The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency (ebook reader 8 inch .txt) 📕

10 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms) and the Advisory Council or Majlis al-Shura that traditionally functions only in a consultative role but 2007 constitutional amendments could grant the Council new powers (264 seats; 176 elected by popular vote, 88 appointed by the president; members serve six-year terms; mid-term elections for half of the elected 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 June 2007 (next to be held May-June 2010) 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 - NDP 84, Tagammu 1, independents 3

Judicial branch:

Supreme Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders:

National Democratic Party or NDP (governing party) [Mohamed Hosni MUBARAK]; National Progressive Unionist Grouping or Tagammu [Rifaat EL-SAID]; New Wafd Party or NWP [Mahmoud ABAZA]; Tomorrow Party [Moussa Mustafa MOUSSA] note: formation of political parties must be approved by the government; only parties with representation in elected bodies are listed

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Muslim Brotherhood (technically illegal) note: despite a constitutional ban against religious-based parties and political activity, the technically illegal Muslim Brotherhood constitutes Hosni MUBARAK's potentially most significant political opposition

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, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OIC, OIF, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador (designate) Sameh SHOUKRY chancery: 3521 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 895-5400 FAX: [1] (202) 244-4319 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Margaret SCOBEY embassy: 8 Kamal El Din Salah St., Garden City, Cairo mailing address: Unit 64900, Box 15, APO AE 09839-4900; 5 Tawfik Diab Street, Garden City, Cairo telephone: [20] (2) 2797-3300 FAX: [20] (2) 2797-3200

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 in the white band, Iraq, which has an Arabic inscription centered in the white band, and Yemen, which has a plain white band

Economy
Egypt

Economy - overview:

Occupying the northeast corner of the African continent, Egypt is bisected by the highly fertile Nile valley, where most economic activity takes place. In the last 30 years, the government has reformed the highly centralized economy it inherited from President Gamel Abdel NASSER. In 2005, Prime Minister Ahmed NAZIF's government reduced personal and corporate tax rates, reduced energy subsidies, and privatized several enterprises. The stock market boomed, and GDP grew about 5% per year in 2005-06, and topped 7% in 2007. Despite these achievements, the government has failed to raise living standards for the average Egyptian, and has had to continue providing subsidies for basic necessities. The subsidies have contributed to a sizeable budget deficit - roughly 7.5% of GDP in 2007 - and represent a significant drain on the economy. Foreign direct investment has increased significantly in the past two years, but the NAZIF government will need to continue its aggressive pursuit of reforms in order to sustain the spike in investment and growth and begin to improve economic conditions for the broader population. Egypt's export sectors - particularly natural gas - have bright prospects.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$405.4 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$127.9 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

7.1% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$5,000 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 13.8% industry: 38.1% services: 48% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

22.1 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 32% industry: 17% services: 51% (2001 est.)

Unemployment rate:

9.1% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:

20% (2005 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 3.7% highest 10%: 29.5% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

34.4 (2001)

Investment (gross fixed):

21.2% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $35.05 billion expenditures: $44.83 billion (2007 est.)

Fiscal year:

1 July - 30 June

Public debt:

105.8% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

9.5% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate:

9% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

12.51% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$27.6 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$102.6 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$113.9 billion (31 December 2007)

Agriculture - products:

cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruits, vegetables; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats

Industries:

textiles, food processing, tourism, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, hydrocarbons, construction, cement, metals, light manufactures

Industrial production growth rate:

7.5% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

109.1 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

96.2 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports:

557 million kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - imports:

208 million kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 81% hydro: 19% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Oil - production:

664,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:

652,700 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

204,700 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - imports:

140,000 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

3.7 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production:

47.5 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

31.8 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

15.7 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

1.656 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:

$500.9 million (2007 est.)

