ivilization which has flourished in the valley of the Nile.

_Trade Routes and Communications._--Its geographical position gives
Egypt command of one of the most important trade routes in the world. It
is, as it were, the fort which commands the way from Europe to the East.
This has been the case from time immemorial, and the provision, in 1869,
of direct maritime communication between the Mediterranean and the Red
Sea, by the completion of the Suez Canal, ensured for the Egyptian route
the supremacy in sea-borne traffic to Asia, which the discovery of the
passage to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope had menaced for three
and a half centuries. The Suez Canal is 87 m. long, 66 actual canal and
21 lakes. It has sufficient depth to allow vessels drawing 27 ft. of
water to pass through. It is administered by a company whose
headquarters are in Paris, and no part of its revenue reaches the
Egyptian exchequer (see SUEZ CANAL). Besides the many steamship lines
which use the Suez Canal, other steamers run direct from European ports
to Alexandria. There is also a direct mail service between Suez and Port
Sudan.

The chief means of internal communication are, in the Delta the
railways, in Upper Egypt the railway and the river. The railways are
of two kinds: (1) those state-owned and state-worked, (2) agricultural
light railways owned and worked by private companies. Railway
construction dates from 1852, when the line from Alexandria to Cairo
was begun, by order of Abbas I. The state railways, unless otherwise
indicated, have a gauge of 4 ft. 8-1/2 in. The main system is
extremely simple. Trunk lines from Alexandria (via Damanhur and Tanta)
and from Port Said (via Ismailia) traverse the Delta and join at
Cairo. From Cairo the railway is continued south up the valley of the
Nile and close to the river. At first it follows the west bank,
crossing the stream at Nag Hamadi, 354 m. from Cairo, by an iron
bridge 437 yds. long. Thence it continues on the east bank to Luxor,
where the broad gauge ceases. From Luxor the line continues on the
standard African gauge (3 ft. 6 in.) to Shellal, 3 m. above Assuan and
685 m. from Alexandria. This main line service is supplemented by a
steamer service on the Nile from Shellal to Wadi Halfa, on the
northern frontier of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, whence there is direct
railway communication with Khartum and the Red Sea (see SUDAN).

Branch lines connect C