Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates,
manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 2%
meadows and pastures: 0%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 95%
Irrigated land: 25,850 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: agricultural land being lost to urbanization and
windblown sands; increasing soil salinization below Aswan High Dam;
desertification; oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and
marine habitats; other water pollution from agricultural pesticides,
raw sewage, and industrial effluents; very limited natural fresh
water resources away from the Nile which is the only perennial water
source; rapid growth in population overstraining natural resources
natural hazards: periodic droughts; frequent earthquakes, flash
floods, landslides, volcanic activity; hot, driving windstorm called
khamsin occurs in spring; dust storms, sandstorms
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Tropical Timber 94
Geographic note: controls Sinai Peninsula, only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemisphere; controls Suez Canal, shortest sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea; size, and juxtaposition to Israel, establish its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics
People ———
Population: 63,575,107 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 37% (male 11,970,197; female 11,462,689)
15-64 years: 60% (male 19,127,696; female 18,738,304)
65 years and over: 3% (male 1,028,916; female 1,247,305) (July 1996
est.)
Population growth rate: 1.91% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 28.18 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)