Cairo is the capital and largest city, is the most modern in the Middle East and
Africa. It is bound on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by
Israel and the Red Sea, on the south by
Sudan, and on the west by
Libya.
The country has a maximum length from north to south of about 1086 km (about 675 mile) and a maximum width, near the southern border, of about 1255 km (about 780 m). It has a total area of about 1,001,450 sq km (about 386,662 sq m).
Less than one tenth of the land area of
Egypt is settled or under cultivation, this consists of the valley and delta of the Nile, a number of desert oases, and land along the
Suez Canal. More than 90 percent of the country consists of desert areas: In the west, the Libyan Desert, a part of the
Sahara
Desert which is also known as the
Western
Desert.
The Libyan Desert includes a vast sandy expanse called the
Great
Sand
Sea. Located here are several depressions with elevations below sea level, including the Qattara Depression, which has an area of about 18,000 sq km (about 7000 sq m) and reaches a depth of 133 m (436 ft) below sea level, the lowest point in Africa. Also found here are the oasis of Siwa, Kharga, Baharia and Dakhla.
In the east the Arabian Desert, also called the
Eastern
Desert (which borders the Red Sea and the
Gulf of Suez). Much of the Arabian Desert occupies a plateau that rises gradually east from the Nile Valley to elevations of about 600 m (about 2000 ft) in the east and is broken along the Red Sea coast by jagged peaks as high as about 2100 m (about 7000 ft) above sea level.
In the extreme south, along the border with
Sudan, is the
Nubian Desert, an extensive region of dunes and sandy plains.
The Sinai Peninsula consists of sandy desert in the north and rugged mountains in the south, with summits looming more than about 2100 m (about 7000 ft) above the
Red Sea. Mount Catherine (Jabal Katrìnah - 2637 m/8652 ft), the highest elevation in Egypt, is in the Sinai Peninsula, as is Mount Sinai (Jabal Mosa), where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the Ten Commandments.
The Nile enters
Egypt from the
Sudan and flows north for about 1545 km (about 960 m) to the
Mediterranean Sea. For its entire length, from the southern border to
Cairo, the
Nile flows through a narrow valley lined by cliffs.
Lake
Nasser, the world's largest man-made reservoir and formed by the
Aswan high dam, extends south across the
Sudan border. The lake is about 480 km (about 300 m) long and is about 16 km (10 m) across at its widest point. About two-thirds of the lake lies in
Egypt. South of a point near the town of
Edfu, the
Nile
Valley is rarely more than 3 km (2 m) wide. From Edfu to
Cairo, the valley is about 23 km (about 14 m) in width, with most of the arable portion on the western side.
In the vicinity of
Cairo the valley merges with the delta, a fan-shaped plain, the perimeter of which occupies about 250 km (about 155 m) of the Mediterranean coastline. Silt deposited by the Rosetta (Rashid),
Damietta (
Dumyat), and other distributaries has made the delta the most fertile region in the country. However, the Aswan High Dam has reduced the flow of the Nile, causing the salty waters of the Mediterranean to erode land along the coast near the
Nile. A series of four shallow, brackish lakes extends along the seaward extremity of the delta. Another larger lake, Birkat Qarun, is situated inland in the desert north of the town of
Al Fayoum. Geographically and traditionally, the
Nile
Valley is divided into two regions, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, the former consisting of the delta area and the latter comprising the valley south of
Cairo.
Egypt Major Travel Destinations
Click on the city you would like to Explore
Cairo
Alexandria
Middle
Egypt "Beni-Suef, Minya, Assuit and Sohag"
Luxor and Qena
Aswan Edfu,Kom Ombo and
Nubia
Abu-Simbel
Oasis and
Western
Desert "Fayoum, Siwa, Baharyia, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga Oasis"
Sinai "Sharm El Sheikh, St. Catherine, Dahab, Taba, Nuweiba and
North Sinai"
Red Sea "Hurghada, Safaga, El Gouna, El Qusseir, Marsa Alam"
Nile Delta "Ras El Bar and Rosetta"
Canal Suez Cities "
Suez, Ein Soukhna,
Ismailia and
Port Said"
Egypt could be said to have six different tourist super-sites. Each has its own flavor, and mostly each serves a different purpose. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, most of these tourist areas do not depend on ancient monuments to sustain them. In fact, only
Luxor is completely dependent on this trade. These super-sites consist of:
1-
Alexandria and the immediate area around the City. It could in fact be argued that this area extends to Marsa Matruh to the west on the coast. The area has a Mediterranean feel about it, and the attraction is the Mediterranean Sea, and to the people of
Cairo, a somewhat cooler climate.
2-
Cairo and the immediate area around the City.
Cairo has everything.
Cairo has great hotels, entertainment, restaurants, all manner of monuments from throughout the history of
Egypt and it is often the entry point for most people visiting
Egypt. It even has bowling allies and several golf courses to chose from.
3-
Luxor and the surrounding area.
Luxor is a living museum with vast numbers of ancient Egyptian monuments. It is also highly oriented to tourists, and might be thought of in the same regard as a theme park, where the attractions just happen to be real monuments.
4-
Aswan and the surrounding area.
Aswan is probably the least of the super-site tourist areas, but has great hotels, along with the huge
Lake
Nasser just to the south.
5- Hurghada and the surrounding area, particularly El Gouna. Not to far apart are El Gouna, Hurghada and Safaga, and these areas contain just about everything a tourist would like to have, with the exception of ancient monuments. They make up for that with every variety of water sports, several golf courses, casinos and more. The
Red Sea area has less of an Egyptian feel, but not as European as the Sinai.
6- Sharm El Sheikh, and the surrounding area including
Sharks
Bay. This is the Sinai super-site, again with most everything any tourist might wish. There are even some wonderful Christian monuments nearby, and the water sports, as at Hurghada, are all inclusive.
This is not to say that there are many more tourist destinations, particularly on the Red Sea and in Sinai, and on
Egypt's mainland interior, the oases. However, in much of the rest of the mainland interior, travel and destinations are limited. However, the tourist super-sites encompass perhaps ninety-five percent of the ancient monuments, and most else there is to do in
Egypt.
