The
Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known
as Egypt, (romanized Misr, or Masr in
Egyptian dialect), kemet in Ancient Egyptian,
is a republic predominantly in north-eastern
Africa, together with the Sinai in southwest
Asia. Covering an area of about 1,020,000
km², Egypt shares land borders with
Libya to the west, Sudan to the south,
and Israel and the Gaza Strip to the northeast
and has coasts on the north and east by
the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea,
respectively. Egypt is the second most
populous country in Africa, and the vast
majority of its 77 million population
(2005) lives less than a kilometer away
from the banks of the River Nile (about
40,000 km²), where the only arable
agricultural land is found. Large areas
of land are part of the Sahara Desert
and are sparsely inhabited. The majority
of Egyptians today are urban, living in
the great Arab population centers of greater
Cairo, the largest city in Africa, and
Alexandria.
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