ighest point: Mount Catherine 2,629 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates,
manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc

Land use:
arable land: 2%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 98% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 32,460 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts; frequent earthquakes, flash
floods, landslides, volcanic activity; hot, driving windstorm called
khamsin occurs in spring; dust storms, sandstorms

Environment-current issues: agricultural land being lost to
urbanization and windblown sands; increasing soil salinization below
Aswan High Dam; desertification; oil pollution threatening coral
reefs, beaches, and marine habitats; other water pollution from
agricultural pesticides, raw sewage, and industrial effluents; very
limited natural fresh water resources away from the Nile which is the
only perennial water source; rapid growth in population overstraining
natural resources

Environment-international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography-note: controls Sinai Peninsula, only land bridge between
Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemisphere; controls Suez Canal,
shortest sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea; size,
and juxtaposition to Israel, establish its major role in Middle
Eastern geopolitics

@Egypt:People

Population: 66,050,004 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 36% (male 12,173,882; female 11,637,239)
15-64 years: 60% (male 20,108,426; female 19,718,302)
65 years and over: 4% (male 1,074,271; female 1,337,884) (July 1998
est.)

Population growth rate: 1.86% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 27.31 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 8.41 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 69.23 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 62.07 years
male: 60.09 years
female: 64.14