Focus


AFRICA: EGYPT


Agamingcivilisation


The history of gaming in Egypt is almost as fascinating and richly textured as the history of the country itself


Egypt is known as the cradle of civilisation being the epitome of history and draws millions of tourists to its compelling back drop of ancient culture.


Officially known as the Arab Republic of Egypt this Northern African country joins Asia via the Sinai Peninsula therefore making Egypt a transcontinental country. The land bridge joins Southwest Asia and as such Egypt has become a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean region and the Islamic world. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.


It is the most populated country in the Middle East and the third most populous on the African continent and is the 38th largest country in the world and has seen rapid increases in its population over the last 40 years or so. The vast majority of the 79 million people live near the banks of the Nile River in an area of around 40,000 sq.km, which is where the only arable and agricultural land is found. However large areas of the Sahara Desert are inhabited whilst half of the Egyptian


residents live in the urban areas such as Cairo, Alexandria and Nile Delta. Cairo is Africa’s largest city and is home to some 17 million people and has been renowned for centuries as a centre for learning, culture and commerce.


The ancient Egyptian name for the country is Kemet, which means ‘black land’ referring to the fertile black soils of the Nile flood plains which are distinctively different to the ‘red land’ of the desert. Egypt is divided into 29 governorates which are then further divided into regions. Each governorate has a capital often carrying the same name as the governorate.


A unified kingdom arose around 3200BC and several dynasties ruled the lands for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341BC who were replaced by the Greeks, Romans and Byzantines. The Arabs came along and introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and ruled for six centuries.


When the Suez Canal was completed in 1869 Egypt became an important world


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Egypt possesses one of themost


developed and diversified


economies in the Middle Eastwith sectors such as


tourism, agriculture, industry and service at almost equal


rates in national production.


transportation hub but it also fell heavily into debt. Britain seized control of Egypt’s government in 1882 to protect its investments although the country then became partially independent from the UK in 1922 but acquired full sovereignty to overthrow the British backed monarchy in 1952. It has been a republic government since 1953. President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has ruled since 1981 after the assassination of President El-Sadat and is serving his fifth term in office.


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