TOEFL Test Centers in Egypt

EDU February 16, 2019

Egypt Overview

Egypt extends from the Mediterranean coast 1,063 km to the south and is bordered by Libya to the west, the Mediterranean to the north, Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east and the Republic of Sudan to the south. In the northeast it still includes the Sinai peninsula, which belongs to the Middle East.

Egypt is located in the northeastern Sahara on the lower Nile, which runs through the desert from south to north as an alien river and whose valley sections are divided into upper (between Aswan and Cairo including the Faijum basin) and lower Egypt (the delta). East of the Nile Valley, the Arabian Desert rises to the east and then drops steeply to the rift of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez. To the west extends the Libyan desert, a table with kettle-like oasis depressions, partly located below sea level (e.g. the Kattara Depression up to 137 m below sea level). The equally desert Sinai peninsula (in Jabal Katrina up to 2,637 m above sea level) already belongs geographically to the Middle East.

In total, more than nine tenths of the country’s area is desert. The land for culture and settlement takes up only 3.5% of the national territory.

Egypt is characterized by the densely populated, narrow river oasis of the Nile. The width of the valley, d. H. the soil that can be cultivated through irrigation changes between 1 km (south of Aswan, where the subsoil consists of granite and hard sandstone) and 20 km (in the limestone area between Assiut and Cairo). The irrigation of the soil, guaranteed for thousands of years by the periodic flooding of the Nile, is now carried out evenly all year round thanks to the high dam of Aswan, which dams the Nile into one of the largest reservoirs on earth ( Lake Nasser). To the north of Cairo, the cultivated land expands in a fan shape with the delta (around 24,000 km ²). On the coast of the delta there are large lagoon behind dune walls. Around 90 km southwest of Cairo In the Libyan desert lies the oasis of Faijum, which is irrigated by the 150 km long Bahr Jusuf (Josef Canal) from the Nile.

Climate

The north belongs to the southern edge zone of the Mediterranean winter rainy climate (Alexandria 192 mm, Cairo 29 mm precipitation annually), which can send showers and (less often) frosts, hail falls and early fog to the south when cold air penetrates. To the desert steppes of northern Egypt, the closes very quickly desert to. The majority of Egypt is one of the arid regions with year-round high solar radiation, but with strong temperature fluctuations during the day; January mean in Cairo 14 ° C, in Aswan 15 ° C, July mean in Cairo 28 ° C, in Aswan 32 ° C, daily maximums in summer 40–52 ° C. In spring, hot, dry desert winds (chamsin) laden with dust and sand can occur from the south.

Tourism

Egypt is the most popular travel destination in Africa. However, the tourism industry suffered severe losses as a result of the political upheaval. The number of foreign visitors fell from (2010) 14.7 million to (2013) 9.46 million; the visitors come mainly from Italy, Germany, Great Britain, France and the Arab countries. With revenues of (2013) US $ 9.7 billion (2010: US $ 12.5 billion), tourism is one of the most important sources of foreign currency. Egypt has a long tradition as a travel destination. It offers opportunities for recreational tourism on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea as well as countless sights such as the pyramids of Giza (pyramid) and the royal tombs near Luxor.