埃及(Egypt)
正式名称埃及阿拉伯共和国（Arab Republic of Egypt）
旧称联合阿拉伯共和国（United Arab Republic）
北非共和国。面积386,900平方哩（1,002,070平方公里）。人口约65,239,000（2001）。首都︰开罗。人种较单一，兼有含米特（Hamitic）和闪米特两部族的体格特徵。语言︰阿拉伯语（官方语）。宗教︰伊斯兰教（国教）；基督教徒占少数，且多为科普特人。货币︰埃及镑（Egyptian pound）。地处非洲、欧洲和亚洲之间的交叉点。地形由尼罗河决定，大多数土地位於乾旱的西部沙漠和阿拉伯沙漠；尼罗河形成的平底河谷宽5～10哩（8～16公里），至开罗以北呈扇形散开，形成三角洲低地。尼罗河谷（下埃及〔Lower Egypt〕）、三角洲（上埃及〔Upper Egypt〕）和稀疏的绿洲为埃及全部的农业区，居住着99%以上的埃及人口。埃及主要实行的是发展中的社会主义经济，但兼有企业自由经营成分，主要为石油工业和农业。政府形式为共和国，一院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。
埃及是世界上延续至今最古老的文明之一。约在西元前3000年上、下埃及统一後，埃及进入了一个文化兴盛时期，并持续统治了将近3,000年。历史学家将埃及的古代史分为古王国（Old Kingdom）、中王国（Middle Kingdom）和新王国（New Kingdom）三个时期，历经三十一个朝代，止於西元前332年。金字塔（Pyramid）的建造可追溯至古王国时期，精致的雕刻术和对主神俄赛里斯（Osiris）的崇拜始於中王国时期，而帝国时代和犹太人出埃及（参阅Exodus）则发生於新王国时期。西元前7世纪亚述人入侵，西元前525年波斯人建立起阿开民（Achaemenid）王朝。西元前332年亚历山大大帝入侵，开创了马其顿托勒密时期和亚历山大里亚城的霸主地位。西元前30～西元395年罗马人统治着埃及，其後在行政上受君士坦丁堡的控制。313年君士坦丁一世特准基督徒，使正式的埃及教会得以成立（参阅Coptic Orthodox Church）。642年埃及在阿拉伯人控制下，其後数百年内，埃及变为一个讲阿拉伯语的国家，并将伊斯兰教奉为主要宗教。埃及曾是伍麦叶王朝和阿拔斯王朝统治地的一部分。969年成为法蒂玛王朝（Fatimid dynasty）的中心，赢得相当程度的独立和重要地位。1250年马木路克人（Mamluk）在埃及建立起王朝，一直统治到1517年被鄂图曼土耳其人占领。在马木路克王朝後期，埃及的经济已开始衰退，随之而来的则是文化的衰落。1914年成为英国的一个保护国。1922年君主立宪制（constitutional monarchy）建立後，埃及在名义上独立。1952年发生政变，君主政府被推翻，纳瑟（Gamal Abdel Nasser）取得政权，他对以色列发动过两次以失败告终的战争（参阅Arab-Israeli wars）。其继任者沙达特（Anwar al-Sadat）亦对以色列发动过进攻，并且在西奈半岛上立足，最终在中东和平谈判中扮演领导角色。继任者穆巴拉克遵循沙达特的和平倡议，1982年埃及重新恢复了於1967年丧失的西奈半岛（Sinai Peninsula）的主权。波斯湾战争（Persian Gulf War）期间（1991），埃及加入反对伊拉克的联盟，战後开始向该地区国家（包括伊拉克）求和的活动。
English version：
Egypt
formerlyUnited Arab RepublicArabicMisrancientAegyptus.Republic, North Africa. Area: 386,900 sq mi (1,002,070 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 62,110,000. Capital: Cairo. The people are mainly a homogeneous mix of Hamitic and Semitic lineages. Language: Arabic (official). Religion: Islam (official); minority, Coptic Christianity. Currency: Egyptian pound. Egypt occupies a crossroads between Africa, Europe, and Asia. The majority of its land is in the arid Western and Arabian deserts, separated by the country's dominant feature, the Nile River. The Nile forms a flat-bottomed valley, generally 5-10 mi (8-16 km) wide, that fans out into the densely populated delta lowlands north of Cairo. The Nile valley (Lower Egypt) and delta (Upper Egypt), along with scattered oases, support all of Egypt's agriculture and have more than 99% of its population. It has a developing, mainly socialist but partly free-enterprise economy, based primarily on industry, including petroleum production, and agriculture. It is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president, while the head of government is the prime minister. It is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. In c. 3000 BC, Upper and Lower Egypt were united, beginning a period of cultural achievement and a line of native rulers that lasted nearly 3,000 years. Egypt's ancient history is divided into the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms, spanning 31 dynasties and lasting to 332 BC. The Pyramids date from the Old Kingdom; the cult of Osiris and the refinement of sculpture from the Middle Kingdom; the era of empire and the Exodus of the Jews from the New Kingdom. An Assyrian invasion occurred in the 7th century BC, and the Persian Achaemenids established a dynasty in 525 BC. The invasion by Alexander the Great in 332 BC inaugurated the Macedonian Ptolemaic period, and the ascendancy of Alexandria. The Romans held Egypt from 30 BC to AD 395; later it was placed under the control of Constantinople. Constantine's granting of tolerance in 313 to the Christians began the development of a formal Egyptian (Coptic) church. Egypt came under Arab control in 642, and ultimately was transformed into an Arabic-speaking state, with Islam as the dominant religion. Held by the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, in 969 it became the center of the Fatimid dynasty. In 1250, the Mamluks established a dynasty that lasted until 1517 (see Mamluk regime), when Egypt fell to the Ottoman Turks. An economic decline ensued, and with it a decline in Egyptian culture. Egypt became a British protectorate in 1914 and received nominal independence in 1922, when a constitutional monarchy was established. A coup overthrew the monarchy in 1952, with Gamal Abdel Nasser taking power. Following three wars with Israel (see Arab-Israeli Wars), Egypt, under Nasser's successor, Anwar al-Sadat, ultimately played a leading role in Middle East peace talks. Sadat was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak, who followed Sadat's peace initiatives, and in 1982 regained Egyptian sovereignty (lost in 1967) over the Sinai peninsula. Although Egypt took part in the coalition against Iraq during the Persian Gulf War (1991), it later began peace overtures with countries in the region, including Iraq.
