Egypt

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Country summary

Capital

Cairo

Borders

Gaza Strip 11 km, Israel 266 km, Libya 1,115 km, Sudan 1,273 km

Government type

republic

Population

78,866,635 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

2.033% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

72.12 years[1]

Unemployment

9.4% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

94[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

111[3]

Doing Business ranking

106[4]


The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom arose circa 3200 B.C., and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C., who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. It was the Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and who ruled for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub, but also fell heavily into debt. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty with the overthrow of the British-backed monarchy in 1952. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to meet the demands of Egypt's growing population through economic reform and massive investment in communications and physical infrastructure.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Egyptian pound (ISO code: EGP)
  • Central bank discount rate: 8.5% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: NA% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $31.72 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $112.2 billion (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 90 711 99 839 97 632 87 851 82 924 78 845 89 686 107 484 130 473 162 283
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 37.391
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 24.350 25.431 24.640 24.292 28.139 27.118 27.715
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 27.248 27.332 26.890 27.389 32.764 29.336 30.418
Debt to revenue (years)

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Egypt", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Egypt", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  3. Transparency International. "Egypt", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  4. Doing Business. "Egypt", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 361. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  6. Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 44. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  7. World Bank. "Egypt: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  8. World Bank. "Egypt: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  9. World Bank. "Egypt: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  10. World Bank. "Egypt: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.

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