Modern Egypt
Egypt today is a study in contrasts, especially in Cairo, where modern skyscrapers, highways, a subway system, hotels, restaurants, advertising and western clothing blend together with ancient pharaonic ruins, Islamic mosques, Coptic churches, Middle Eastern garb and bazaars.
Modern Egypt is a republic with a parliamentary government, a president as head of state and a judicial system based on British common law and Islamic moral law. Islam is the official religion, practiced by 90% of the population, and several national holidays are of Islamic origin. Christianity and Judaism are officially accepted.
Life in modern Egypt has changed in the big cities, where public and private transportation, television, American style food, sports, music, arts, cinema and theater are signs of a healthy modern economy. Education in Egypt is free by law, and there is a choice of public and private universities. On the negative side, there’s overpopulation, urban housing problems, pollution and a great gap between the wealthy and the poor. As for the rest of the country, life for the fellahin is similar to that of their ancient Egyptian or early Arab settlers ancestors. They inhabit the rural villages along the Nile, living in mud brick houses or goatskin tents, and tilling the soil with the same tools of pharaonic times. These people work their small plots of land and keep livestock. The men wear a long flowing robe called a galabiyah and many women wear the veil.
More than 90 percent of Egypt is barren desert, making living in modern Egypt pretty crowded. Only 3 percent of the total geographic area is populated by almost 80 million Egyptians of ancient Egyptian, Arab, Bedouin and Nubian ancestry. Not many foreigners choose to live in Egypt.
Along the Nile valley, modern Egypt still looks very much like its ancient past, except for the roadways running along the river and some electricity towers and lines scattered here and there. In ancient days, the papyrus plant grew abundantly along the banks of the Nile. Now it’s almost extinct and grown only for the production of souvenirs for the tourism industry. African animals known to the ancient Egyptians are gone, too, leopards, cheetahs, lions and hyenas, to mention a few.
Around the Red Sea Coast and the Sinai Peninsula, there has been significant developments focused in the tourism industry, as former fishing villages such as Hurghada, Sharm-el-Sheikh and Dahab are turning into resort towns catering to wealthy tourists principally from Europe and the Middle East.
Egypt Holidays
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Banks, shops and businesses will close for the following Egypt Holidays (civil, secular). Public transport may run only limited services:
• 7th January
• 25th April (Liberation Day)
• 1st May (Labor Day)
• 23rd July (Revolution Day)
• 6th October (Armed Forces Day)
Egypt Weather and Climate
Egypt weather is generally hot and dry, with hardly any rain or clouds. November through to January are definitely the most comfortable months for Egypt travel. Days are commonly warm or hot, and nights are cool. Egypt has only two seasons: a mild winter from November to April and a hot summer from May to October. The only differences between the seasons are variations in daytime temperatures and changes in prevailing winds.
Egypt currency and Exchange Rate
The unit for Egypt currency is the pound (EGP; symbol E£) = 100 piastres. Notes are in denominations of E£100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 1, 50 piastres and 25 piastres. Coins are in denominations of 20, 10 and 5 piastres.
| Tip from INFOHUB: Money exchange in Egypt poses little trouble as long as you stay in large centers. Smaller places will seldom have banks, exchange shops or black markets. One isn’t normally supposed to pay a commission when changing money. However, one should keep in mind that exchange rates at the main Egyptian banks (Bank of Alexandria, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire and National Bank of Egypt) and Forex bureaux (the generic term for private exchanges) vary enough to make a difference to people changing a lot of money at once. As a rule of thumb, Forex bureaux offer the best rates for cash, but may not take travelers’ cheques; the transaction is also faster than in banks, where forms are passed among a bevy of clerks and counters. Forex bureaux are largely confined to Cairo, Alexandria and the Canal Cities. The fractional difference between the black market and the official exchange rates offers zero incentive to deal with (possible) rip-off artists or agents’ provocateurs. That said, you might find it expedient to change some cash unofficially in the Sinai or the desert oasis, where banks are thin on the ground, and the risk factor is lower. |
Source: All-About-Egypt
