Egypt | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Egypt

Arab Republic of Egypt

Jumhuriat Misr al-'Arabiyah

CAPITAL: Cairo (Al-Qahira)

FLAG: The flag is a tricolor of three horizontal stripes—red, white, and black—with the national emblem in the center white stripe.

ANTHEM: The Arab Republic of Egypt Hymn.

MONETARY UNIT: The Egyptian pound (E£) is a paper currency of 100 piasters or 1,000 milliemes. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, and 20 piasters and notes of 25 and 50 piasters and 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 1000 pounds. E£1 = $0.1706 (or $1 = E£5.86) as of May 2003.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the official standard, but various local units also are used: 1 feddan, consisting of 333.3 kassabah, equals 0.42 hectare (1.038 acres).

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Evacuation Day, 18 June; Revolution Day, 23 July; Armed Forces Day, 6 October; Popular Resistance Day, 24 October; Victory Day, 23 December. Movable holidays include Sham an-Nassim (Breath of Spring), of ancient origin, as well as such Muslim religious holidays as 'Id al-Fitr, 'Id al-'Adha', and the 1st of Muharram (Muslim New Year).

TIME: 2 PM = noon GMT.

Location, Size, and Extent

Situated at the northeastern corner of Africa, the Arab Republic of Egypt has an area of 1,001,450 sq km (386,662 sq mi), extending 1,572 km (997 mi) SE–NW and 1,196 km (743 mi) NE– SW.

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