Middle East–N. Africa
Egypt
Capital: Cairo
- 110MPopulation
- 101MMuslim
- 92%Muslim share
- $3,300GDP per person
- 7%Unemployment
- 33%In poverty
- 75%Literacy
- 71Life expectancy
- System
- presidential republic
- In power
- President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
- Currency
- pound
- In the UN since
- 1,945
Life today
Cinema's old capital still leads Arabic film; football dominates; a third of people are poor.
Word on the street
The Arab world's largest audience: YouTube, WhatsApp and endless tea. Ya basha covers every male you meet.
Names the world knows
- Naguib Mahfouz Nobel novelist
- Ahmed Zewail Nobel chemist
- Mohamed Salah footballer
- Umm Kulthum singer
- Anwar Sadat president, Nobel peace
Did you know?
Al-Azhar has taught continuously since ~970 CE — one of the world's oldest universities.