ABSTRACT
This chapter gives some perspective to one of the most geographical aspects of Egypt's development problems the expansion of agricultural production, seen against the background of rapid population growth, a vacillating economy and an increasingly uncertain political relationship with its neighbours. The physical environment of the valley and delta is also highly conducive to intensive agriculture and settlement. The nature of the valley itself, enclosed by scarps sometimes rising to over 400m above the valley floor, enables the river to flow without serious losses by seepage and evaporation. The consequential loss of investments from countries like Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia has been partly responsible for some of Egypt's economic problems throughout the 1980s. In 1800 the population of Egypt was probably about two and a half million. The social and economic implications of rapid population growth in any developing country are well known.
