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capital:
cairo administrative divisions: 26 governorates (muhafazat. singular - muhafazah); ad daqahliyah. al bahr al ahmar. al buhayrah. al fayyum. al gharbiyah. al iskandariyah. al isma'iliyah. al jizah. al minufiyah. al minya. al qahirah. al qalyubiyah. al wadi al jadid. ash sharqiyah. as suways. aswan. asyut. bani suwayf. bur sa'id. dumyat. janub sina'. kafr ash shaykh. matruh. qina. shamal sina'. suhaj independence: 28 february 1922 (from uk) national holiday: revolution day. 23 july (1952) constitution: 11 september 1971; amended 22 may 1980 legal system: based on english common law. islamic law. and napoleonic codes; judicial review by supreme court and council of state (oversees validity of administrative decisions); accepts compulsory icj jurisdiction. with reservations suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory executive branch: chief of state: president mohammed hosni mubarak (since 14 october 1981) head of government: prime minister ahmed nazif (since 9 july 2004) cabinet: cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for six-year term; note - a national referendum in may 2005 approved a constitutional amendment that changed the presidential election to a multicandidate popular vote; previously the president was nominated by the people's assembly and the nomination was validated by a national. popular referendum; last referendum held 26 september 1999; first election under terms of constitutional amendment held 7 september 2005; next election scheduled for 2011 election results: hosni mubarak reelected president; percent of vote - hosni mubarak 88.6%. ayman nour 7.6%. noman gomaa 2.9% legislative branch: bicameral system consists of the people's assembly or majlis al-sha'b (454 seats; 444 elected by popular vote. 10 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms) and the advisory council or majlis al-shura - which functions only in a consultative role (264 seats; 176 elected by popular vote. 88 appointed by the president; members serve six-year terms; mid-term elections for half the members) elections: people's assembly - three-phase voting - last held 7 and 20 november. 1 december 2005;(next to be held november-december 2010); advisory council - last held may-june 2004 (next to be held may-june 2007) election results: people's assembly - percent of vote by party - na; seats by party - ndp 311. nwp 6. tagammu 2. tomorrow party 1. independents 112 (12 seats to be determined by rerun elections. 10 seats appointed by president); advisory council - percent of vote by party - na; seats by party - na judicial branch: supreme constitutional court political parties and leaders: national democratic party or ndp [mohammed hosni mubarak (governing party)]; national progressive unionist grouping or tagammu [rifaat el-said]; new wafd party or nwp [no'man gomaa]; tomorrow party [ayman nour] note: formation of political parties must be approved by the government political pressure groups and leaders: despite a constitutional ban against religious-based parties. the technically illegal muslim brotherhood constitutes mubarak's potentially most significant political opposition; mubarak tolerated limited political activity by the brotherhood for his first two terms. but moved more aggressively since then to block its influence; civic society groups are sanctioned. but constrained in practical terms; trade unions and professional associations are officially sanctioned international organization participation: abeda. acct. afdb. afesd. amf. au. bsec (observer). caeu. comesa. ebrd. fao. g-15. g-24. g-77. iaea. ibrd. icao. icc. icct (signatory). icrm. ida. idb. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso. itu. las. miga. minurso. monuc. nam. oapec. oas (observer). oic. onub. osce (partner). pca. un. unamsil. unctad. unesco. unhcr. unido. unitar. unmil. unmis. unomig. unrwa. upu. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador m. nabil fahmy chancery: 3521 international court nw. washington. dc 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 895-5400 fax: [1] (202) 244-5139 consulate(s) general: chicago. houston. new york. and san francisco diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador designate francis j. ricciardone. jr embassy: 8 kamal el din salah st.. garden city. cairo mailing address: unit 64900. box 15. apo ae 09839-4900 telephone: [20] (2) 797-3300 fax: [20] (2) 797-3200 flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top). white. and black; the national emblem (a gold eagle of saladin facing the hoist side with a shield superimposed on its chest above a scroll bearing the name of the country in arabic) centered in the white band; design is based on the arab liberation flag and similar to the flag of syria. which has two green stars. iraq. which has three green stars (plus an arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band. and yemen. which has a plain white band economy - overview: lack of substantial progress on economic reform since the mid 1990s has limited foreign direct investment in egypt and kept annual gdp growth in the range of 2%-3% in 2001-03. however. in 2004 egypt implemented several measures to boost foreign direct investment. in september 2004. egypt pushed through custom reforms. proposed income and corporate tax reforms. reduced energy subsidies. and privatized several enterprises. the budget deficit rose to an estimated 8% of gdp in 2004 compared to 6.1% of gdp the previous year. in part as a result of these reforms. monetary pressures on an overvalued egyptian pound led the government to float the currency in january 2003. leading to a sharp drop in its value and consequent inflationary pressure. the development of an export market for natural gas is a bright spot for future growth prospects. but improvement in the capital-intensive hydrocarbons sector does little to reduce egypt's persistent unemployment. gdp (purchasing power parity): $337.9 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $81.47 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 4.5% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4.400 