Egypt is officially called the Arab Republic of Egypt. The Republic has 77,506,000 citizens. The capital is Cairo; other important cities are Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, Tanta and Aswan.
The Sinai Peninsula is the only part of Egypt located in Asia. This Peninsula becomes separated by the Suez Canal with the rest of Egypt.
The main geographical feature of the country is the River Nile, which runs south to north through Egypt. This river is 1,450 km long.
In the far south is the dam Nasser, a huge artificial lake that is maintained by the High Dam in Aswan.
West of the Nile is extremely arid Libyan (or Western) desert, a generally low populated area. The area consists mainly of sand dunes and barren rocky plains. The desert has a few oases, especially Siwah, Farafra and Kharga.
The vast majority of the population of Egypt lives in the valley and delta of the Nile, the rest of the country is sparsely populated (about 96% of the total land area of Egypt).
Most modern Egyptians are of a complex ethnic mix that comes from the ancient Egyptians, Berbers, sub-Saharan Africans, Arabs, Greeks, and Turks.
Arabic is the official language; many educated Egyptians also speak good English and French. Approximately 90% of the population is Muslim and most of the rest are Coptic Christians.
