III. Egypt TodayIII. Egypt Today

A. Suez Canal

• Suez Canal – Links the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea

• Expensive project that put Egypt in great debt

• Very beneficial to Egypt’s economy today

Part of Suez Canal

B. Controlling the Nile• Aswan High Dam – Opened in

1971, to control the flooding of the Nile River

• Gives farmers a dependable water supply

• Allows farmers to farm all year round and harvest 3 to 4 crops a year

Want to go Swimming?

• River no longer floods and leaves behind deposits of rich soil

• Forces farmers to use fertilizer that pollutes the water

• Tradeoff – An exchange of one benefit for another

C. Search for Peace

• Egypt became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979

• Muslim Brotherhood – Group that wants Egypt to be ruled by Islamic law

D. Land and People

• Egypt is the largest populated country in the region – 70 million people

• 99% - Of Egypt’s population live along the Nile delta

• Delta – Land formed from the soil deposited at the mouth of a river

• Fellahin – Peasant farmers that make up most of Egypt’s population

Cotton Farming in Egypt

E. Cairo• Cairo – Africa’s largest city and the

capital of Egypt• Home to more than 12 million people • Is very overcrowded and polluted • Has one of the highest birthrates in

the world • Population doubles every 31 years