3.4% (FY98)

@Ecuador:Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: demarcation of the agreed-upon border with
Peru was completed in May 1999

Illicit drugs: significant transit country for cocaine and derivatives
of coca originating in Colombia and Peru; importer of precursor
chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; important
money-laundering hub; increased activity on frontiers by trafficking
groups and Colombian insurgents

______________________________________________________________________

EGYPT

@Egypt:Introduction

Background: Nominally independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired
full sovereignty following World War II. 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)
will continue to stress Egyptian society and overtax resources as the
country enters the new millennium.

@Egypt:Geography

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between
Libya and the Gaza Strip

Geographic coordinates: 27 00 N, 30 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 1,001,450 sq km
land: 995,450 sq km
water: 6,000 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than three times the size of New
Mexico

Land boundaries:
total: 2,689 km
border countries: Gaza Strip 11 km, Israel 255 km, Libya 1,150 km,
Sudan 1,273 km

Coastline: 2,450 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters

Terrain: vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Qattara Depression -133 m
highest 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 s