Geography
Egypt (Arab Republic of Egypt ) – is one of the largest Arab states; is located in the northeastern part of Africa and occupies part of the Sinai Peninsula. In the west of the country lies the border with Libya, in the northeast with Israel and Palestine, in the south Egypt borders with Sudan. At sea, the state is adjacent to Saudi Arabia and Jordan. See Egypt abbreviations.
The capital of the country is Cairo. The largest cities apart from Cairo are Alexandria and Luxor.
The state washes 2 seas: the Mediterranean in the north and the Red in the east. Between the seas there is an artificially created Suez Canal. This channel also creates a connection between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
The area of Egypt occupies more than 1 ml. km².
From south to north, the Nile River flows through the whole country, one of the longest rivers in the world (6671 km). The Nile is considered the cradle of ancient Egyptian civilization.
Most of Egypt is occupied by deserts: the Arabian, Libyan desert and part of the Sahara. Agricultural lands are located in the Nile Delta Valley and in the desert oases.
The country is rich in oil, natural gas and iron ore reserves.
Time zone of Egypt: GMT+2 (-1 hour from Moscow).
Climate
According to 800zipcodes, the climate of Egypt is tropical, desert, on the Mediterranean coast – subtropical.
Summer weather in the cities of the south of the country (Upper Egypt ) and the resorts of the Red Sea is dry and hot, and on the Mediterranean coast it is humid.
The air temperature at this time of the city reaches +30…+38 °C. The water temperature in summer often reaches +24…+28 °С.
In winter, the average temperature in the regions is +4… +10 °С (does not exceed +14 °С), in the desert the thermometer rises even higher – up to +20 °С.
A feature of the climate are sharp changes in day and night air temperatures. There is little precipitation, throughout the country – less than 100 mm per year, on the coast a little more – 200-400 mm per year.
Egyptian Cuisine
In the course of its many thousands of years of history, Egypt was repeatedly invaded by other peoples, whose culinary customs gradually adapted to local traditions. Currently, Egyptian cuisine is a mixture of Lebanese, Syrian, Turkish and French cuisines.
The main products that are used in the cuisines of Egypt are various types of legumes and cereals, garlic, onions, peppers and eggplants, as well as many types of sauces and gravies. The main and most plentiful meal is dinner. An integral part of Egyptian cuisine are vegetables, which are actively consumed both raw and stewed and fried. So, on any Egyptian table there is traditionally a salad of tomatoes, coriander, mint and pepper with onions. The salad is dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar.
Among the various dishes of Egyptian cuisine, there are several of the most popular. It is “ful”, consisting of boiled beans with spices; meatballs from vegetables or cutlets from pureed legumes (the so-called “filafili”); spiced beef jerky (“pasterma”); beef cutlets; vegetable goulash (“torly”). And stuffed pigeons with rice are the most exquisite delicacy.
Baladian bread (“aish”) is obligatory at the table.
Hard cheeses are almost never used in Egyptian cuisine, mainly cheese is used.
The national cuisine also offers a large selection of meat and especially fish dishes. You can enjoy shrimp, eel and baked fish with sauce. A feature of the meat menu is the use of beef, lamb, poultry, but not pork, Islam does not allow this.
As a dessert, you can try vermicelli baked with honey and nuts, puff pastries, and cakes boiled in milk.
A fairly striking feature of Egyptian dishes is the very widespread use of honey, as well as a huge amount of spices. The latter is associated with the hot climate of the country and warns food against quick spoilage.
Restaurants where you can taste national dishes are located in many hotels. In addition, national dishes are in a special corner on the buffet. Alcoholic drinks are sold in Egypt quite freely. Noteworthy are the wines “Pharaohs”, “Omar Khayyam”, “Ruby d’Egypt”, “Gianaklis” and others, as well as the beer “Stell
a”. All of them are of high quality. But it is better to refrain from buying local drinks – this is unsafe for health.
Non-alcoholic drinks are varied: different types of coffee, tea, which is the most important Egyptian drink, and hibiscus. Coffee is offered in 3 types: ziyada (with a lot of sugar), masbud (simply sweet) and sada (no sugar at all).
