Famous landmarks in Egypt

Egypt is a country in the northeast corner of Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula reaching into Asia. It has coasts on the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and the River Nile flows through it from south to north. Its capital is Cairo, the largest city in the Arab world, and more than 100 million people live in Egypt. It is famous for the pyramids, pharaohs, mummies and one of the oldest civilisations on Earth.

On My Earth Toy Egypt has many landmarks, including the Pyramids of Giza, the Abu Simbel temples, the Valley of the Kings, the Suez Canal and the Step Pyramid of Djoser. Look for the Nile crocodile too, and for the sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion, found under the sea.

Geography and nature

Most of Egypt is desert, part of the Sahara, with only a few oases. The Nile changes everything: almost all Egyptians live in its narrow green valley or in the wide, fertile delta where it meets the Mediterranean. The Aswan High Dam, finished in 1970, holds back Lake Nasser, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. The Red Sea coast has spectacular coral reefs, and the Sinai has rugged mountains.

People, languages and culture

Arabic is the official language, and most Egyptians are Muslim, with a large Coptic Christian community, one of the oldest Christian churches. Cairo is a huge, busy city of mosques, markets and traffic. Koshari, a mix of rice, lentils, pasta and spicy tomato sauce, is a popular street food. Football is hugely popular. Egyptian films and songs have long been loved across the Arab world.

History in a nutshell

Around 3100 BC Upper and Lower Egypt were united under the first pharaohs. Over the next 3,000 years they built pyramids, temples and tombs, and wrote in hieroglyphs. Later Egypt was ruled by Persians, Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies, including Cleopatra, then by Rome. Arab armies brought Islam in the 600s. After centuries of Ottoman and then British influence, Egypt became independent in 1922 and a republic in 1953.