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 15% industry: 36.7% services: 48.4% (2005 est.) labor force: 21.34 million (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 32%. industry 17%. services 51% (2001 est.) unemployment rate: 10% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: 16.7% (2000 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.4% highest 10%: 25% (1995) distribution of family income - gini index: 34.4 (2001) inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.4% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 16.2% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $18.03 billion expenditures: $24.55 billion. including capital expenditures of $2.7 billion (2005 est.) public debt: 93.6% of gdp (2005 est.) agriculture - products: cotton. rice. corn. wheat. beans. fruits. vegetables; cattle. water buffalo. sheep. goats industries: textiles. food processing. tourism. chemicals. hydrocarbons. construction. cement. metals industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 84.26 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 81% hydro: 19% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 78.16 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 450 million kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 250 million kwh (2003) oil - production: 700.000 bbl/day (2005 est.) oil - consumption: 566.000 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) oil - proved reserves: 2.7 billion bbl (2005 est.) natural gas - production: 21.2 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - consumption: 21.2 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - proved reserves: 1.264 trillion cu m (2005) current account balance: $2.928 billion (2005 est.) exports: $14.33 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: italy 11.9%. us 10.8%. uk 7%. syria 6.2%. germany 4.7%. spain 4.2% (2004) imports: $24.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: us 12.2%. germany 7%. italy 6.6%. france 5.7%. china 5.4%. uk 4.7%. saudi arabia 4.1% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $20.31 billion (2005 est.) debt - external: $28.95 billion (30 june 2005 est.) economic aid - recipient: oda. $1.12 billion (2002) currency (code): egyptian pound (egp) currency code: egp exchange rates: egyptian pounds per us dollar - 5.78 (2005). 6.1963 (2004). 5.8509 (2003). 4.4997 (2002). 3.973 (2001) fiscal year: 1 july - 30 june telephones - main lines in use: 9.6 million (2005) telephones - mobile cellular: 8.583.940 (2005) telephone system: general assessment: large system; underwent extensive upgrading during 1990s and is reasonably modern; internet access and cellular service are available domestic: principal centers at alexandria. cairo. al mansurah. ismailia. suez. and tanta are connected by coaxial cable and microwave radio relay international: country code - 20; satellite earth stations - 2 intelsat (atlantic ocean and indian ocean). 1 arabsat. and 1 inmarsat; 5 coaxial submarine cables; tropospheric scatter to sudan; microwave radio relay to israel; a participant in medarabtel radio broadcast stations: am 42 (plus 15 repeaters). fm 14. shortwave 3 (1999) radios: 20.5 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 98 (september 1995) televisions: 7.7 million (1997) internet country code: .eg internet hosts: 3.401 (2004) internet service providers (isps): 50 (2000) internet users: 4.2 million (2005) airports: 87 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 72 over 3.047 m: 13 2.438 to 3.047 m: 38 1.524 to 2.437 m: 17 under 914 m: 4 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 15 2.438 to 3.047 m: 1 1.524 to 2.437 m: 2 914 to 1.523 m: 5 under 914 m: 7 (2005 est.) heliports: 2 (2005 est.) pipelines: condensate 289 km; condensate/gas 94 km; gas 6.115 km; liquid petroleum gas 852 km; oil 5.032 km; oil/gas/water 36 km; refined products 246 km (2004) railways: total: 5.063 km standard gauge: 5.063 km 1.435-m gauge (62 km electrified) (2004) roadways: total: 64.000 km paved: 49.984 km unpaved: 14.016 km (1999) waterways: 3.500 km note: includes nile river. lake nasser. alexandria-cairo waterway. and numerous smaller canals in delta; suez canal (193.5 km including approaches) navigable by oceangoing vessels drawing up to 17.68 m (2004) merchant marine: total: 77 ships (1.000 grt or over) 1.194.696 grt/1.754.815 dwt by type: bulk carrier 14. cargo 34. container 2. passenger/cargo 5. petroleum tanker 14. roll on/roll off 8 foreign-owned: 10 (denmark 1. greece 6. lebanon 2. turkey 1) registered in other countries: 34 (2005) ports and terminals: alexandria. damietta. el dekheila. port said. suez. zeit military branches: army. navy. air force. air defense command military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for conscript military service; 3-year service obligation (2001) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 18.347.560 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 15.540.234 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 802.920 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $2.44 billion (2003) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 3.4% (2004) disputes - international: egypt and sudan retain claims to administer the two triangular areas that extend north and south of the 1899 treaty boundary along the 22nd parallel. but have withdrawn their military presence; egypt is developing the hala'ib triangle north of the treaty line; since the attack on taba and other egyptian resort towns on the red sea in october 2004. egypt vigilantly monitors the sinai and borders with israel and the gaza strip; egypt does not extend domestic asylum to some 70.000 persons who identify as palestinians but who largely lack unrwa assistance and. until recently. unhcr recognition as refugees refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 70.215 (palestinian territories) (2004) illicit drugs: transit point for southwest asian and southeast asian heroin and opium moving to europe. africa. and the us; transit stop for nigerian couriers; concern as money-laundering site due to lax financial regulations and enforcement
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