Egypt Travel Overview
At a glance
Capital: Cairo
Official language: Arabic
Currency: lb
Continent: North Africa
Vacation in Egypt
According to Countryaah, Egypt – “the land of the pharaohs” – is located in the north-east of Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Red Sea in the east.
City flight to Cairo
The capital of Egypt is Cairo. It is the largest city in the Arab world and houses the world’s largest collection of ancient Egyptian cultural treasures in the Egyptian Museum. The city’s numerous bazaars are also worth seeing. A visit to the pyramids of Giza, which were built as the tombs of the pharaohs, is an absolute must on a vacation in Cairo. After the destruction of the other six ancient wonders of the world, they are the last remaining. There are also many other buildings from historical Egypt to discover, such as the Sphinx. It represents a seated lioness with a human head.
Nile cruise
A very popular travel option to discover many of Egypt’s important cultural monuments is a Nile cruise. Nile cruises are available in different price ranges and different routes depending on the provider. You sail the Nile from Cairo via Luxor to Abu Simbel.
Swimming and sports vacation on the Red Sea
For some time, Egypt has also been a popular destination for a seaside vacation. Especially in the east on the Red Sea coast you will find wonderful diving areas and beautiful beaches. Well-known seaside resorts are, for example, Hurghada on the west coast of the Red Sea or Sharm El-Sheikh on the Sinai peninsula. Sharm El Sheikh is one of the most popular beach resorts in Egypt. It also has one of the largest diving areas in the Gulf of Aqaba.
Hurghada
Hurghada is the largest tourist center on the Red Sea. There is a wonderful coral reef nearby, which is ideal for diving. 22 km north of Hurghada is El-Guna, a lagoon city for a more exquisite vacation. You can practice traditional water sports here, such as diving and especially kite surfing.
Important facts
Capital: Cairo
Official language: Arabic
Currency
Currency (sub-unit)
Pounds (100 piasters)
ISO 4217 code
EGP / 818
Geography
Continent: Africa
Region: North
Geo coordinates: N 26 ° 49 ’14 ” E 30 ° 48′ 9″
Highest mountain: Mount Catherine (2,629 m)
Total area: 1,001,450 km²
Mainland: 995,450 km²
National border: 2,689 km
Coastline: 2,450 km
Politics
Dependency: Great Britain until 1922
Formerly dependent states: Sudan until 1956
UN member since: 1945
Other political affiliation: Arab League
Form of government: Presidential Republic
Economy
Export goods: Petroleum, cotton, onions
BSP: $ 109,864,700,000
GDP: $ 91.876 billion
GDP purchasing power parity: $ 311.8 billion
Economic growth: 5.3%
GDP share of agriculture: 14.9%
GDP share of industry: 35.7%
GDP share of services: 49.4%
Inflation rate: 4.6%
Unemployment: 9.1%
State budget revenue: $ 4294967295
State budget expenditure: $ 4294967295
National debt: 106.2%
Export: $ 16,890,000,000
Import: $ 28,320,000,000
Foreign debt: $ 36.94 billion
Gold and currency reserves: $ 24.27 billion
Electricity consumption: 83,940 million KWh
Gas reserves: 1,900,000 million m³
Gas production: 35,500 million m³
Gas consumption: 35,500 million m³
Oil reserves: 2,700 million m³
Oil production: 710,000 million m³
Oil consumption: 606,000 million m³
Cultivation area: 3.46%
Bovine: 4,060,000 pieces
Sheep: 4,890,000 pieces
Fishing: 831,000 t
Demographic data
Residents: 78,887,000
Residents in cities: 34,986,400
Average age: 24 years
0-14 years: 32.6%
15-64 years: 62.9%
> 65 years: 4.5%
Population growth: 1.75%
Birth rate: 23.32 / 1,000 residents
Death rate: 5.23 / 1,000 residents
Migration: -0.21 / 1,000 residents
Ratio men / women: 1.02
Fertility: 2.83 children / woman
Infant mortality: 31.33 ‰
Life expectancy men: 68.77 years
Life expectancy women: 73.93 years
Country codes and abbreviations
ISO 3166 Alpha 2: EG
ISO 3166 Alpha 3: EGY
ISO 3166 numeric: 818
Top Level Domain: eg
IOC country code: EGY
UN / LOCODE: EG
Source: Abbreviationfinder
Communication
Telephone connections: 9,600,000
Cell Phones: 9,472,000
Radios: 26,320,500
TV: 20,040,000
Computer: 2,290,000
Internet users: 4,900,000
Transportation
Railway lines: 5,063 km
Paved roads: 55,338 km
Cars: 1,730,000
Merchant fleet (ships over 1,000 GRT): 76
Pipelines: 12,664
Health
Number of doctors: 166,000
Daily food intake: 3,420 kcal / resident
HIV- infected people: 18,000
Education
Illiteracy: 39%
History
Foundation: 3200 BC Chr.
