Egypt, e'jipt, a country of northeastern Africa. Its Mediterranean coast line stretches from Syria to Tripoli. Egypt, taken in a geographical sense, extends on the east to the Red Sea and reaches westward several days' journey into the Libyan Desert. A vast southern region is bounded by Abyssinia, British East Africa, Congo, and French Sudan. The total area is about 400,000 square miles. TOPOGRAPHY. The physical regions of Egypt proper are three: The valley of the Nile, a desert region on the east, and a desert region on the west. The valley itself is divided into two portions. The southern portion is called upper Egypt. It is a narrow valley 10 to 15 miles wide, comprised between the precipitous borders of elevated table lands. The northern portion, called Lower Egypt, widens into the delta of the Nile, and is bordered by sandy plains of moderate height. About seventy miles above Cairo, there is a pouch-shaped widening of the valley, toward the west; this bay is called Fayoum. It is a considerable extent of fertile land. The native name of Egypt is the Black Country, a term applicable to the soil of the Nile only. A journey up the Nile is said to be rather monotonous except near the southern end of the country, where the hills bordering the valley approach within two or three miles of the river. The cultivated lands of the valley are flat and level. The soil is of a dark brown color. The peasantry live in villages surrounded by palm trees. These villages are built on ancient artificial mounds of earth, heaped up to raise the inhabitants above the water in time of flood. MINERALS. In Upper Egypt building stone is abundant. Limestone, sandstone, and granite are quarried in the bluffs that border the valleys. The granite of Syene on the Nubian frontier is especially celebrated. Its quarries furnished the stone for the statues, colossal figures, and obelisks of Egypt. Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park, New York City, is from this region. Bitumen, salt, sulphur, and alabaster are found in various parts of the country. Gold and iron have also been obtained from southern Egypt and adjacent parts of Nubia. CLIMATE. Cultivated Egypt is practically a rainless country. The atmosphere is clear and dry. Rain sometimes falls near the Mediterranean. In Upper Egypt there are two or three showers a year, sometimes none at all. The country has been well called a "Gift of the Nile," for were it not for the Nile it would be a desert. In winter the climate is delightful. In summer, the days are hot, though tempered by a north wind from the Mediterranean. The spring is the most disagreeable part of the year. At this season sand storms from the deserts are very annoying. Epidemics prevail among the natives, due, it is believed, to filthy, unsanitary habits, rather than to the climate. ANIMALS. Save for the palm groves already mentioned, Egypt is without forests. The wolf, fox, jackal, and hyena find shelter in the bluffs and prowl around the villages at night. The wild ass, several kinds of antelope, and the ostrich are still found in the deserts. The hippopotamus has been exterminated. Even the crocodile, for which Egypt was once famous, is no longer to be found, except in the extreme upper portion of the valley. There are several species of vultures, eagles, hawks, buzzards, and crows. There are numerous song birds. The pelican and the sacred ibis still wade in the waters of the upper Nile. Cats, dogs, fowls, sheep, cattle, asses, horses, and camels are the domestic animals. The river and lagoons are well stocked with fish. An ancient drawing represents an Egyptian prince standing in a hunting boat, flinging a sort of boomerang at some wild ducks as they rise from the papyrus reeds. The papyrus is now very scarce, but waterfowl still winter in Egypt. Pigeons and poultry, including ducks, geese, and turkeys are kept in small yards. In winter quails from Europe invade the country in large numbers. FLOWERS. The rose, jessamine, narcissus, oleander, chrysanthemum, morning glory, geranium, dahlia, sunflower, and violet are but a few of the flowers found in gardens. There are, of course, no wild flowers in the cultivated districts. The famous Egyptian lotus, or blue lily, is the most noticeable flower of the Nile. AGRICULTURE. The water provided by the annual overflow of the Nile is stored in reservoirs and is distributed by extensive irrigation systems. One canal is 4,000 years old. It is 230 feet wide on the bottom and carries a current 18 feet deep. It waters 340,000 acres. Another canal waters 1,000,000 acres. The soil is exceedingly rich. Two or three crops are raised on the same field each year. Wheat, barley, beans, peas, clover, flax, hemp, tobacco, sugar-cane, cotton, and maize, are the chief field crops. Lettuce, watermelons, cucumbers, onions, leeks, garlic, celery, radishes, carrots, turnips, cabbages, tomatoes, the egg fruit, caraway, anise, red pepper, and many other herbs and vegetables are raised in abundance. Grapes, dates, figs, apricots, peaches, oranges, lemons, citrons, bananas, and olives flourish. Indigo and madder are cultivated