1.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
2.
Kharga Oasis
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The Kharga Oasis, is the southernmost of Egypts five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km to the west of the Nile valley, Kharga or El Kharga is also the name of a major town located in the oasis, the capital of New Valley Governorate. The oasis, which was known as the Southern Oasis to the Ancient Egyptians, is the largest of the oases in the Libyan desert of Egypt and it is in a depression about 160 km long and from 20 km to 80 km wide. Kharga is the most modernized of Egypts western oases, the main town is highly functional with all modern facilities, and virtually nothing left of old architecture. Although framed by the oasis, there is no oasis feeling to it, there is extensive thorn palm, acacia, buffalo thorn and jujube growth in the oasis surrounding the modern town of Kharga. Many remnant wildlife species inhabit this region, the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert. A trade route called Darb El Arbaīn passed through Kharga in the south and it was used from as early as the Old Kingdom of Egypt for the transport and trade of gold, ivory, spices, wheat, animals and plants. The maximum extent of Darb El Arbaīn was northward from Kobbei in Darfur,25 miles north of al-Fashir, passing through the desert, through Bir Natrum and Wadi Howar, all the oases have always been crossroads of caravan routes converging from the barren desert. In the case of Kharga, this is particularly evident by the presence of a chain of fortresses that the Romans built to protect the Darb El Arbaīn route. The forts vary in size and function, some being just small outposts, some were installed where earlier settlements already existed, while others were probably started from scratch. All of them are made of mud bricks, but some contain small stone temples with inscriptions on the walls. Described by Herodotus as a road traversed, in forty days, by his time the route had already become an important land route facilitating trade between Nubia and Egypt. The length of the journey is the reason for it being called Darb El Arbaīn, there he lived for the rest of his life. The monastery suffered attacks by bandits, and Nestorius was injured in one such raid. As part of a proceeding to Dafur, the English explorer W. G. Browne paused for several days at Kharga. In 1930 the archaeologist, Gertrude Caton–Thompson, uncovered the history of Kharga. See Temple of Hibis Native Khargans belong to the related Beja ethnic group and they speak Beja, their own Afro-Asiatic language, though Arabic is the dominant tongue. A regular bus connects the oasis to the other Western oases
3.
Western Desert (Egypt)
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The Western Desert of Egypt is an area of the Sahara which lies west of the river Nile, up to the Libyan border, and south from the Mediterranean sea to the border with Sudan. It is named in contrast to the Eastern Desert which extends east from the Nile to Red Sea, the Western Desert is mostly rocky desert, though an area of sandy desert, known as the Great Sand Sea, lies to the west against the Libyan border. The desert covers an area of 262,800 sq miles which is two-thirds of the area of the country. Its highest elevation is 3,300 ft in the Gilf Kebir plateau to the far south-west of the country, the Western Desert is barren and uninhabited save for a chain of oases which extend in an arc from Siwa, in the north-west, to Kharga in the south. However it has been the scene of conflict in modern times and he also states that little of the area conforms to the romantic view. These lie in an arc from Siwa in the north-west near the Libyan border, to Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, east of Siwa lies the Qattara Depression, a low-lying area dotted with salt marsh and extending 190 miles west to east and 84 miles north to south. Further to the east, near the Nile, another depression gives rise to the Fayyum Oasis, to the south, beyond the Bahariya oasis lies the Black Desert, an area of black volcanic hills and dolerite deposits. Beyond this, north of Farafra, lies the White Desert, an area of wind-sculpted chalk rock formations, which give the area its name. To the south of Kharga the plateau rises towards the Gilf Kebir, an upland region lying astride the Egypt-Sudan border and home to pre-historic sites such as the Cave of Swimmers. In the south-west, near the point where the borders of Libya, Sudan and Egypt meet, is an area of glass, thought to have been formed by a meteorite strike at Kebira. The Great Sand Sea is a roughly lung-shaped area of sandy desert lying astride the border with Libya,200 miles inland from the Mediterranean. The sea is divided by a peninsula of rocky desert along the border, leaving the eastern lobe in Egypt and the western in Libya. On the Egyptian side it extends from a point south of Siwa for 400 miles into the interior, the Western Desert was known historically as the Libyan Desert, taking its name from Ancient Libya, which lay between the Nile and Cyrenaica. With the formation of the state of Libya, the term Western Desert has come to describe part of the Sahara in Egypt. To the Ancient Greeks, the term Libya described the whole Saharan littoral west of the Nile to the Atlas mountains. During Roman times the term Libya was limited to Cyrenaica and the region between there and Egypt, which were organized as the provinces of Libya Superior and Libya Inferior, the term Libyan Desert then applied to the area to the south of these. Playfair described the Western Desert of 1940 as being 240 miles wide and 150 miles wide, the contemporary use of the term refers to the entire desert in Egypt west of the Nile. It is thought over-grazing and climate led to desertification and the current geography
4.
