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In
the fifth century BC Herodotus wrote that 'nowhere are there
so many marvellous things' as in Egypt, 'nor in the world
besides are to be seen so many things of unspeakable greatness'
- and not too much has changed. Since long before the birth
of Christ, travellers have been drawn to this extraordinary
country and its pyramids, Sphinx, ancient Luxor and River
Nile. It's not just the Pharaonic monuments either - it's
the legacy of the Greeks and Romans, the churches and monasteries
of the early Christians, and the overwhelming profusion of
art and architecture accumulated from centuries of successive
Islamic dynasties.
Modern
Egypt is an amalgam of these legacies and more, juxtaposed
with the often incongruous influences of the 20th and 21st
centuries. Mud-brick villages stand beside millennia-old ruins
surrounded by buildings of steel and glass. Bedouins live
in goatskin tents and farmers till the earth with the simple
tools of their ancestors. Some townsfolk dress in long flowing
robes, others in Levis and Reeboks, and city traffic competes
with donkey-drawn carts and wandering goats. Nowhere are these
contrasts played out so colourfully as in Cairo, a massive
city thronged with people and ringing to the sound of car
horns, ghetto-blasters and muezzins summoning the faithful
to prayer. Egypt isn't all chaos and clatter, however. It's
also a diver's dream dip, a trek across the sands on a camel
or a long lazy punt down the Nile.
Full
country name: Arab Republic of Egypt
Area: 1,001,449 sq km (622,272 sq mi)
Population: 69.5 million
Capital city: Cairo
People: Berbers, Bedouins and Nubians
Language: Arabic
Religion: 94% Islam, 6% Christian
Government: Republic
President: Mohammed Husni Mubarak
GDP:
US$247 billion
GDP per head: US$3600
Annual growth: 5%
Inflation: 3%
Major industries: Oil & gas, metals, tourism, agriculture
(especially cotton) and Suez Canal revenues
Major trading partners: USA, EU, Middle East
Egypt
Flight from UK
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