Civil Services Times

Egypt

Area: 997,677 sq.km.;
Population: 82,079,636 (July 2011 est.)
Largest cities, with population Cairo (capital), Giza, Alexandria, Port Said, Suez; 
Government: military junta;

Following the resignation of President Mohamed Hosni MUBARAK in February 2011, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, headed by Defense Minister Muhammad Hussein TANTAWI, assumed control of the government

Head of government: Prime Minister Kamal Ahmad El-GANZOURI (since 25 November 2011). Banned under former leader Hosni Mubarak and his predecessors, the Brotherhood has emerged as the winner from his overthrow. The Brotherhood's electoral alliance took a 38 percent share of the seats allocated to lists. The hardline Islamist Al-Nour Party won 29 percent of list seats. The liberal New Wafd and Egyptian Bloc coalition came third and fourth respectively.

Ethnic groups Eastern Hamitic (Egyptians, Bedouin, and Berbers) 99 percent Greek, Nubian, Armenian, other European 1 percent

Languages Arabic (official); English and French widely understood by the educated

Religious affiliations Muslim (mostly Sunni) 94 percent (official estimate) Coptic Christian and other 6 percent (official estimate)
Hosni Mubarak has won a fifth term in office with 88.6 per cent of votes cast in the country’s first multi-candidate presidential election. Second place in the race was Ayman Nour of the opposition Al-Ghad party, with 7.3 percent of the vote. Wafd Party candidate Noman Gomaa was third with 2.9 per cent. The opposition has complaint about the mass rigging and manipulations.

The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, kemet in Ancient Egyptian, is a republic predominantly in north-eastern Africa, together with the Sinai in southwest Asia.
Egypt is the second most populous country in Africa, and the vast majority of its 77 million population (2005) lives less than a kilometer away from the banks of the River Nile (about 40,000 km²), where the only arable agricultural land is found. Large areas of land are part of the Sahara Desert and are sparsely inhabited. The majority of Egyptians today are urban, living in the great Arab population centers of greater Cairo, the largest city in Africa, and Alexandria.

Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world’s most stunning ancient monuments, including the Giza Pyramids, the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings; the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as the main political and cultural centre of the Arab and Middle Eastern regions.

2011 revolution
On 25 January 2011, widespread protests began against Mubarak’s regime. These took the form of an intensive campaign of civil resistance supported by very large numbers of people and mainly consisting of continuous mass demonstrations. By 29 January it became clear that Mubarak’s regime had lost control when a curfew order was ignored, and the army took a semi-neutral stance on enforcing the curfew decree. Some protesters, a very small minority in Cairo, expressed nationalistic views against what they deemed was foreign interference, highlighted by the then held view that the U.S. administration had failed to take sides, as well as linking the regime with Israel.

On 11 February 2011, Mubarak resigned and fled Cairo. Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had stepped down and that the Egyptian military would assume control of the nation’s affairs in the short term. Jubilant celebrations broke out in Tahrir Square. On 13 February 2011 the Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces dissolved Egypt’s parliament and suspended the Constitution. The Supreme Council is committed to a transition to a civilian authority, and said elections will be held on time. Parliamentary elections are held, and presidential elections are to be held by June, 2012.

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