Egypt (Egyptian, Arabic: مصر), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country in North Africa that includes the Sinai Peninsula, a land bridge to Asia. Covering an area of about 1,001,450 square kilometers (386,560 square miles), Egypt borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east. The northern coast borders the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coast borders the Red Sea.

Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa. The vast majority of its estimated 78 million people (2007) live near the banks of the Nile River (about 40,000 km² or 15,450 sq miles) where the only arable agricultural land is found. Large areas of land form part of the Sahara Desert and are sparsely inhabited. Around half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with the majority spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.

Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most famous monuments, including the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx; the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts such as the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as an important political and cultural centre of the Middle East.

Egypt is divided into 26 governorates (singular muhafazah) and 1 self-governing city. This designation replaces that of "province" (muderiyah). Egyptian governorates are the top tier of the five-tier jurisdiction hierarchy. A governorate is administered by a governor (muhafez) appointed by the president of Egypt. Most governorates have a population density of more than one-thousand per km², while the 3 largest have a population density of less than two per km².

Governorates are either fully "urban" or else they are an admixture of "urban" and "rural". The official distinction between "urban" and "rural" is reflected in the lower tiers: i.e., fully urban governorates have no regions (markazes), as the markaz is, natively, a conglomeration of villages. Moreover, governorates may be comprised of just one city, as in the case of Cairo or Alexandria. Hence, these one-city governorates are only divided into districts (i.e. urban neighborhoods). Cairo consists of 23 districts; Alexandria consists of 6.   

Latest Posts from: The Dubai Expat Diaries: The Dubai Expat Diaries is an online expatriate journal for expats moving to, living and working in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates