ABSTRACT
The Arab Republic of Egypt officially spans two continents: the northeast corner of Africa and the southwest corner of Asia, bordered by the Gaza Strip (Palestine), Israel, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Red Sea, Sudan, and Libya. Several other countries are located in close proximity to Egypt on the other side of the Gulf of Aqaba. Its population of 106.4 million is ethnically homogenous, identifies as overwhelmingly Egyptian, and speaks mostly Arabic, the country’s official language. In some instances, English and French are spoken as well. As much as 90 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim. Much of the population lives within 20 kilometers of the Nile River and the Nile River Delta, leaving large swaths of the country completely uninhabited. About 43 percent of the population lives in cities, with 21 million people living in Cairo, the capital. Egypt is unique in that it has one of the longest documented histories of any country, going as far back as the 6th millennium BC.
