Northern Africa · Africa

Egypt

Discover Egypt - home to the last surviving Ancient Wonder, the Nile's timeless gift, and a civilization that invented writing, paper, and the 365-day calendar.

Where Is Egypt?

Egypt is a country in Northern Africa. Its capital is Cairo.

Where Egypt isNorthern Africa · Capital Cairo

Compare Egypt

Capital Cairo
Population 118M
Area 1,002,450 km²

Egypt is where civilization got serious. Five thousand years ago, while most of the world was still figuring out agriculture, Egyptians were building pyramids with mathematical precision, performing surgery, and developing a writing system of extraordinary beauty. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World, and it's still standing there in the Cairo suburbs, calmly defying explanation.

Modern Egypt is a country of 107 million people packed along a narrow ribbon of green on either side of the Nile - the river that made everything possible. Step away from the riverbanks and you're in desert almost immediately. Cairo is one of the world's great megacities, overwhelming and addictive in equal measure. The food is hearty and cheap, the history is literally underfoot, and the call to prayer from a thousand minarets at sunset is one of those sounds you don't forget.

At a glance

Language

Arabic

Currency

Egyptian Pound (EGP)

Calling Code

+20

Drives On

Right

Internet

.eg

Timezone

EET (UTC+2)

Script

Arabic

Government

Presidential Republic

Independence

1922

Travel guides

Plan a trip to Egypt

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By population

Largest cities in Egypt

Cairo

Capital and largest city in the Arab world, a chaotic, magnificent sprawl where pharaonic monuments meet medieval mosques

21,300,000

Alexandria

Mediterranean port founded by Alexander the Great, once home to the ancient world's greatest library

5,400,000

Giza

Home to the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx, technically a separate city but merging seamlessly into Cairo's western edge

4,400,000

Port Said

Strategic city at the northern entrance of the Suez Canal, a duty-free zone with a cosmopolitan history

760,000

Luxor

Open-air museum built on the ruins of ancient Thebes, with the Valley of the Kings just across the Nile

507,000

Aswan

Southernmost major city on the Nile, gateway to Nubia and home to the High Dam that tamed the annual floods

350,000

People

Famous people from Egypt

Cleopatra VII
Politics
Last active ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, whose intelligence and political skill made her one of history's most famous leaders
Naguib Mahfouz
Literature
First Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1988), chronicler of Cairo street life
Ahmed Zewail
Science
Won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1999) for pioneering femtochemistry, observing atoms during chemical reactions
Mohamed Salah
Sport
One of the world's best footballers, Liverpool FC star and all-time top scorer for the Egyptian national team
Om Kalthoum
Music
The most famous Arab singer of the 20th century, whose concerts could last over four hours and stopped traffic across the Middle East
Zahi Hawass
Science
World's most famous Egyptologist, led major discoveries including the Valley of the Golden Mummies
Imhotep
Science
History's first named architect and physician, designed the Step Pyramid at Saqqara around 2650 BCE
Nefertiti
Politics
Queen of Egypt during its wealthiest period, her iconic bust is one of the most copied works of ancient art

Food

Traditional cuisine of Egypt

Koshari: Egypt's national dish - a layered mountain of rice, lentils, pasta, and chickpeas topped with spicy tomato sauce and crispy onions
Ful Medames: Slow-cooked fava beans mashed with olive oil, lemon, and cumin, eaten for breakfast by millions of Egyptians every morning
Ta'ameya: Egyptian falafel made with fava beans instead of chickpeas, giving it a distinctive bright green interior
Molokhia: Viscous green soup made from jute leaves, cooked with garlic and coriander, served over rice with chicken or rabbit
Shawarma: Marinated meat slow-roasted on a vertical spit, shaved into flatbread with tahini, pickles, and garlic sauce
Mahshi: Vine leaves, peppers, and zucchini stuffed with herbed rice and sometimes minced meat, a staple of Egyptian family cooking
Umm Ali: Bread pudding made with puff pastry, milk, nuts, and raisins - Egypt's most beloved comfort food dessert
Basbousa: Semolina cake soaked in sweet syrup and topped with almonds, found in every bakery and at every celebration

Nature

Nature and landmarks in Egypt

Nile RiverRiver: The world's longest river at 6,650 km, the lifeblood of Egyptian civilization for over 5,000 years
Sahara DesertDesert: The world's largest hot desert covers about 97% of Egypt's land area, stretching endlessly west of the Nile Valley
Sinai PeninsulaMountain: Biblical peninsula between Africa and Asia, home to Mount Sinai (2,285 m) and some of the Red Sea's best diving
Red Sea CoastCoast: World-class diving and snorkeling along coral reefs teeming with marine life, from Hurghada to Sharm El-Sheikh
White DesertDesert: Surreal landscape of chalk-white rock formations sculpted by wind into mushroom shapes and towers in the Western Desert
Siwa OasisLandmark: Remote oasis near the Libyan border where Alexander the Great consulted the Oracle of Amun in 331 BCE
Valley of the KingsLandmark: Royal burial ground near Luxor containing 63 tombs including Tutankhamun's, carved deep into limestone cliffs
Lake NasserLake: One of the world's largest artificial lakes, created by the Aswan High Dam and stretching 550 km into Sudan

Sport

Sports in Egypt

Football: Record seven-time African Cup of Nations champions, the most successful national team in African football history
Squash: Global squash superpower with Egyptian players dominating both the men's and women's world rankings for years
Handball: Perennial African champion and World Championship regular, one of the strongest handball nations outside Europe
Weightlifting: Consistent Olympic and World Championship medal winners, particularly in lighter weight categories

Facts

Did you know?

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World and was the tallest structure on Earth for nearly 4,000 years
Ancient Egyptians invented the 365-day calendar, one of the earliest forms of paper (papyrus), and black ink
About 97% of Egypt is desert - virtually the entire population lives on just 3% of the land along the Nile
The Suez Canal is 193 km long and handles about 12% of global trade, making it one of the world's most important waterways
Cleopatra lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid
Cairo is known as the City of a Thousand Minarets for its extraordinary concentration of Islamic architecture
Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted over 3,000 years - longer than the time between the fall of Rome and today
The Rosetta Stone, which unlocked the secret of hieroglyphics, was found by French soldiers in 1799 near the city of Rashid