Capital Cairo (El Qahira).
Population: 16.7 million (2005
estimate).
Government Republic.
Language
Arabic is the official language.
English and French are widely
spoken.
Time
GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from last
Friday in April to last Thursday
in September).
Electricity
Most areas 220 volts AC, 50Hz.
Certain rural parts still use
110 to 380 volts AC.
Head of Government
Ahmed Nazif since 2004.
Head of State
President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak
since 1981
Egypt -
country info:
Religion
According to the 1986 census, over
94% of the population follows Islam;
the majority of the rest is
Christian. All types of Christianity
are represented, especially the
Coptic Christian Church. There is
also a small Jewish minority.
Media
The Egyptian press is one of the
most influential and widely-read in
the region, while Egyptian TV and
film industry supplies much of the
Arab-speaking world with shows from
its Media Production City, an
enterprise launched with a view to
creating the "Hollywood of the
East".
Press laws which allow prison
sentences for libel and "insults"
and an ongoing state of emergency
have encouraged self-censorship on
sensitive issues. Egypt has two
state-run national TV channels and
six regional channels. It is a key
player in satellite TV; the Egyptian
Space Channels are widely watched
across the Arab-speaking world. The
channels enjoy the support of the
country’s huge program-making
industry and have access to a large
archive of Egyptian films and TV
programs.
Egypt was the first Arab nation to
have its own satellite, Nilesat 101.
The country’s first private TV
stations came on air in 2001,
broadcasting via satellite. The
state monopoly on radio broadcasting
was broken with the arrival of
private, commercial music stations
in 2003.
more info:
Telephone
Country code: 20.
Post
The postal system is efficient
for international mail. Airmail
takes about five days to western
Europe, and eight to 10 days to
the USA.
Press
The most influential Egyptian
daily is Al-Ahram, the
oldest newspaper in the Arab
world; others include Al-Akhbar
and several weekly and
periodical publications. Al-Ahahi
and Al-Wafd are
opposition publications. The
Middle East Observer is the
main weekly English-language
business paper. Al-Ahram
Weekly is also published in
English.
Radio
• Egypt Radio Television
Union (ERTU) operates eight
national networks and external
services Radio Cairo and
Voice of the Arabs.
• Nile FM and Nogoum
FM are private stations.
Nile FM broadcasts Western
pop while Nogoum FM
broadcasts Arabic pop.
