in Arabic, including Pyramid Economist, Last Minute Weekly, Photo Weekly and Luz? Yusuf weekly.
The Middle East News Agency is the only news agency run by the state. It was founded in 1956 and has more than 10 journalists in London, Paris, Washington, new york and Bonn. The national radio station broadcasts in more than 30 languages at home and abroad, broadcasting about 170 hours a day, as well as Middle East Radio Station and Radio Alexandria. Egyptian TV is state-run and was built in 1960.
After Mubarak came to power, he pursued the policy of independence, peace, friendship and non-alignment, and advocated developing friendly and cooperative relations with all countries in the world on the basis of mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. Actively improve and strengthen relations with Arab countries. 1May, 989, resumed the membership of the Arab League.
Egypt also emphasizes its African nature and strives to develop friendship and cooperation with African countries and promote South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue. Maintain a "special relationship" with the United States, but do not form an alliance. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, it recognized that the former Soviet Union had joined the Republic and established diplomatic relations with it. Constantly develop relations with Western Europe and Japan. Egypt has established diplomatic relations with 165 countries.
Egypt was the first Arab and African country to recognize China and establish diplomatic relations with China. The date of establishment of diplomatic relations is1May 30, 956.
The relationship between Egypt and the United States has experienced twists and turns. 1967 June? After the fifth war, Egypt announced that it had broken diplomatic relations with the United States. 1974 resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries 1979 Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel, and the United States provides economic and military assistance to Egypt every year. On the Middle East peace issue, Egypt attaches importance to the role of the United States.
The relationship between Egypt and the Soviet Union is also quite tortuous. After Mubarak came to power, relations between the two countries gradually improved. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Egypt signed a trade agreement with Russia.
Since 1956, the relationship between Egypt and western Europe has been relatively cold. Since the Middle East wars of 1973 and 10, the relations between Egypt and western European countries have developed greatly.
Egypt has a special relationship with Syria. 1958 February, the two countries merged into the United Arab Republic. 196 1 was disintegrated due to the coup in Syria, and the two countries maintained general diplomatic relations. During the Gulf crisis, the positions of the two countries were the same. The two sides used to be very close and coordinated their actions on the Middle East issue.
Egypt and Libya broke off diplomatic relations due to border issues. Later, both sides expressed their desire to improve bilateral relations and took some actions. 199 1 year, the two sides devoted themselves to the process of integration between the two countries, and bilateral relations developed rapidly in various fields.
Egypt and Israel broke out four times in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973. 1978 president Sadat signed the camp David agreement with Israeli prime minister Bei Jing and us president Carter in the United States. 1979 On March 26th, Sadat and Beijing signed a peace treaty in Washington, announcing the end of the state of war between the two countries. 1980 the two countries established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. 1March 1989 15, Israel withdrew its troops from Taba, and Egypt recovered all the occupied territories of Sinai Peninsula, including Taba.