Egypt, a land of ancient wonders and modern dynamism, is strategically located in North-East Africa and the Peninsula of Sinai in Asia. It boasts shorelines along the Mediterranean and Red Seas, making it a pivotal connection point between continents. This article explores the countries south of Egypt, focusing on Sudan and the broader North African region.
Map of Egypt and surrounding countries
Egypt's Borders and Geography
Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, the Red Sea to the east, and Israel and Gaza to the northeast. Egypt’s land borders are approximately 1656 miles (2665 kilometers) in total length, comprising:
- Libya: 693 miles (1,115 kilometers)
- Sudan: 791 miles (1,273 kilometers)
- Israel: 165 miles (266 kilometers)
- Gaza: 7 miles (11 kilometers)
Egypt’s border with Sudan is notable for two areas, the Ḥalāʾib Triangle along the Red Sea and Biʾr Ṭawīl further inland, that are subject to differing claims by the two countries.
The Dominance of the Nile
The topography of Egypt is dominated by the Nile. Flowing from south to north, the River Nile cuts the Sahara desert into two, causing one of Egypt’s main peculiarities: 95% of its (estimated) population occupies only 5.5% of the land, with the remaining 94.5% belonging to the uninhabitable Sahara Desert.
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For about 750 miles (1,200 km) of its northward course through the country, the river cuts its way through bare desert, its narrow valley a sharply delineated strip of green, abundantly fecund in contrast to the desolation that surrounds it. From Lake Nasser, the river’s entrance into southern Egypt, to Cairo in the north, the Nile is hemmed into its trenchlike valley by bordering cliffs, but at Cairo these disappear, and the river begins to fan out into its delta.
The River Nile is now accepted as the longest river in the world. Apart from Egypt, its waters are shared by Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, which also makes it a major international river. It has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile.
The shorter Blue Nile is the source of most of the water and fertile soil. It begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia before flowing into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers converge, to form the River Nile, near the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.
Nile River Basin Map
The Nile divides the desert plateau through which it flows into two unequal sections-the Western Desert, between the river and the Libyan frontier, and the Eastern Desert, extending to the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea. Each of the two has a distinctive character, as does the third and smallest of the Egyptian deserts, the Sinai.
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The Western and Eastern Deserts
To the west of the River Nile, the Sahara is known as the Western (or Libyan) Desert, while it is known as the Eastern Desert in the area to the East between the River Nile and the Red Sea. Another of Egypt’s peculiarities is to be found in the Western Desert. “The Great Sand Sea” is a massive area of sand that contains many depressions, and some of these are actually below sea level! One good example is a depression known as the “Qattara Depression” which is approximately 7,000 square miles (18,000 square kilometers) in area and reaches a depth of around 436 feet (133 meters) below sea level.
The desert of central Sinai is open country, broken by isolated hills and scored by wadis.
The Eastern Desert slowly rises between the River Nile and the Red Sea, culminating in several peaks that reach a height of about 2,000 feet (600 meters), and along the coastline some can reach almost 7,000 feet (2,100 meters).
Egypt is not an entirely flat country. In addition to the mountains along the Red Sea, mountainous areas occur in the extreme southwest of the Western Desert and in the southern Sinai Peninsula. The coastal regions of Egypt are everywhere hemmed in either by desert or by mountain; they are arid or of very limited fertility.
The Nile Valley and Delta
Between the Mediterranean coastline cities of Alexandria and Port Said, roughly 149 miles (240 kilometers), and stretching down to just outside Cairo, about 99.5 miles (160 kilometers), is the triangle of extremely fertile land known as the Nile Delta. Silt is brought upriver by the Nile and deposited here, which not only adds to the fertility of the area, but also means that the river is often blocked and has to find a new course.
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The Nile delta, or Lower Egypt, covers an area of 9,650 square miles (25,000 sq km). It is about 100 miles (160 km) long from Cairo to the Mediterranean, with a coastline stretching some 150 miles (240 km) from Alexandria to Port Said. As many as seven branches of the river once flowed through the delta, but its waters are now concentrated in two, the Damietta Branch to the east and the Rosetta Branch to the west.
Much of the delta coast is taken up by the brackish lagoons of lakes Maryūṭ, Idkū, Burullus, and Manzilah. The conversion of the delta to perennial irrigation has made possible the raising of two or three crops a year, instead of one, over more than half of its total area.
The cultivated portion of the Nile valley between Cairo and Aswān varies from 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 km) in width, although there are places where it narrows to a few hundred yards and others where it broadens to 14 miles (23 km). Since the completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1970, the 3,900-square mile (10,100 square km) valley has been under perennial irrigation.
Lake Nasser
When the Aswan High Dam was built, the waters behind it became the world’s largest man-made lake, which was named in honor of President Nasser. The whole lake is about 340 miles (550 kilometers) long and reaches 22 miles (35 kilometers) at its widest point, close to the Tropic of Cancer. Its average depth is 83 feet (25.2 meters) reaching a maximum of 590 feet (180 meters). It has a total surface area of 2,030 square miles (5,250 square kilometers) with a storage capacity of 32 cubic miles (132 cubic kilometers) of water.
Lake Nasser
North Africa: A Broader Perspective
The countries and people of North Africa share a large amount of their genetic, ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity and influence with the Middle East/West Asia, a process that began with the Neolithic Revolution c. 10,000 BC and pre-dynastic Egypt. The countries of North Africa are also a major part of the Arab world. The Islamic and Arab influence in North Africa has remained dominant ever since, with the region being integral in the Muslim world.
North Africa has three main geographic features: the Sahara desert in the south, the Atlas Mountains in the west, and the Nile River and delta in the east. The Atlas Mountains extend across much of northern Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. South of the Atlas Mountains is the dry and barren expanse of the Sahara desert, the largest sand desert in the world.
The inhabitants of North Africa are roughly divided in a manner corresponding to the principal geographic regions of North Africa: the Maghreb, the Nile valley, and the Sahel.
Languages and Ethnic Groups
The countries making up North Africa all have Modern Standard Arabic as their official language. Additionally, Algeria and Morocco recognize Berber as a second official language after Arabic. French also serves as an administrative language in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The most spoken dialects are Maghrebi Arabic, a form of ancient Arabic dating back from the 8th century AD, and Egyptian Arabic.
The largest and most numerous ethnic group in North Africa are the Arabs. In Algeria and Morocco, Berbers are the second largest ethnic group after the Arab majority.
Over the years, Berbers have been influenced by contact with other cultures: Egyptians, Greeks, Punic people, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Europeans, and Africans. The cultures of the Maghreb and the Sahara therefore combines Arab, indigenous Berber and African elements.
Egyptians over the centuries have shifted their language from Egyptian (in its late form, varieties of Coptic) to modern Egyptian Arabic while retaining a sense of national identity that has historically set them apart from other people in the region. Most Egyptians are Sunni Muslim, although there is a significant minority of Coptic Christians.
Key Geographical Features of Egypt
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Nile River | The lifeblood of Egypt, flowing from south to north, creating fertile valleys and a delta. |
| Western Desert | Part of the Sahara, characterized by vast sand seas and depressions like the Qattara Depression. |
| Eastern Desert | Located between the Nile and the Red Sea, rising in elevation with rugged mountains along the coast. |
| Sinai Peninsula | A sandy desert in the north transitioning to craggy mountains in the south, connecting Africa and Asia. |
| Nile Delta | A fertile triangle of land formed by the Nile's deposition of silt, supporting intensive agriculture. |
The Nile River
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