Egypt: Land Degradation Issues with Special Reference to the Impact of Climate Change - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 109

country in Africa, the 30th largest country in the world and the most populous in
the Middle East. The Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Gulf of Aqaba to the east
endow the country with a coastline stretching over 3,000 km in all. The majority of
the 80 million people live on, or near, the banks of the Nile River. Only 5.5 % of
the total land area is actually used by the population,- the area that borders the Nile
River as well as a few oases, the other 94.55 % being uninhabitable desert. The Nile
river virtually bisects the desert and the area to west is known as the Western desert
or the Libyan desert, with the area to the east, as far as the Red Sea being called
the Eastern desert. The Libyan Desert is characterized by massive sand dunes and
eight great depressions. The desert itself is sparsely inhabited with relatively small
population centers growing up around oases, notably the El Fayoum (see below).
The highest elevations in Egypt are in the southern part of the country. The
southern regions of the Sinai Peninsula are also mountainous. Temperatures in
most of Egypt range from 26-30 ı C in summer and from 12-20 ı C in winter. The
Mediterranean coast enjoys a cooler temperature in comparison to the rest of the
country. Frequent dust storms called 'Khamaseen' blow south-north in summers.
Rainfall is scanty and unpredictable. The higher elevations in the Sinai Peninsula
face snowfall occasionally in winters. Most of Egypt is an arid desert with little or
no vegetation. The Nile, the longest river in the world, flowing from the south to the
north, cuts through this desert plateau and renders the county habitable. In fact, the
Nile endows its delta with fertility unheard of in desert regions. The river Nile is fed
by the White Nile, the Blue Nile and the Atbara rivers of central Africa. The Nile
enters Egypt near Wadi Halfa in Sudan.
Lake Nasser to the south of Egypt is a man-made reservoir resulting from
the construction of the Aswan Dam across the Nile. The Aswan Low Dam was
constructed at the First Cataract of the Nile in 1902. The High Dam was constructed
between 1960 and 1970. The region extending from the Aswan Dam to the city of
Cairo is referred to as the Nile Valley. The region further up north is the Nile Delta
(see below). Low-lying, flat, and rich in silt deposits, the Nile Delta's agricultural
products support the entire country. The Nile is said to have had seven distributaries
creating the fan-shaped valley. At present only two of these distributaries, the
Damietta and the Rosetta carry the Nile waters to the Mediterranean Sea.

2 Agro-ecological Zones and Land Use

Egypt, with land extending over one million square kilometers under arid and hyper-
arid climatic conditions, is endowed with varied agro-ecological zones with varied
and specific attributes of resource base, climatic features, terrain and geomorphic
characteristics, land use patterns and socio-economic implications (Fig. 6.1 ).
The zones could be identified as follows:

1. North Coastal Belts: Including North West coastal areas and Northern areas of
Sinai.