e, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc

Land use: arable land: 3% permanent crops: 0% other: 97% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 33,000 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts; frequent earthquakes, flash floods,
landslides; hot, driving windstorm called khamsin occurs in spring;
dust storms, sandstorms

Environment - current 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

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical
Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Geography - note: controls
Sinai Peninsula, only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern
Hemisphere; controls Suez Canal, shortest sea link between Indian Ocean
and Mediterranean Sea; size, and juxtaposition to Israel, establish
its major role in Middle Eastern geopolitics; dependence on upstream
neighbors; dominance of Nile basin issues; prone to influxes of refugees

People Egypt

Population: 70,712,345 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 33.96% (male 12,292,185; female 11,721,469) 15-64 years:
(male 1,191,091; female 1,541,459) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.66% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 24.41 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 7.58 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over:
0.77 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 58.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 66.24 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility
rate: 2.99 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.02% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - d