Egypt:
A Study in Contrasts
John Bock
Darren Botelho
Leigh Ercole
Middle East – Period 5
17 October 2006
History of Egypt
• 3200 B.C. – unified kingdom
arose
• 7th century A.D. – Arabs
introduced Islam & Arabic
• 1517 – Ottoman Turks
conquered Egypt
• 1882 – Britain seized control of http://www.mideastweb.org/ara_ottoman1580.gif
Egypt's government
• 1914 – allegiance to Ottoman
Empire ends
• 1922 – Partially independent
from UK
History of Egypt, cont.
• Post-World War I – full
sovereignty
• 1952 - Gamal Abdul Nasser’
revolution against monarchy
• 1971 – new constitution
• 1981 - Hosni Mubarak rose
to power & became
president
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/eg.html#People
Thesis
Egypt is feigning modernity because its
government appears to be a republic but
is actually an autocracy. There is a
lack of civil liberties and much of
the population is below the poverty line.
Economics
• Nile Valley – most
economic activity
• Exports – fresh water &
natural gas
• Imports – machinery, food
stuffs, chemicals, wood
products
• Debt - $35.26 billion
• Current Account Balance -
$2.2 billion
http://www.beyondbooks.com/wcu81/images/00003017.jpg
Economics, cont.
• Services – 49.3%
• Industry – 35.7%
– Textiles, food processing, tourism, pharmaceuticals,
construction, metals
• Agricultural – 14.9%
– Cotton, grains, beans, fruits, vegetables
• Major Problem – inadequate housing conditions
• 9.5% unemployed
• 20% population below poverty line
Social & Cultural
Male Female Male/ • Population – 78,887,007
Country literacy literacy female
• Religion – 90% Sunni
literacy
rate % rate % ratio Muslim, 9% Coptic
Bahrain 89 79 1.1
Christian
Egypt 64 38 1.7 • Language – Arabic
Lebanon 91 77 1.2 (Egyptian Dialect)
Oman 75 51 1.5 • Life expectancy – 71.29
Qatar 79 80 1 years
Saudi • Infant mortality rate – 31.33
Arabia 80 59 1.4 deaths/1000 births
Sudan 63 38 1.7
• Literacy Rate – males:
Syria 85 54 1.6 64%, females: 38%
UAE 79 80 1
Yemen 62 18 3.4
http://www.emro.who.int/Publications/EMHJ/0706/Infant.htm
Civil Liberties
• Emergency Law (expires
2006)
• Freedom of speech
– Jailing journalists
– Beating democracy advocates
• Jail without charge
• Torture/mistreatment
detainees
• Freedom of Religion
– Converting from Islam illegal
• Women are equal
- Discrimination exists
http://www.hrw.org/photos/2006/egypt0506/photo5.htm
Politics
• Arab Republic of Egypt
• Capital – Cairo
• Type – republic
• Suffrage
– age 18
– compulsory
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=unbalanced+scales
Government Structure
• Three branches
• Executive
– President Mubarak (1981-now)
– Prime Minister Nazif (2004-now)
– President-appointed cabinet
• Legislative
– People’s Assembly
– Advisory Council
• Judicial
– Supreme Constitutional Court
http://www.bibalex.org/English/aboutus/images/Mubarak.jpg
Political Parties
• National Democratic
Party
• Formation must be
government approved
• Ban against religious-
based parties
– Muslim Brotherhood
http://sanderhicks.com/images/brotherhood2a.jpg
Works Cited
• https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ge
os/eg.html#People
• http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/egypt122
12.htm
• http://hrw.org/doc?t=mideast&c=egypt
• http://www.fao.org/docrep/V9104e/v9104e04.ht
m
• http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-
bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+eg0124)