50 interesting facts about Egypt

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country in the Northeast corner of Africa. Egypt is home to one of the oldest civilization in the world. If that’s not enough inspiration to know more about the country. Here are some interesting facts about Egypt to power up your curiosity about the land of pyramids.

1. The official name of Egypt is Junhuriyah Misr al-Arabiya, meaning “the Arab Republic of Egypt” in English. The Egyptians also refer to their country as Misr, which can be used as a substitute name for Cairo.
2. Cairo, the capital of the country is also its most populated city. Besides Cairo, the other major cities are Giza and Alexandria.
3. Mount Catherine standing at 2,629m high (8625 ft) tall, is the highest mountain peak in Egypt.
4. Arabic is the official language of Egypt, and other languages known by some are English and French.
5. The Egyptian Flag is tricolor consisting of red, white and black colors. The red color is a representation of the struggle against the British colonialists before their independence. White represents the 1952 revolution that ended the monarchy without war, while black symbolizes the oppression of the Egyptian under British rule.
6. Egypt has two major deserts, The Sahara and the Libyan Desert covering most parts of the country.
7. Egypt is home to the largest river in the world, the Nile River.
8. The Great Pyramid of Giza is found in Egypt which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
9. The main currency of Egypt is the Egyptian Pound.
10. The Steppe eagle is the national animal of Egypt.
11. Tourism is a major economic activity in Egypt, accounting for about 12% of the country’s workforce.
12. Gypsy is a short name for “Egyptian”.
13. Located at Giza, the Pyramid of Khufu is the largest Pyramid in Egypt. Measuring 146.7 meters in height, it’s one of the oldest historic sites that remain largely intact. This Pyramid is also known as the Pyramid of Cheops.
14. Egypt is largely covered by a desert, receiving only 20mm of rain per year.
15.  Of all the Arab countries, Egypt is the only one that has a movie industry.

Historic facts of Egypt:

1. The shape of ancient Egyptian pyramids is thought to have been inspired by the spreading rays of the sun.
2. The word pharaoh began as a nickname for the Egyptian king. It means “great house” because everyone believed the king’s human body was home to a god. The term wasn’t actually used until the 20th dynasty (1185-1070 B.C.).
3. Pharaoh Pepi II (2246-2152 B.C.) had the longest reign in history—94 years. He became Egypt’s king when he was only 6 years old.
4. Pharaoh Pepi II allegedly would smear naked slaves with honey to attract flies away from him.
5. Historians usually group the history of Ancient Egypt into three major kingdoms called the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom. It was during these times that Ancient Egypt was at its strongest. The times between the Kingdoms are called intermediate periods. 
7. The famous Great Pyramid at Giza was built as a burial place for King Khufu (2589-2566 B.C.) and took more than 20 years to build. It is built from over two million blocks of limestone, each one weighing as much as two and a half elephants. It stands about 460 feet (149 m) high.
8. Until 2015, no Egyptian president had ever left office without dying or being arrested.
9. The pyramids were erected with stones so heavy they weigh up to 10 tons each. It is still not known exactly how this was done.
10. Cats were not your pet but were considered as sacred. For ancient Egyptians, having a cat in the purring in the house would guarantee good luck.
11. The Ancient Egyptians invented lots of things we still use today, such as paper, pens, locks and keys, and toothpaste.

Cultural facts of Egypt:

1. A number of natural hazards are experienced by Egypt that includes droughts, flash floods, landslides earthquakes, and storms like dust–storms, sandstorms, and windstorms called “Khamsin”.
2. The ancient Egyptians mummified both human beings and animals as they believed it would allow the dead to pass safely into the afterlife.
3. The tradition of exchanging wedding rings traces its origin back to ancient Egypt.
4. The famous pyramid of Giza has some passageways that have never been explored. This pyramid actually has 8 sides and not four as most people believe.
5. Major televisions and radio broadcasting services in Egypt are controlled by the government.
6. Egypt imports almost all their industrialized machinery, with their major imports being manufacturing and machinery equipment.
7. To signify dignity and stay modest, Egyptian women keep their legs and arms covered.
8. Beqa is the oldest standard weight used in Egypt. It is still used in the modern world.
9. Female circumcision is illegal in Egypt, except in cases of a medical emergency. However, female genital mutilation is still largely practiced all over Egypt.

