Country Name Egypt, or the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Location
Egypt is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and the southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip (Palestine)
and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea to the east,
Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, across the Red Sea lies Saudi Arabia,
and across the Mediterranean lie Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus, although none share a land border with Egypt.
Capital
Cairo.
Reason for Naming the country
Egypt has been known over time by various names: It was known in the pharaohs' era as "Kimi" and means "The Black Land", likely referring to the fertile black soils of the Nile floodplains This name is commonly vocalized as Kemet. It was also known as "Tawi" or the Two Lands, which indicates Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt (Delta).
Later, it was named "Hat Ka Ptah", which is originally the name of one of the most famous temples of the god Ptah in Memphis.
Also, it was mentioned in the Old Testament as "Masraim" (Mitzráyim) as pronounced in Hebrew related to "Masriam son of Ham son of Noah". This name means "the extended land or the land that is protected".
Then, it was also mentioned in the Holy Quran by "Misr".
The English name Egypt is derived from the Ancient Greek Aígyptos.
It is pronounced Masr by the local dialect of Egyptians.
Flag
The Egyptian flag was adopted on October 4, 1984.
The flag is composed of three horizontal equal stripes of red, white, and black, and the Egyptian eagle of Salah el din in the center of the white band, written on its base the "Arab Republic of Egypt" in Kufic script.
The red color represents the people’s struggle against the British
control of their country.
The white color represents the peaceful and bloodless nature of the
revolution itself.
The black color represents the end of the oppression of the Egyptian
people from the monarchy.
The eagle of Salah el din represents the strength and power of the country, and the people, or even the strength and power of the Egyptian mind.
Flag Facts:
*(The flag is identical to the flag of Libya from 1969–1972.)
Language
Arabic is the official language in Egypt, although Modern Egyptian Arabic* is the official language spoken by all the population in Egypt, It is also the de facto national language in the country.
The Arabic language is widely used in literature such as plays and novels and media forms such as advertising, film, series, and newspapers.
Egyptian Arabic is a mixture combined with the locally Coptic language and other languages such as Turkish, Ottoman, French, and Italian. Egyptian Arabic is easily understood in other Arabic countries such as Yemen, Kuwait, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates & many others Arabic countries.
The prevalence of the language in other nations has been facilitated by the popularity of Egyptian film and media industries across the world.
English is a second language in Egypt and is widely spoken, understood, and taught in all schools.
French is also widely spoken and understood by the education classes, also there are minority spoken languages like Russian, Dutch, German, Italian & Spanish especially in the touristic Cities as Sharm al-sheik, Hurghada, (Red Sea Governorate cities), Luxor & Aswan.
* The Egyptian dialect is a much-simplified traditional Arabic. It is diverse to many dialects depending on the city so, these dialects are ( Cairo dialect, Alexandria dialect, Upper Egypt dialect, Delta dialect, Sinai Bedouins dialect, and Nubia dialect).
Religion
The Egyptian constitution recognizes Islam as the official religion of the country and recognizes the rights of the followers of the three other religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The majority of Egypt's population is Muslim, and Sunni, Egypt is home to Al-Azhar University, the most important and oldest university of Islamic studies in the world.
The Christian religion is thought to be represented by 5.1%, followers of the Christian religion, including Catholics and Evangelists, and there are Syriac, Roman, and Armenian churches as well.
Although Judaism is a recognized religion in Egypt, its number of adherents is very low. Today, it is estimated that the number of Jews in the country is less than 40.
A small minority of the population belongs to several unrecognized religions including the Baha’i Faith, and followers of other religions and sects that are not recognized Religious tolerance is widely practiced throughout Egypt Muslims & Christians live together for thousands of years now without any hate or restriction.
Egypt consider is the largest gathering of Muslims, Christians & Jews in the Middle East.
Currency
Egyptian Pound (EGP)
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