(ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT)

(WIPO code: EG) (latest review November 2023)

by ABU-GHAZALEH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Cairo

General Information

Area

1,001,450 sq. km.

Population

109,546,720 (2023).

Capital

Cairo (Al Kahirah), with about 22.183 million inhabitants (2023).

Language

Arabic.

Currency

Egyptian pound.

Most important commodities produced in the A.R.E.

Cotton, cotton seed, rice, wheat, maize, millet, beans, barley, hops, wool, citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines, sweet lemons), tomatoes, onions, dates, sugar, beer, ivory, wax, ostrich feathers, flax seed, eggs, cigarettes, vegetable oils, superphosphates, manganese, iron, steel, petroleum and petroleum products, ceramics, glass and glassware and paper fabrics, yams and textiles, hides, skins, fertilizers, chemicals and recently motor-cars and buses, radio and television sets, washing machines, refrigerators and heaters.

General Remarks

The productive land lies in the Valley of the Nile and its delta, or lower Egypt, north of Cairo. The Nile flows through 1,500 km of the A.R.E. and covers 7,300 sq. km with water. About 30,000 sq. km are cultivated for cereals, vegetables, cotton and sugar cane, and 5,000 sq. km have canals and fruit plantations (grapes, dates, figs, oranges, lemons, olives). The Nile rises in June and reaches its peak in October. It is regulated by dams (Aswan) and there are also a number of canal systems in operation.

The High Dam at Aswan was completed in 1968. A large reservoir is built to the south, in the form of one of the greatest artificial lakes in existence. It is now possible to regulate water at will for irrigation, thus increasing the cultivable land and supplying electricity for lighting and power for industry.

A variety of minerals are found in Egypt, mainly phosphate rocks and petroleum. Others are ochre, magnesium, sulphate, talc, building stones, gypsum, nytron, salt, gold, iron, alum, copper and sulphur.

The A.R.E. has textile plants, yam factories, cement and fertilizer factories, iron and steel industry, petrochemical industries, medical and pharmaceutical industries, and a film industry supplying the Middle East, Africa and Asia.