Population:
Egypt has a population of over 68,000,000. Egypt's population is not
too large relative to it's area if it were not for the fact that most Egyptians
are concentrated in 5% of the area: the narrow valley and delta. These
areas therefore have an extremely high density of population. The density
is higher in the delta than in the valley only around 8 million people
live in the valley. Other major population centres include the Suez canal
region, the new valley, the north coast, the eastern coast of southern
Sinai, North Sinai, and the new valley. The great sand sea, the eastern
desert and some parts of Nubia are almost entirely uninhabited. There are
three cities with more than one million people in Egypt all three in lower
Egypt. Cairo has a population of around 7 million. Usually figures quoted
for Cairo are much higher but the 7 mil figure is the accurate one since
it doesn't count the daytime visitors who pour from surrounding towns in
their millions. Cairo is still a highly overstressed city, it was never
designed or planned for such a huge population. Cairo is no more the largest
city in Africa, now it comes after Nairobi and Lagos while Addis Abbeba
is catching up! Even in the middle east Istanbul and Tehran are already
larger and Baghdad is looking promising. Giza is Cairo's twin sister on
the west bank. Giza has a population of about 2 million. Alexandria on
the north coast is Egypt's largest port and has a population of roughly
two million. Major centres with over 100,000 people include:
Tanta in the middle delta (major trade centre, centre of communication
for the delta)
Damietta in the north delta (largest docks in Egypt, furniture manufacturing)
Zagazig in the east delta (best Arabian horses)
Port Said-Port Fuad, Ismailia, and Suez-Port Tawfiq in the Suez
Asiyut, Menia, and Faiyum in middle Egypt
Qena, Luxor, and Aswan in upper Egypt
Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh, and Arish in the red sea and Sinai
Alexandria and Mersa Matrouh on the north coast
Egypt's has a population increase rate around 1.5% and an average of
2.6 children per family. Illiteracy is around 35%. The figures are very
bad but the trends are good (but maybe not good enough). Population is
expected to stabilise at around 90 mil if current trends continue and illiteracy
is expected to drop steadily but no one can see it being wiped out in the
next decade!
Ethnic groups:
Egypt has an amazingly uniform population given her size. The main
ethnic group is called the Egyptian ethnic group and includes all Egyptians
in upper and lower Egypt, some people consider people in upper Egypt distinct.
The ethnologue (www.ethnologue.com) lists 11 ethnic groups and languages
in Egypt, the most important are:
Lower Egyptian: Lower Egyptians are people who live in lower Egypt. This is the largest ethnic group in Egypt. These people are all sedentary around 60% are urban and 40% rural. Lower Egyptians speak Egyptian Arabic. There are nearly 44 million Lower Egyptians in Egypt and 3 million in diaspora.
Upper Egyptian: Upper Egyptians are slightly darker skinned than lower Egyptians and their number is much smaller than the former. Upper Egyptians are all sedentary and mostly rural. They speak sa3idi Arabic which is often unintelligible to lower Egyptians. Upper Egyptians are always the target of ethnic jokes in Egypt but little of it really translates into real discrimination. Still, upper Egypt is poorer, has more illiteracy, has a higher mortality rate, and a higher population growth than lower Egypt. The population of upper and middle Egypt is about 18 million.
Gypsies: An endangered group constantly being assimilated. These people used to be nomads but have mostly settled and mixed with the rest of the population. They speak their own indo-European language. They number up to 1 million.
Greeks: there are about 50,000 Greek Egyptians left in Egypt, mostly in Alexandria.
Armenians: Armenian Egyptians numbet between 500,000 and 1 million and live allover Egypt but mainly in Cairo and Alexandria.
Nubians: This black population of southern Egypt had to move north when their homeland was flooded by the high dam. They are concentrated in Aswan, Cairo and Alexandria. Nubians are quite distinct from Egyptians, they are insular, but very enthusiastic about Egyptian nationalism. The impact of Nubians on Egyptian music is amazing. There are about 300,000 Nubians in Egypt, many more in Sudan.
Eastern Badawi: The people of the eastern desert and Sinai are bedwin Arabs that are ethnically distinct from mainstream Egyptians. They are nomads and they have tribal affiliations that are very foreign to most Egyptians. Eastern bedwins speak bedwin Arabic. There are less than a million bedwins in Egypt.
Berbers: less than 10,000 berbers live in western Egypt, they are quite good with preserving their language and culture despite their small numbers.
Non-Egyptians: many nationalities live in Egypt but by far the largest is the Sudanese minority (around 3 million). There are also Palestinians, Lebanese, Europeans, Turks, Albanians, Russians, and many African nationalities.