Last sovereign since: -1922 BC Chr.
Religion
Main religious group: Muslims
Crime
Prison inmates: 96,700
Military
Armed forces (troop strength): 470,000
Main battle tank: 3,820
Battleships: 11
Submarines: 4
Warplanes: 490
Helicopter: 270
Defense Spending: $ 2,521,200,000
GETTING THERE
Arriving by plane
Egypt’s national airline is called Egyptair (MS) (Internet: www.egyptair.com.eg). Egyptair flies daily from Frankfurt to Cairo and connects Cairo four times a week with Munich and Düsseldorf and twice a week with Berlin-Schönefeld.
Lufthansa (LH) flies four times a week from Munich to Cairo. All other major airlines such as Swiss (LX) and KLM (KL) fly to Egypt.
Air Berlin (AB) flies from some major German cities as well as from Vienna and Salzburg to Sharm el Sheikh, Luxor and Hurghada.
Austrian myHoliday (OS) connects Vienna with Hurghada, Sharm el Sheikh and Luxor, among others.
Flight times
Frankfurt – Cairo: 4 hours; Berlin – Cairo: 4 hours; Frankfurt – Luxor: 7 hours 10 minutes (with 1 stopover); Berlin – Luxor: 7 hours 30 minutes (with 1 stopover); Vienna – Cairo: 3 hours 45 minutes; Vienna – Luxor: 7 hours 05 minutes (with 1 stopover); Zurich – Cairo: 3 hours 50 minutes; Zurich – Luxor: 7 hours 15 minutes (with 1 stopover).
Air passes
With the Middle East Airpass the Star Alliance can explore travelers up to ten flights, the countries Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. More information is available on the Star Alliance website, www.staralliance.com.
With the Visit Middle East Pass from Allianz Oneworld, travelers can book any number of flights (at least 3 flights) with the participating airlines British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian and travel to the following 12 countries: Egypt, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
Departure fee
The departure fee of € 18 is included in the price of the flight ticket.
Arrival by car
The border with Libya is open. There is a border crossing between Israel and Egypt and the Palestinian Territory and Egypt: one route leads from Cairo via El Arish to Rafiah on the northern Sinai coast in the Gaza Strip, the other from Cairo via Suez and Taba to Eilat. The border crossing from El Arish to Rafiah is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The border crossing from Taba to Eilat is open all the time. Travelers in taxis and rental cars are not allowed to cross the border between Israel and Egypt. Privately owned vehicles may be transported across the border provided the necessary documents are available.
A daily bus service connects Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in Israel via El Arish / Rafiah with Cairo. There is no direct bus connection between Eilat and Cairo, you have to change trains in Taba. SAPTCO (Internet: http://www.saptco.com.sa/) offers daily bus connections from Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Khamis Mushayt in Saudi Arabia to Alexandria, Aswan, Cairo and Suez in Egypt. As an exception, travelers entering Egypt via Taba can purchase visas at the border crossing. Further information on entry restrictions is available from the Egyptian Tourist Office (see addresses).
Arriving by train
There are no international rail connections to the neighboring countries of Egypt. The terminus in the south is in Aswan, in the west (along the coast) in As Salum. The terminal stations in Aswan and Wadi Halfa (Sudan) are connected by a ferry across Lake Nasser.
Arrival by ship
The largest sea ports are Alexandria, Nueba, Port Said and Suez. Steamers usually drive twice a week up the Nile between Wadi Halfa (Sudan) and HighDam (Egypt), however, the operation is sometimes adjusted. Excursion boats and catamarans run daily between Aqaba (Jordan) and Nuweiba.
El Salam Ferries Lines connect Suez with Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Hurghada with Duba. Further information is available from El Salam Maritime (Tel: (02) 290 85 35).
Two cargo ships of the Grilnavi Lines depart approximately every 14 days from Genoa (journey time 10-14 days) and Naples (duration 5-7 days) to Alexandria and Port Said and take up to twelve passengers with them (Transcamion ship agency, Bodenseestr. 5, 81241 Munich, Tel: (089) 896 07 30). The Grimaldi Freighter Cruises (Internet: http://www.grimaldi-freightercruises.com/) run every two weeks on their Adriatic round trip from Montefalcone via Alexandria (duration to Alexandria. 4 days). Further information is available from the Cairo Navigation Agency (Tel: (02) 574 57 55). The Black Sea Shipping Company ships depart from Odessa.
Other shipping companies are Egyptian Navigation Company (Internet: www.enc.com.eg), Orient Shipping Ltd and Arab Express Shipping (Internet:www.arabxprs.com) .
Numerous cruise lines, including Silversea Cruises (Internet: www.silversea.com), call at Egypt as part of their Africa and Orient routes.