Where in the world is Egypt?

Egypt is situated in the northeast corner of the Africa. Covering 386,662 square miles, it is almost twice the size of France and the twelfth largest country in Africa. To the north of Egypt is the Mediterranean Sea, to the south is the Sudan, to the west is Libya and to the east of Egypt is the Red Sea.

About 95 % of Egypt's population live in the Nile valley and the Nile Delta.

Ancient Egypt - Map of famous sites
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Facts about Egypt today

How big is Egypt?

It is about 1085 km north to south, and 1255 east to west and its total area is approximately 1,001,450 sq. km (386,662 sq. mi).

How much of Egypt is desert?

More than 90 percent of Egypt consists of desert areas.

The two main deserts in Egypt are:

• the Libyan Desert (also known as the Western Desert) in the west, a part of the Sahara desert
• the Arabian Desert (also called the Eastern Desert), which borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez, in the east
  

The deserts are separated by the river Nile which flows from the Sudan and through the length of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.

The river Nile unequally divides the whole country into two parts.

What is the Climate like in Egypt?

Egypt is one of the hottest and sunniest countries in the world. It receives very little rain. The average temperature in the Nile Valley is over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit (38° C) from May through September. The average temperature in the region during the coldest months of the year is in the sixties (15- 20° C).

Egypt has mainly two seasons:

• a mild winter from November to April
• a hot summer from May to October.

Temperature

The average annual temperature is 20° C (69° F), reaching a high of 27° C (80° F) in the summer.

Temperatures vary widely in the inland desert areas, especially in summer, when they may range from 7° C (44.6° F) at night to 43° C (109° F) during the day. During winter, temperatures in the desert fluctuate less dramatically, but they can be as low as 0° C (32° F) at night and as high as 18° C (64.4° F) during the day.

Rainfall

Along the Mediterranean coast, they have an average annual rainfall of about 20 cm. Rainfall decreases rapidly towards the south; Cairo receives on average only 2.5 cm of rain a year, and in many desert locations it may rain only once in several years.