Country · Africa
Egypt
Arab Republic of Egypt
Egypt is a country in Northern Africa. About 98.4 million people live there, in an area of 1 002 450 square kilometres. Its capital city is Cairo.
Picture credit: Ricardo Liberato (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Mmelouk (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Faris El-Gwely (CC BY 4.0) · Frank Schulenburg (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Egypt?
Egypt lies in Northern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 3 006 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 2 450 km long.
It shares a border with 4 countries: Israel, Libya, Palestine and Sudan.
How big is Egypt?
Egypt covers 1 002 450 square kilometres.
That is about 9.7 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 29th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 98.2 people on every square kilometre.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Egypt?
About 98.4 million people live in Egypt.
That is the 14th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Arabic.
They pay with the Egyptian pound (£).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 63 years.
The land of Egypt
The land of Egypt sits on average 321 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 2 450 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 123 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Egypt different?
Dishes the country is known for: Ful medames and kushari.
Websites from here often end in .eg.
Egypt and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 13 live in Egypt.
It takes up about 0.75 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 12th of 54 by size, and 3rd by population.
Egypt and its neighbours
Sudan, its largest neighbour, is about 1.9 times bigger.
More people live in Egypt than in Sudan — 98.4 million against 41.8 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 9 live wild in Egypt: Great white pelican, Nile crocodile, Green sea turtle, Domestic cat, Stony coral, Pufferfish and more. The highest mountain in the country is Mount Catherine (Gabal Katrina), at 2 642 metres. The longest river in the country is the Nile. The largest lake in the country is Lake Qarun. And one of the wonders of the world stands here: the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Great white pelican
Nile crocodile
Green sea turtle
Domestic cat
Stony coral
Pufferfish
Fennec fox
Rock hyrax
Nile monitor
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Egypt compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 9.3 times as big as Egypt: 9 372 610 km² against 1 002 450 km². See both on one map
- Egypt is about 4.1 times as big as the United Kingdom: 1 002 450 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Egypt?
The capital of Egypt is Cairo. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Egypt?
About 98.4 million people live in Egypt, which makes it the 14th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Egypt?
How big is Egypt?
Egypt covers 1 002 450 square kilometres, making it the 29th largest country in the world. That is about 9.7 times the size of Iceland.
What is the highest mountain in Egypt?
The highest mountain in Egypt is Mount Catherine (Gabal Katrina), 2 642 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Egypt?
The longest river in Egypt is the Nile. Of its 6 650 kilometres, about 1 600 run through the country.
What is the largest lake in Egypt?
The largest lake in Egypt is Lake Qarun. It covers about 202 km².
Which continent is Egypt in?
Egypt is in Africa, in the part called Northern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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