The geography of Egypt relates to two regions: North Africa and West Asia.
The economy of Egypt used to be a highly centralized economy, focused on import substitution under president Gamal Abdel Nasser (1954–1970). During the rule of president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (2014–present), the economy follows Egypt's 2030 Vision. The policy is aimed at diversifying Egypt's economy. The country's economy is the second largest in Africa by nominal GDP, and 42nd in worldwide ranking as of 2024.
The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1980s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. When it was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in the world, eclipsing the United States' Chatuge Dam. The dam created a reservoir named Lake Nasser. Its significance largely upstaged the previous Aswan Low Dam initially completed in 1902 downstream. Based on the success of the Low Dam, then at its maximum utilization, construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the new regime, the Free Officers movement of 1952; with its ability to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity, the dam was seen as pivotal to Egypt's planned industrialization. Like the earlier implementation, the High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt.
Monufia Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. Monufia’s name was derived from the hieroglyphic word “Nafr”, which means “The Good Land”. It is located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, to the south of Gharbia Governorate and to the north of Cairo. The governorate of Monufia is known for being the birthplace of four Egyptian presidents: Mohammad Anwar el-Sadat, Hosni Mubarak, Adly Mansour, and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. The governorate is named after Menouf, an ancient city which was the capital of the governorate until 1826. The current governor is Said Mohammed Mohammed Abbas.
The flooding of the Nile has been an important natural cycle in Nubia and Egypt since ancient times. It is celebrated by Egyptians as an annual holiday for two weeks starting August 15, known as Wafaa El-Nil. It is also celebrated in the Coptic Church by ceremonially throwing a martyr's relic into the river, hence the name, The Martyr's Finger. The flooding of the Nile was poetically described in myth as Isis's tears of sorrow for Osiris when killed by his brother Set.
Egyptian National Railways is the national railway of Egypt and managed by the parastatal Egyptian Railway Authority.
Sir William Willcocks was a British civil engineer during the high point of the British Empire. He was an irrigation engineer who proposed and built the first Aswan Dam, the scale of which had never been attempted previously. He later undertook other major irrigation projects in South Africa and in Arab regions of the dying Ottoman Empire.
As a body of water that crosses numerous international political borders, the Nile river is subject to multiple political interactions. Traditionally it is seen as the world's longest river flowing 6,700 kilometres (4,200 mi) through ten countries in northeastern Africa – Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt with varying climates.
Sir Murdoch MacDonald was a notable civil engineer and British politician. Born in Inverness, Scotland, MacDonald was educated at the Farraline Park Institution there, and would serve later as the constituency's MP from 1922 until 1950.
The Egyptian Department of Public Works was established in the early 19th century, and concentrates mainly on public works relating to irrigation and hydraulic engineering. These irrigation projects have constituted the bulk of work performed by this entity in Egypt. During its almost 200-year history, the Egyptian Department of Public Works employed many notable engineers and constructed massive public works projects throughout the country. It became the most respected engineering entity and was regarded as the 'best school' for civil engineers in modern Egypt. Its history can be broken into three periods:
- The Classic Period (1818–1882).
- The Occupation Period (1882–1952).
- The Modern Period.
The Assiut Barrage is a dam on the Nile River in the city of Assiut in Upper Egypt. It was completed in 1903.
Drinking water supply and sanitation in Egypt directly impact the country's public health, industrial developments, and agriculture. Egypt's water and sanitation industry is characterized by both achievements and challenges. Among the achievements are an increase of piped water supply between 1998 and 2006 from 89% to 100% in urban areas and from 39% to 93% in rural areas despite rapid population growth; the elimination of open defecation in rural areas during the same period; and in general a relatively high level of investment in infrastructure. Access to an at least basic water source in Egypt is now practically universal with a rate of 98%. On the institutional side, the regulation and service provision have been separated to some extensions through the creation of a national Holding Company for Water and Wastewater in 2004, and of an economic regulator, the Egyptian Water Regulatory Agency (EWRA), in 2006. Despite these successes, many challenges remain. Only about one half of the population is connected to sanitary sewers. Because of this low sanitation coverage, about 50,000 children die each year because of diarrhea. Another challenge is low cost recovery due to water tariffs that are among the lowest in the world. This in turn requires government subsidies even for operating costs, a situation that has been aggravated by salary increases without tariff increases after the Arab Spring. Furthermore, poor operation of facilities, such as water and wastewater treatment plants, as well as limited government accountability and transparency, are also issues.
Water resources management in modern Egypt, is a complex process that involves multiple stakeholders who use water for irrigation, municipal and industrial water supply, hydropower generation and navigation. In addition, the waters of the Nile support aquatic ecosystems that are threatened by abstraction and pollution. Egypt also has substantial fossil groundwater resources in the Western Desert.
Egypt's environmental problems include, but are not limited to, water scarcity, air pollution, damage to historic monuments, animal welfare issues and deficiencies in its waste management system.
Sendion also spelled Sendiun or sendyoun (Arabic language: سنديون is a village in northeastern Egypt located in Qalyubia Governorate belonging to the town of Qalyub about 20 km north of Cairo.
A barrage is a type of low-head, diversion dam which consists of a number of large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of water passing through. This allows the structure to regulate and stabilize river water elevation upstream for use in irrigation and other systems. The gates are set between flanking piers which are responsible for supporting the water load of the pool created.
The Aswan Low Dam or Old Aswan Dam is a gravity masonry buttress dam on the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. The dam was built by the British at the former first cataract of the Nile, and is located about 1000 km up-river and 690 km south-southeast of Cairo. When initially constructed between 1899 and 1902, nothing of its scale had ever been attempted; on completion, it was the largest masonry dam in the world. The dam was designed to provide storage of annual floodwater and augment dry season flows to support greater irrigation development and population growth in the lower Nile. The dam, originally limited in height by conservation concerns, worked as designed, but provided inadequate storage capacity for planned development and was raised twice: between 1907 and 1912 and again between 1929 and 1933. These heightenings still did not meet irrigation demands and in 1946 it was nearly over-topped in an effort to maximize pool elevation. This led to the investigation and construction of the Aswan High Dam 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) upstream.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation is the ministry in charge of managing the water resources of the Arab Republic of Egypt mainly the Nile. It also manages irrigation projects in Egypt, such as the Aswan Dam and Al-Salam Canal. Its headquarters are in Cairo.
El Qanater El Khayreya is a city and a markaz in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt. It is the location of the Delta Barrages, the first modern irrigation structure across the Nile, located at the apex of the Nile Delta. In the mid 1850s, when Viceroy Sa'id Pasha took over project construction, he ordered a silver medal to be struck to mark the occasion. He then ordered the construction of a town near the incomplete barrage. Again the project would be bogged down due to financial problems; the original barrages were initially completed in 1862. A new barrage structure was built slightly downstream in 1939. The name of the city is a reference to the structure and the river crossing it.
Colonel Sir Colin Campbell Scott-Moncrieff was a British engineer, soldier and civil servant, best known for repairing the Nile Barrage and reorganizing the irrigation system of Egypt in the 1880s.
