Capital: Cairo

Population: 77,505,756 (July 2005 est.)

Languages: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes

Religions: Muslim (mostly Sunni) 94%, Coptic Christian and other 6%

Currency: Egyptian pound (EGP)

Timezone: GMT+2 (Egypt operates Daylight-Saving Time between the last Friday in April and the last Thursday in September when the clocks are 3 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, i.e. GMT+3)

Consider yourself blessed if your next posting will bring you to Egypt. Her people (estimated between 66 and 75 million) are warm, funny, kind, and hospitable. In this land of the pharos, you'll have the opportunity to experience not only her history and ancient sites, but constant sunshine, world class beaches, mountains, riverbeds and deserts brimming with unearthed archeological treasures.

Located in Northeast Africa, Egypt is bordered on the North by the Mediterranean Sea, in the South by Sudan, the West by Libya and in the East by Israel and the Red Sea.

Since ancient times, because the Nile flows north from the Sudan to the Mediterranean Sea, areas of the country south of Cairo (Egypt's Capitol) are called 'Upper Egypt.' Cairo is in 'Lower Egypt.'

Within 2 to 7 hours, one can drive from Cairo to bask on her magnificent beaches, scuba dive, hike her mountains and wadi's or camp and search for fossils in the Western desert. Trains and planes are also available for getting to Alexandria and Aswan.

The government of the Arab Republic of Egypt falls somewhere between a democracy, military dictatorship and religious state. There is an elected president, appointed cabinet and bureaucracy, as well as a confusing and ineffective judicial system. The country is divided into 26 separate governorates managed by elected and appointed officials.