01--Africa--Egypt



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= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =Geographical Profile/ Political Information = = = = =
 * Location: Northern Africa, 27 00 N, 30 00 E
 * Distance from Lancaster: 5738.490 miles
 * Size: 1,001,450 sq km
 * Relative Size: slightly more than three times the size of New Mexico
 * Climate: desert; hot, dry summers with mild winters
 * Physical Features: vast desert plateau with Nile valley and delta
 * Major Cultural Characteristics: Foods: rice, bread, fish, lamb, turkey, chicken, stuffed vegetables. There are many traditions in Egypt that have been around since the time of the Pharaohs, and others that have been brought in from other cultures that have taken over the country in the past. The major holiday in Egypt is Ramadan, because the majority of the population on Egypt is some sect of Muslim. On February 28, Egypt celebrates its independence from Britain.
 * Major cities: Cairo (capital), Alexandria, Giza, Luxor, Aswan, Port Said [[image:egipto.gif width="318" height="354" align="right"]]
 * Type of Government: republic
 * Head of State:President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak
 * Head of Government:Prime Minister Ahmed Mohamed Nazif
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"><span class="category_data" style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: top;">Global Organizations: not participating in anything we have studied

=<span style="color: #808000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">Economic Information = =<span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> =
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Currency: Egyptian pound
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Exchange Rate: 1 US Dollar= 5.5 Egyptian Pounds
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Natural Resources: crude oil, limestone, phosphates, iron, manganese, gold, zinc, tin, lead, copper, potash, sulphur, and uranium
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Agricultural Products: cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruits, vegetables, cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Industries: textiles, food processing, tourism, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, hydrocarbons, construction, cement, metals, light manufactures
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Imports: machinery and equipment, foodstuff, chemicals, wood products, fuels
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Import Partners: US- 10.2%, China- 9.9%, Italy- 7.3%, Germany- 6.8%, Saudi Arabia- 4.8%
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Exports: crude oil and petroleum products, cotton, textiles, metal products, chemicals, processed foods
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Export Partners: Italy- 9.5%, US- 7.1%, Spain- 6.2%, India- 6%, Syria- 4.7%, Saudi Arabia- 4.6%, Japan- 4.5%, Germany- 4.5%
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">GDP: $188 billion
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">GDP per Capita: $6,000
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">HDI: .703
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">HDI Ranking: 123
 * <span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Unemployment Rate: 9.7%

=<span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">Population Information = > 15-64 years: 62.7% > 65 years and over: 4.3%
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Current population: 78,866,635
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Population density: 78.75
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Age Distribution: 0-14 years: 33%
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Natural Rate of Increase: .00485%
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Infant Mortality Rate (out of 1,000 births): 25.02
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">How long will it take the population to double in size?: 144 years
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Literacy rate: 71.4%
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Physical Quality of Life Index: 85.485
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Ethnic Groups: 99.6% Egyptians, .4% other
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Religions: Muslim (Suni)- 90%, Coptic: 9%, other Christian: 1%
 * <span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Main Language: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood

=<span style="color: #808000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">Human Rights Information =

<span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Egypt has done its part to fight the war on terrorism and other types of crime. They do not tolerate any types of crime or people who are not the majority race. However, this crime fighting has become more of a matter of right and wrong than stopping the terrorists from breaking the law. Many law enforcers in Egypt are resorting to torture to punish these terrorists and try to get information out of people who are suspected to be involved with terrorists. They have been accused of whipping, cutting, and hanging suspects in an attempt to get information out of them. Egypt has been suspected of being connected to a practice called extraordinary rendition. In this practice, prisoners from more developed countries are sent to third word countries like Egypt where they are questioned and tortured. The United States and United Kingdom both have sent suspected terrorists to Egypt to be furthers questioned and tortured.

Not only are suspected terrorists tortured, the women associated with them are also detained. In the Egyptian culture, the wrongdoings of a woman's husband, son, or brother is directly reflected on their own reputation, as is their reputation reflected on the men in their lives. Because of this, when a woman's husband is accused of a harsh crime such as terrorism, Egyptian officials take the woman for questioning and torture as well. These women are treated as badly as the accused men who put them in this situation even though often the women know little to nothing about why their husband is in trouble or what he has done. These women are ujustly detained and tortured for the amusement and cultural beliefs of the Egyptian officials.

=<span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">Environmental Information =

<span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Egypt's environmental problems have stemmed from various problems including uneven population distribution, shortage or arable land, and pollution. One of the major issues plaguing the lands of Egypt is the loss of fertile soils. With urbanization on the rise, many of the farm lands are being taken over to build more houses and cities. Because of the lack of farm land, many places are being over planted not giving the soil enough time to become fertile again. With no time to rejuvenate the soil, the crops that are being planted are growing in under nourishing soil and are not as healthy. Expanded irrigation of the deserts in Egypt has also led to increased salinity of the farmed soil.

The quality of the water in Egypt has also deteriorated. Pesticide spraying has become common in Egypt's farms, but the farmers do not know how to control it. They are spraying their crops too heavily and the run off of the pesticides is leaking into the water. In addition to pesticide contamination, the water supply in Egypt has also fallen prey to pollution. Egypt's cities are producing 3 million tons of waste each year, and they have an unorganized and unhealthy way of controlling it. Half of Cairo's sewage is carried out of the city in open sewers straight to the sea, where many cities do not even sewage systems at all. With the lack of controlled waste disposal, the sewage is more likely to invade clean drinking water, and pollute the ocean's beaches, coral reefs, and other wildlife habitats.

Most of Egypt's wildlife has been threatened as well. Over many centuries, Egyptian civilizations have grown and developed in the Nile River Valley, invading and ruining many wildlife habitats. To further the problem, less than 1% of all the land in Egypt is protected from human invasion. This makes it nearly impossible to be able to protect Egypt's natural land and the wildlife that lives in it. Because of all the human interference, it is illegal to hunt any birds in Egypt, and 15 of Egypt's 98 species of mammals, 11 birds, 6 reptiles, and 1 amphibian have become endangered. The natural landscape and wildlife or Egypt has become s everely threatened.



= Decision Statement =

<span style="color: #ff001b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Based on the information given on the other African countries, we decided it would be best to relocate to Sudan. Sudan is one of the largest countries in Africa, and with its size comes natural superiority. The largest countries in a region have the greatest population, and with the greatest population comes a more naturally powerful government. Because many of the countries in Africa have weak and struggling governments, any chance to have a strong and prosperous government is important to take. Also to help boost the economy, Sudan has a lot of natural resources to use and trade with other countries. They have a variety of agricultural products to compliment their industries as well. If the price of crops goes down, they have industries to help support the economic downfall of the crops, and vice versa. The unemployment is also reasonable for the region, showing that even though it may not have reached an ideal peak in economic growth yet, it is greatly on their way to getting there.

The population of Sudan is widely diverse. There are many different types of race and religions in Sudan, and no one is overbearing of another. The even distribution of religion helps to ensure that there will be no extreme conflicts of power between any of them. Also, with such a variety of race and religion, it makes it possible for each person to be able to fit in comfortably and find a place to belong. The literacy rate is high for a country in Africa, which helps to show that education is important and all the people in Sudan are showing the potential to be prosperous. While the natural rate of increase is not extremely high, it is not extremely low either, showing that the population will not suddenly drop or increase to a point that the country cannot handle it. Countries that have a high population increase often indicates an unstable balance and many people are not living in the conditions that are adequate, so the fact that Sudan does not have a high rate of increase shows that its people are relatively stable.

The climate in Sudan is relatively warm, meaning that relocating there you would not have to worry about harsh, cold winters. While the country is covered in vast deserts in most areas, it is split by the fertile lands in the Nile valley. This gives the people of Sudan a variety of places to live and develop their cities and villages, depending on their needs. To add to the diversity of land formations, there are many mountain ranges in Sudan, which helps the separate the vast deserts with the fertile valleys. Sudan also has many large cities, so not all the people are forced to move to just one. If the economy in one city starts to falter, there is always another one to pick up its slack. The power in Sudan is widely distributed, decreasing the chances that one form of government will gain too much power and not keep the best interest of the people in mind.

With its size, diversity of population and physical features, government, and natural quality of life, we believe that Sudan would be best suited to relocate to. If living in the United States suddenly becomes too boring for us, the fertile Nile valleys and rich cities of Sudan will always be welcoming to us.

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