Egypt 🇪🇬
Egypt is a country in Africa with a population of 110,990,103. Its capital is Cairo. The official currency is EGP, and the main languages are Arabic.
Quick facts
- Capital: Cairo
- Continent: Africa
- Population: 110,990,103
- Area: 1,001,450 km²
- Density: 111 people per km²
- Currency: EGP
- Languages: Arabic
- ISO code: EG
Where Egypt sits
Egypt 🇪🇬 is one of 54 countries in Africa, with its capital at Cairo. It covers 1,001,450 square kilometres — 29th in the world — and is home to about 110,990,103 people, 14th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include Nigeria, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and South Africa. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Egypt compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Egypt sits closest to Philippines and Democratic Republic of the Congo. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Mauritania and Tanzania.
At 111 people per square kilometre it is somewhat above the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.
Arabic is an official language in 25 countries here, among them Algeria, Bahrain, Chad and Comoros, and 20 others. The EGP is used by Egypt and no one else.
To see Egypt next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Egypt
Cairo sits on the Nile and is nicknamed the 'City of a Thousand Minarets'. For the flag, it's the same red-white-black as Yemen's, but Egypt adds a golden eagle in the middle.
The flag of Egypt: red, white and black, with a gold eagle
🇪🇬 The flag is three horizontal stripes of red, white and black, with the gold Eagle of Saladin in the centre. The colours come from the Arab Liberation flag. They stand for hard times (black) overcome through struggle (red), to be replaced by a bright future (white).
Region and neighbours
Egypt is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and the southwest corner of Asia through the Sinai Peninsula, with coasts on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. It shares land borders with 4 countries: Libya, Sudan, Israel and Palestine. The border with Palestine is the Gaza Strip, on the Mediterranean coast.
- Libya 🇱🇾 — capital Tripoli
- Sudan 🇸🇩 — capital Khartoum
- Israel 🇮🇱 — capital Jerusalem
- Palestine 🇵🇸 — capital Ramallah
Three facts about Egypt
- The pyramids of the Giza Necropolis are the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one still standing.
- The Suez Canal, completed in 1869, connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean by way of the Red Sea.
- Mount Catherine in the Sinai, 2,642 m high, is the highest mountain in Egypt.
Sources: Wikipedia: Egypt, Wikipedia: Flag of Egypt, Wikipedia: Cairo, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Egypt
- African capitals quiz — match Egypt to Cairo
- African flags quiz — spot the Egypt flag among its neighbours
Quizzes that include Egypt
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Egypt those are:
- Africa map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Africa flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Africa capitals quiz — match it to Cairo
- Egypt capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Egypt
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Egypt
- Capital of Egypt: Cairo — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 54 countries of Africa
Nearby countries
- Algeria 🇩🇿 — capital Algiers
- Angola 🇦🇴 — capital Luanda
- Benin 🇧🇯 — capital Porto-Novo
- Botswana 🇧🇼 — capital Gaborone
- Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 — capital Ouagadougou
- Burundi 🇧🇮 — capital Gitega
- Cabo Verde 🇨🇻 — capital Praia
- Cameroon 🇨🇲 — capital Yaoundé
- Central African Republic 🇨🇫 — capital Bangui
- Chad 🇹🇩 — capital N'Djamena
- Comoros 🇰🇲 — capital Moroni
- Congo 🇨🇬 — capital Brazzaville
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Egypt flag?
The flag of Egypt is three horizontal stripes of red, white and black, with the gold Eagle of Saladin in the centre. The colours come from the Arab Liberation flag. They stand for hard times (black) overcome through struggle (red), to be replaced by a bright future (white).
Which countries border Egypt?
Egypt shares land borders with Libya, Sudan, Israel and Palestine. The border with Palestine is the Gaza Strip, on the Mediterranean coast.
How can I remember the capital of Egypt?
Cairo sits on the Nile and is nicknamed the 'City of a Thousand Minarets'. For the flag, it's the same red-white-black as Yemen's, but Egypt adds a golden eagle in the middle.