Religious facts of Egypt:

1. More than 14,000 Gods and Goddesses were worshiped by the Egyptians in ancient times.
2. The majority of Egyptians follow Islam, though Christianity was a major religion followed centuries earlier.
3. Ramadan is a national celebration that runs for a whole month and is held annually. During this time, the people fast during the day when the sun is up and break their fast when the sun sets and they can eat and drink.
4. Eid al Fitr is one of the biggest celebrations in Egypt. It comes immediately after Ramadan and the Egyptians bake special cookies and host parties.
5.  Visitors are expected to take off their shoes before going into religious buildings.

Educational facts of Egypt:

1. For math teachers, the oldest book about mathematics came from Egypt in 1650 BC and it was called The Entrance into the Knowledge of All Existing Things and All Obscure Secrets.
2. The literacy rate for Egyptian men is 83% and 59.4% for women.
3. Started in 1996, Egypt’s Royal library of Alexandria has copies of all the web pages on the internet. The library not only preserves the Egyptian history, but it’s also one of the largest and most interesting libraries in Africa.
4. The Egyptians first writing system called hieroglyphs was by 3,300 BC. Over 700 Egyptian hieroglyphs have been recorded.
5. The ancient Egyptian physicians practiced specialization as early as 450 B.C.
6. The use of moldy substances to cure infections by ancient Egyptian physicians suggests an early knowledge of antibiotics.

Fun facts about the land of Pyramids:

1. With a total estimate of about 92.1 million people, Egypt is the largest Arab country in the world. It ranks higher than Iraq and Saudi Arabia which ranks 2nd and 3rd respectively.
2. Egypt is the 15th country with the highest population in the world, with 99% of the country’s people living on just 5.5% of the land.
3. Egypt has the most Facebook users compared to any other country in the Middle East. It ranks 21st in the world, with an average of more than 20.14 million internet users. This social network highly contributed and led to the success of the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
4. Approximately 95% of Egypt’s population lives along the banks of the river Nile, which is known to be the longest river on the globe.
5. The most popular sport in Egypt is soccer but they also take part in tennis, squash, and swimming.
6. Contrary to what most people believe, the largest pyramid in the world is not found in Egypt. It’s actually found in Mexico. However, Egypt has a lot of pyramids.
7. Egypt’s main exports include cotton, aluminum, food products, and oil.
8. Linking the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal is controlled by Egypt.
9. Egypt is the 66th most fertile country in the world. The birth expectancy rate is about 2.97 kids per woman. Niger is the top on the list, with a birth expectancy rate of 7.6 children for every woman.
10. Egypt ranks 124th in the world in terms of life expectancy. The average life expectancy is 72.66 years, with males living for about 70.07 years while the female range at 75.38 years.
11. The great pyramid is big enough to cover the moon up to three times if it was chopped into 12″ cubes.
12. 91% of Egyptian women aged between 15 and 49 years have undergone female genital mutilation. This is according to the reports released by the World health organization.
13. There are about 2,060 square kilometers of unclaimed land in the border between Sudan and Egypt.
14. Egypt is home to one of the world’s largest dam, Aswan high dam, built to contain the raging waters of the world’s longest river, the Nile.
15. Aswan is the third sunniest place in the world with 3863 hours of sun each year, that’s 10 hours of sun a day.

I hope you enjoyed these interesting facts about Egypt. You would may also like.

• The Great Pyramids of Giza Egypt, The Untold Story
• What we know about the ancient Egypt civilization?