World Enivironmental Issues Brief

  • LARGE AREAS SUBJECT TO OVERPOPULATION
  • INDUSTRIAL DISASTERS
  • POLLUTION (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances)
  • LOSS OF VEGETATION (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification)
  • LOSS OF WILDLIFE
  • SOIL DEGRADATION
  • SOIL DEPLETION
  • EROSION
  • GLOBAL WARMING

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Global Issues Snapshots

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Egypt

— Current Environmental Issues —
agricultural land being lost to urbanization and windblown sands; increasing soil salination below Aswan High Dam; desertification; oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and marine habitats; other water pollution from agricultural pesticides, raw sewage, and industrial effluents; very limited natural fresh water resources away from the Nile, which is the only perennial water source; rapid growth in population overstraining the Nile and natural resources

— Health Indicators —
HIV / AIDS prevalancy rate: 0.0
Fertility Rate: 2.8
Infant Mortality Rate: 29.5
Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: 69.0
Life Expectancy at Birth: Female: 74.0
Life Expectancy at Birth: Total Population: 71.6

— Population —
Population Total: 80,335,036
Population Growth Rate: 1.7

— Economic Indicators —
GDP Real Growth Rate: 5.7
Military Expendatures Percent of GDP: 3.4
Unemployment Rate: 10.3
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.5
GDP Per Capita PPP: 4,200
Population Below Poverty Line: 20
    (Definitions of poverty vary considerably among nations.)

— Education and Communications —
Global Issues Snapshots
Global Issues Snapshots
Bordering country: Gaza Strip
Bordering country: Israel
Bordering country: Libya
Bordering country: Sudan

— Background —
The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the worlds great civilizations. A unified kingdom arose circa 3200 B.C., and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C., who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. It was the Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and who ruled for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub, but also fell heavily into debt. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypts government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to ready the economy for the new millennium through economic reform and massive investment in communications and physical infrastructure.