Egypt: the population of the country and its specificity

According to historical data in a country like Egypt, the population began to form about twelve thousand years ago. Then the tribes from North and East Africa came to its territory in search of fertile lands . Representatives of other parts of the continent were added to them later. Thus, several tribes lived simultaneously in the Nile valley. Over time, after a series of bloody wars, skirmishes and enslavement, the indigenous population of Egypt was formed. Initially, it consisted of several hundred thousand people, and in the heyday of the country reached a mark of several million.

As of the beginning of the twentieth century, more than forty million people lived in the Nile Valley. Moreover, almost one million more was added to this quantity each year. The population of Egypt (2013), according to official figures, is 83.66 million people. This is the largest number in the history of the country. Now the state takes the 16th place in the world in such an indicator as the rate of population growth . According to scientists, if the situation does not change, as of 2050 the number of residents will exceed 120 million people.

It should be noted that the territory of the state is inhabited unevenly. People mostly live on five percent of it, it's about one million kilometers square. The average population density is 76 people per 1 km ² . Together with this, in the area of the Suez Canal and the Nile delta, this indicator grows to 1500 inhabitants per 1 km ² . The most sparsely populated in the country are the shores of the bays of the Red and Mediterranean seas, the mining towns in the east, and also the oases of the western desert.

Egypt, whose population is 90 per cent Arabs of the East Hamitic group, is a Muslim country (94 per cent of believers). The remaining 6% profess Christianity. The ethnic minority includes Bedouins, Nubians and other nomadic peoples, who live mainly in the southern part of the state. More than half of the inhabitants are peasants. An interesting fact is that in a state like Egypt, a third of the population consists of children under the age of fifteen.

In the capital of the country, Cairo is home to over twenty million people. In all major cities, you can meet a large number of Europeans. Despite the relatively poor natural conditions, in Egypt, the average life expectancy is 73: 68 and 68 years for women and men, respectively. Most of the Egyptians, because of the low standard of living of the peasants, are illiterate. The reason for this situation can be called the fact that the system of six-year compulsory education practically does not work. The fact is that children mostly work in the fields on a par with adults during harvesting and sowing.

Due to the lack of arable land, millions of rural residents move to large cities every year . In addition, many Egyptians went to work in neighboring rich countries involved in oil production.

The government of the state believes that Egypt, whose population is constantly growing, will develop better if the rate of this increase is reduced. That is why in the country many efforts are applied to regulate the birth rate. In particular, the idea that in each family there should be no more than two children is actively promoted.