Category Archives: Africa

Geography
Egypt is very much shaped by the Nile. This flows 1,550km from south to north to the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile Delta is around 24,000km². This means that the delta is about too big as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The Nile region offers almost the only fertile land in Egypt and corresponds to around 5% of the territory.

In the south of the country, the Nile is dammed at Lake Nasser. The dam is known as the Aswan Dam. Part of Lake Nasser extends into Sudan. The damming of the Nile prevented the Nile from overflowing its banks every year. But now it is no longer possible for the Nile to transport sediments to the Nile Delta. In the past, the delta grew further and further out into the Mediterranean, but the delta is even being eroded again by surf and currents. The Nile Delta is now sinking further and further.

To the west of the Nile lies the Libyan Desert. It occupies around two thirds of Egypt. In the north lies the Libyan Plateau, which reaches a height of up to 241m. South of the plateau is the Katarra Depression (Qattara Depression). This depression is 133 meters below sea level. The bottom of the depression consists of a salt pan.

In the south-west of the country, the Libyan desert rises to an altitude of 1,098m. The desert is broken through by individual basins and lowlands. The oases of Siwa, Bahariyya, Farafra, Dachla and Charga are also located there. Otherwise the desert is characterized by a monotonous sand and dune landscape.

The Arabian Desert lies east of the Nile. It is characterized by a mountain range that is jagged with wadis and reaches a height of up to 2,000m. To the east of the mountain range is the up to 1,000 m deep rift of the Red Sea.

In the northeast is the Sinai peninsula. The landscape is desert-like and marked in the south by rugged mountains with the highest elevation of 2642m.

Climate
Due to the location of Egypt, Egypt belongs to the North African dry belt. Only coastal strips and the Nile Delta are characterized by a Mediterranean winter rainfall of 100mm to 200mm. It rains very rarely south of Cairo. In July, daytime temperatures are between 31 ° C in Port Said (Mediterranean coast), 35 ° C in Cairo and 41 ° C in Aswan (Upper Egypt). Due to the relatively low humidity of only 30%, the temperatures are relatively bearable. From March to June, hot Khamsin, a sand and dust wind, blows from the south. The climate on the Red Sea coast is somewhat more moderate than inland. For more information about the continent of Africa, please check homosociety.com.