Delegation+of+Egypt

Delegation

Geography **Location:** Egypt is located in northeastern corner of Africa and it includes the Sinai Peninsula in Asia, which is separated from the rest of Egypt by the Suez Canal. The country is bordered on the south by Sudan and on the west by Libya. The northern coast is on the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coast is on the Red Sea. The capital city of Egypt is Cairo which is located by the bank of the Nile in northern Egypt. **Size:** 1,001,450 sq km in total 995,450 sq km of land 6,000 sq km of water **Land Boundary:** 2,665 km in total **The Nile:** The Nile River is 6,650 km long and 1,545 km of it is in Egypt. The river is 3 km in width, but between the Aswan and Cairo the river widens by 10 to 15 km and the delta begins near Cairo. 99% of the population lives in this area. **Terrain:** Large areas of desert with the Nile River that separates the land in two parts. The land west of the Nile is one of the driest places in the world. The lowest point of the nation’s land is the Qattara Depression, 133m below sea level and the highest point is Mount Catherine, 2,629m above sea level. **Climate:** Egypt has a hot and dry climate. Mostly it only rains in winter not in summer. Cairo gets 2.5 cm of rainfall every year and the annual temperature is 22 degrees. During spring, a hot dry wind called “khamsin” blows northward from the Sahara and causes sandstorms and destroys crops. **Land Use:** about 3.5% is capable of growing crops 96.58% is others **Natural Resources:** petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead and zinc. **Natural Hazards:** Periodic droughts, earthquakes, floods, landslides, windstorms; dust storms; sand storms (khamsin). **Geopolitics:** Egypt has a major geopolitical role in the Middle East. The nation controls the only land bridge between Africa and rest of the Eastern Hemisphere, the Sinai Peninsula. The Nile River and the Suez Canal that connects the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea is also under Egypt’s control. These facts give the country a considerable amount of power in Middle Eastern geopolitics.

Environment Egypt is suffering several different environmental issues right now. The nation’s land available for growing crops is extremely small, but it’s becoming even smaller due to urbanization and desertification Soil salination is increasing under the Aswan High Dam, because of the change in level of ground water when the dam was built. Many parts of arable land in Egypt are being affected. Oil pollution is threatening the coral reefs, beaches and marine wildlife The rapid growth in population is creating a problem. The land that people can live on in Egypt is very limited. However, the population is increasing quickly and the Nile is being overcrowded and natural resources are decreasing. Water pollution is caused by pesticides, sewage, and industrial substances. Egypt participates in several international environment agreements and they are: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change Kyoto-Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands.
 * Current Environmental Issues**
 * International Agreements**
 * Bibliography**
 * Unknown. "The World Factbook." //CIA//. CIA, 11 Aug. 2009. Web. 26 Aug. 2009. .
 * Unknown. "Egypt." //Britannica Online School Edition//. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, 2009. Web. 26 Aug. 2009. .
 * Platan, Peter, and Jason Teal. "Comparative Geopolitics – A Geopolitical Analysis of Egypt." Groupe ESC, 2001. Web. 26 Aug. 2009. .