The most interesting facts about Egypt, from the most visited country in Africa to one of the world’s most iconic landmarks
Fast facts
Official name: Arab Republic of Egypt
Population: 111.2 million
Area: 1,001,450 sq km
Capital city: Cairo
Major languages: Arabic, English, French
Major religions: Islam
Time zone: UTC+2 (Egypt Standard Time)
Interesting facts about Egypt
1. Egypt is a country located in North Africa that borders Israel, Libya, Sudan and the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
2. Egypt is ethnically homogeneous, with Egyptians comprising more than 99% of the population.
3. Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization. For almost 3,000 years (from around 3100 BC to 332 BC), ancient Egypt was the most notable civilization in the Mediterranean world.
4. Ancient Egypt ended when Alexander the Great of ancient Macedonia conquered Egypt in 332 BC and founded Alexandria. Egypt was ruled by a Macedonian dynasty until 31 BC and then by the ensuing Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Ottoman empires.
5. By population, Egypt is now the world’s largest Arab country.
6. Egypt has a horizontally striped red, white, and black flag with a gold hawk in the center. The flag is similar to that of Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, which are all based on the Arab Liberation Flag. The colors represent oppression (black), bloody struggle (red) and a bright future (white). The gold hawk is the symbol of the Prophet Muhammad’s tribe.
7. Egypt has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In Africa, only South Africa (10), Ethiopia (9), Morocco (9) and Tunisia (8) have more.
8. Probably the most recognized landmark of ancient Egypt is the Pyramid. At least 118 pyramids were built by the pharaohs as royal tombs.
9. The most famous of which is the Great Pyramid of Giza which is the only wonder of the ancient world that has survived to the present day.
10. The longest documented reign of any monarch is that of Egypt’s Pharaoh Pepi II, who ruled for 94 years from around 2281 BC. He became king when he was just six years old.
11. From 1859 to 1869, the Suez Canal was built in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea via a 193.3km (120 miles) artificial sea-level waterway. It is one of the world’s most heavily used and important shipping lanes.
12. In 2021, a container ship called the Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal and was stuck for six days, disrupting global supply chains and freezing nearly $10 billion in trade a day.
13. The longest river in the world, the Nile, runs through Egypt. The river’s total length is 6,695km (4,160 miles) and runs from as far away as Burundi and Lake Victoria in East Africa all the way to the Mediterranean in North Africa.
14. The Nile River – and the rich soil found along its banks and delta – was critical to the development of ancient Egypt. Today, 95% of Egypt’s population still lives within a few kilometers of the Nile.
15. The rest of Egypt is largely covered by the Sahara Desert. The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert (excludes Arctic and Antarctic deserts) and covers 8.5 million square kilometers (3.3 million square miles). The Nile divides the Egyptian desert plateau into two sections known as the Western Desert and the Eastern Desert.
16. Egypt is the most successful national football team in Africa. They have won the Africa Cup of Nations tournament seven times, qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times, and, in 1934, became the first team outside the Americas and Europe to participate in the World Cup.
17. The UNESCO-listed Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley) in Egypt is home to the fossil remains of the earliest and now extinct species of whale.
18. On 25th January 2011, Egypt erupted into what would come to be known as the ‘Egyptian Revolution’, part of the wider ‘Arab Spring’ regional movement. Millions of protesters took to the streets in Egypt, demonstrating against police brutality and Hosni Mubarak’s presidency. Surprisingly, it eventually led to the fall of Mubarak and the first democratically elected president in Egypt, but also further instability, military intervention, and fresh protests.
19. One of the earliest known writing systems was invented by the ancient Egyptians. The pictorial symbols were called hieroglyphs, which come from a Greek word meaning ‘sacred carving’ and could be written vertically, horizontally, left to right, or right to left.
20. In 1882, Britain took control of Egypt after defeating the Egyptian army before making Egypt a British protectorate in 1914.
21. In 1922, Egypt gained independence, with Fuad I becoming king.
22. Egypt is in the process of relocating its capital city, 45km (28 miles) away from Cairo, to a brand new purpose-built city. Currently known as “New Administrative Capital”, the new city is hoped to ease congestion in Cairo.
23. Cairo gets its name from the Arabic “al-Qahira” which means “the victorious”.
24. The English name “Egypt” comes from the ancient Greek name for the country “Aigyptos”, while the Arabic name “Misr” comes from the Akkadian word “misru”, meaning border or frontier.
25. The world’s oldest dress is from Egypt. The Tarkhan Dress has been radiocarbon dated to between 5,100 and 5,500 years old and, as such, is the world’s oldest woven garment.
26. The UNESCO-listed city of Thebes was the capital of Egypt during much of Ancient Egypt. A popular tourist destination, the site is noted for its temples and palaces at Karnak and Luxor, as well as the necropolises of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.
27. The ancient Egyptians invented the 365-day calendar. The Egyptian calendar was based on 12 30-day lunar cycles (360 days in total). But this was incompatible with the true solar year so to solve this, the Egyptians added five extra days to the year.
28. Egypt stands as the most visited country in Africa, with tourism reaching a record-breaking high of nearly 15 million visitors in 2023. Ambitiously, the nation aims to double this figure, targeting 30 million visitors annually by 2028.
29. Egypt has the biggest smoking rates in Africa, with 21.7% of Egyptians smoking daily.
30. Egypt (along with other countries in the region) has gone to war with Israel several times since 1948 in what has become known as the Arab-Israeli wars.
31. Egypt is part of an area known as the Fertile Crescent, also known as the “Cradle of Civilization”. The Fertile Crescent covers a roughly crescent-shaped area of fertile land that includes parts of present-day Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Cyprus.
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Caitriona Maria is an education writer and owner of The Facts Institute. A teacher for seven years, she has been committed to providing students with the best learning opportunities possible, both domestically and abroad. Dedicated to unlocking students' potential, Caitriona has taught English in several countries and continues to explore new cultures through her travels.