for dyes. The chief forage plant is clover. POPULATION. The present population of Egypt is variously estimated at from ten to twelve millions. It is possibly a half greater than at any previous period in the history of the country. The native Egyptians have a dark complexion, but belong to the white race. They are chiefly Mohammedans, although a sect, called the Copts, numbering about half a million, clings to a form of Christianity. There is a large admixture of Turks, Arabs, Armenians, and Europeans. The mass of the population is intensely ignorant, and is poverty stricken. Efforts are being made to establish a school in each village. The prevalent language of the country is now Arabic. GOVERNMENT. Egypt is nominally a Turkish possession. The ruler is called the khedive. He is a viceroy of the Turkish sultan, and pays him an annual tribute of $3,492,000. Egypt has borrowed so much money from England, however, and Englishmen have invested so heavily in Egyptian enterprises, that the British government has assumed practical control of Egyptian affairs. The commander-in-chief of the army is an Englishman. Ninety-eight British officers serve with him. The khedive acts under instructions of the British resident minister. The capital is Cairo. HISTORY. The civilization of Egypt is ancient. It was at one time the leading country in the world. When Greece was still a mountainous country, inhabited by rude shepherds, Egypt was a country of palaces, extensive roads, immense temples, and monumental structures, the remains of which still excite the admiration of the traveler. Grecian art owes much to Egypt. There was a close relationship as well between the civilization of the Euphrates Valley and that of the Nile. In early days the Egyptians must have been an inventive people. From their hieroglyphic writings, pictures on monuments, and other sources of information, we learn that, long before Europe emerged from savagery, the Egyptians were familiar with many tools, such as the saw, adz, and chisel. Their physicians possessed forceps, syringes, and implements like a razor. Their artisans were familiar with the blowpipe and the blacksmith's bellows. The use of the lever, of the balance for weighing, and of the siphon for conveying liquids, was understood. Specimens of beautiful glazed pottery have been found. The warriors of the early Egyptian kings had helmets, shields, spears, maces, battleaxes, hatchets, and swords. They handled the bow skillfully. They conducted sieges and scaled walls by means of ladders. The Egyptian farmer was familiar with the use of the plow and hoe. He cut his grain with a sickle. Methods of retting flax were practiced. The fiber was made into threads and rope, and spun into cloth on a loom. Painting and sculpture were highly developed. It would be difficult to name an art or craft in which the Egyptians in their day were not leaders. The use of many articles regarded as particularly modern was not unknown to the ancient Egyptian. We even find a hint of the modern safety bicycle on an ancient Egyptian monument. O, Commander of the Faithful, Egypt is a compound of black earth and green plants between a pulverized mountain and a red sand. Along the valley descends a river on which the blessing of the Most High reposes both in the evening and the morning, and which rises and falls with the revolutions of the sun and moon. According to the vicissitudes of the seasons, the face of the country is covered with a silver wave, a verdant emerald, and the deep yellow of a golden harvest.--Report of a Moslem Commander to the Caliph. The reader is referred to separate articles on ALEXANDRIA; CAIRO; COPTS; HIEROGLYPHICS; IBIS; KARNAK; MUMMY; NILE; OBELISK; PAPYRUS; PYRAMID; SPHINX; SUEZ CANAL; THEBES; SCULPTURE; TEMPLE; MOHAMMED; ARCHITECTURE, etc. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources. Land area, square miles . . . . . 400,000 Nile valley and delta . . . . . 12,013 Population (1907) . . . . . 11,287,395 Cairo . . . . . 654,476 Alexandria . . . . . 332,246 Port Said . . . . . 49,884 Assiut . . . . . 39,442 Damietta . . . . . 29,354 Fayoum . . . . . 37,320 Number of cities and provinces . . . . . 21 Members of legislative council . . . . . 30 Annual expenditure . . . . . $70,000,000 Salary of khedive . . . . . $500,000 Bonded indebtedness . . . . . $475,000,000 Acres under plow . . . . . 5,614,000 Number of landowners . . . . . 1,230,000 Corn, acres . . . . . 1,300,000 Wheat, acres . . . . . 1,218,000 Sugar-cane, acres . . . . . 41,000 Exports . . . . . $100,000,000 Domestic Animals-- Horses . . . . . 80,000 Mules . . . . . 10,000 Asses . . . . . 120,000 Cattle . . . . . 350,000 Buffaloes . . . . . 300,000 Camels . . . . . 40,000 Acres of cotton . . . . . 1,603,000 Pounds of export cotton . . . . . 723,400,000 Miles of railway owned by state . . . . . 1,443 Postoffice savings bank deposits (1907) . . . . . $1,951,000 Elementary schools (1907) . . . . . 5,000 Pupils enrolled . . . . . 284,000 Percentage of adult illiteracy . . . . . 94 Number postoffices (1907) . . . . . 1,279 Letters and postcards . . . . . 24,000,000