Throughout most of the year, most of Egypt is hot and dry. Alexandria and the Mediterranean coastal communities experience milder weather while the heat in Cairo and other inland areas is fierce with temperatures rising to as high as 50°C in some parts of the country.

Heavy winter rains fall along the Mediterranean coast but are less frequent in Cairo and in the interior. During the winter months (from November to February), however, temperatures can fall to freezing. Spring in Egypt is generally mild but plagued by the khamaseen, a hot and bitter wind which brings blinding sand and dust storms and heralds the coming of summer.

Camels (pictured), buffalo and donkeys are the most prevalent animals to be found in Egypt. As for desert wildlife, the gazelle, jackal, jerboa and desert fox are indigenous to the country, as well as lizards and several venomous snakes.

Egypt is also one of the greatest centers of Arabian horse breeding in the world with large government-controlled stud farms under the auspices of the Egyptian Agricultural Organization.

There are about 200 species of migratory birds and 150 species of local birds, including the marsh sandpiper, spoonbill, pink flamingo, hoopoe, heron, stork, quail, egret and golden oriole. Eagles, falcons, vultures, hawks and owls are among the birds of prey to be found.

Egypt also has a plethora of insect life, including mosquitoes, flies, fleas and scorpions. There are said to be as many as 190 species of fish in the Nile and many more in the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Although the lotus and papyrus are symbols of Egypt, it is the date palm that dominates the landscape. The Nile Delta and the Nile River Valley have a rich variety of trees -- some indigenous, some imported -- including the tamarisk, acacia, eucalyptus, mimosa, jacaranda, cypress and sycamore as well as a wide variety of fruit trees from citrus to fig to mango.

Other fruits and vegetables flourish in the fertile land along the Nile, as well as a vivid array of flowers from the rose, poincianca, lotus (of course), jasmine, lily and bird of paradise. A multiplicity of grasses grow along the Nile as well.

Egypt covers an area of approximately 1,001,450 sq km (386,662 sq mi) in northeastern Africa, its northern coastline along the Mediterranean Sea, its eastern coastline along the Red Sea and touching the State of Israel in the Sinai. Libya shares its western border, Sudan its southern border.

Nominally independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasir have altered the time-honored place of the River Nile in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. The Nile is the world's longest river. Until the Aswan Dam was completed in 1965, flooding occurred every year.

A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world) will continue to stress Egyptian society and overtax resources as the country enters the new millennium.

All but a very small percentage of the population lives along the fertile Nile Valley and Delta; the remainder of the country-more than 90 percent- is desert. The Western Desert is low lying; the Eastern Desert is cut through by wadis (riverbeds that are dry for much of the year). In the southeast the desert gives way to mountains along the Red Sea. The Sinai Peninsula, is another desert region that lies south of Israel and east of the Gulf of Suez. The Suez Canal, an artificial waterway opened in 1869, runs from Port Said to Suez, linking the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. It was built to save European ships from having to sail all the way around Africa to reach the Indian Ocean. Egypt's capital and largest city is Cairo. The climate is hot and dry.

It is the Nile -- the Father of Rivers -- that, more than any other feature of the country, characterizes Egypt. The Nile emanates from the Ethiopia, flowing north through the country for 1,545km (960mi), emptying into the Mediterranean Sea and all along its course provides Egypt and her people with life and sustenance.

Throughout history the Egyptian Nile Valley has been defined as two distinct regions -- Upper Egypt, which extends south of Cairo to the Sudanese border, and Lower Egypt, which encompasses the Nile Delta that begins north of Cairo.