Exports:

$24.45 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

crude oil and petroleum products, cotton, textiles, metal products, chemicals

Exports - partners:

US 9.7%, Italy 9.5%, Spain 7.6%, Syria 5.5%, Saudi Arabia 4.9%, UK 4.2% (2007)

Imports:

$44.95 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, wood products, fuels

Imports - partners:

US 11.7%, China 9.7%, Italy 6.4%, Germany 6.3%, Saudi Arabia 4.7%,
Russia 4.3% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

ODA, $925.9 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$31.37 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$29.2 billion (30 June 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$48.46 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$1.295 billion (2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$93.48 billion (2006)

Currency (code):

Egyptian pound (EGP)

Currency code:

EGP

Exchange rates:

Egyptian pounds (EGP) per US dollar - 5.67 (2007), 5.725 (2006), 5.78 (2005), 6.1962 (2004), 5.8509 (2003)

Communications
Egypt

Telephones - main lines in use:

11.229 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

30.065 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: large system; underwent extensive upgrading during 1990s and is reasonably modern; Telecom Egypt, the landline monopoly, has been increasing service availability and in 2007 fixed-line density stood at 14 per 100 persons; as of 2007 there were three mobile-cellular networks and service is expanding rapidly 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; landing point for both the SEA-ME-WE-3 and SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable networks; linked to the international submarine cable FLAG (Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe); satellite earth stations - 4 (2 Intelsat - Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean, 1 Arabsat, and 1 Inmarsat); tropospheric scatter to Sudan; microwave radio relay to Israel; a participant in Medarabtel (2007)

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:

175,342 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

50 (2000)

Internet users:

8.62 million (2007)

Transportation
Egypt

Airports:

88 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 72 over 3,047 m: 15 2,438 to 3,047 m: 36 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 under 914 m: 5 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 16 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 7 (2007)

Heliports:

3 (2007)

Pipelines:

condensate 483 km; condensate/gas 74 km; gas 6,466 km; liquid petroleum gas 957 km; oil 5,518 km; oil/gas/water 37 km; refined products 895 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 5,063 km standard gauge: 5,063 km 1.435-m gauge (62 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 92,370 km paved: 74,820 km unpaved: 17,550 km (2004)

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 (2006)

Merchant marine:

total: 67 by type: bulk carrier 11, cargo 28, container 2, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 13, roll on/roll off 9 foreign-owned: 10 (Denmark 1, Greece 8, Lebanon 1) registered in other countries: 58 (Cambodia 13, Georgia 12, Honduras 3, North Korea 1, Malta 1, Moldova 1, Panama 17, Saint Kitts and Nevis 2, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3, Saudi Arabia 1, Sierra Leone 3, Togo 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Ayn Sukhnah, Alexandria, Damietta, El Dekheila, Sidi Kurayr, Suez

Military
Egypt

Military branches:

Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Command

Military service age and obligation:

18-30 years of age for male conscript military service; service obligation 12-36 months, followed by a 9-year reserve obligation (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 21,247,777 females age 16-49: 20,406,408 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 18,153,158 females age 16-49: 17,405,837 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 825,300 female: 786,590 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

3.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
Egypt

Disputes - international:

while Sudan retains claim to the Hala'ib Triangle north of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel, both states withdrew their military presence in the 1990s and Egypt has invested in and effectively administers the area; Egypt no longer shows its administration of the Bir Tawil trapezoid in Sudan on its maps; Gazan breaches in the security wall with Egypt in January 2008 highlight difficulties in monitoring the Sinai border

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 60,000 - 80,000 (Iraq); 70,198 (Palestinian Territories); 12,157 (Sudan) (2007)

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Egypt is a transit country for women trafficked from Eastern European countries to Israel for sexual exploitation, and is a source for children trafficked within the country for commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, although the extent to which children are trafficked internally is unknown; children were also recruited for domestic and agricultural work; some of these children face conditions of involuntary servitude, such as restrictions on movement, non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Egypt is on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third year in a row because it did not provide evidence of increasing efforts to investigate and prosecute traffickers; however, in July 2007, the government established the "National Coordinating Committee to Combat and Prevent Trafficking in Persons," which improved inter-governmental coordination on anti-trafficking initiatives; Egypt made no discernible efforts to punish trafficking crimes in 2007 and the Egyptian