Sahara
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The Sahara is the largest hot desert and the third largest desert in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic. Its area of 9,200,000 square kilometres is comparable to the area of the United States. The desert comprises much of North Africa, excluding the fertile region on the Mediterranean Sea coast, the Atlas Mountains of the Maghreb, and the Nile Valley in Egypt and Sudan. It stretches from the Red Sea in the east and the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, where the landscape gradually changes from desert to coastal plains. To the south, it is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of tropical savanna around the Niger River valley. The Sahara can be divided into several regions including, the western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Aïr Mountains, the Ténéré desert, the name Sahara is derived from ṣaḥārā, the plural of the Arabic word for desert. The Sahara covers large parts of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and it covers 9 million square kilometres, amounting to 31% of Africa. If all areas with an annual precipitation of less than 250 mm were included. It is one of three physiographic provinces of the African massive physiographic division. The Sahara is mainly rocky hamada, Ergs form only a minor part, wind or rare rainfall shape the desert features, sand dunes, dune fields, sand seas, stone plateaus, gravel plains, dry valleys, dry lakes, and salt flats. Unusual landforms include the Richat Structure in Mauritania, several deeply dissected mountains, many volcanic, rise from the desert, including the Aïr Mountains, Ahaggar Mountains, Saharan Atlas, Tibesti Mountains, Adrar des Iforas, and the Red Sea hills. The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi, a volcano in the Tibesti range of northern Chad. The central Sahara is hyperarid, with sparse vegetation, the northern and southern reaches of the desert, along with the highlands, have areas of sparse grassland and desert shrub, with trees and taller shrubs in wadis, where moisture collects. In the central, hyperarid region, there are subdivisions of the great desert, Tanezrouft, the Ténéré, the Libyan Desert, the Eastern Desert. These extremely arid areas often receive no rain for years, the northern limit also corresponds to the 100 mm isohyet of annual precipitation. To the south, the Sahara is bounded by the Sahel, the southern limit of the Sahara is indicated botanically by the southern limit of Cornulaca monacantha, or northern limit of Cenchrus biflorus, a grass typical of the Sahel. According to climatic criteria, the limit of the Sahara corresponds to the 150 mm isohyet of annual precipitation. The Sahara is the worlds largest low-latitude hot desert and this steady descending airflow causes a warming and a drying effect in the upper troposphere
5.
Nile
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The Nile is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It is generally regarded as the longest river in the world, in particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan. The Nile has two tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself, the Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa and it flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast, the two rivers meet just north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Sudanese desert to Egypt, then ends in a large delta, Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan, in the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥpī or Iteru, meaning river. In Coptic, the words piaro or phiaro meaning the river come from the ancient name. The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος, beyond that, however, the etymology is disputed. One possible etymology derives it from a Semitic Nahal, meaning river, the standard English names White Nile and Blue Nile, to refer to the rivers source, derive from Arabic names formerly applied only to the Sudanese stretches which meet at Khartoum. Above Khartoum, the Nile is also known as the White Nile, at Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia, both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers, the source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi, or the Nyabarongo, the two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border. Gish Abay is reportedly the place where the water of the first drops of the Blue Nile develop. The Nile leaves Lake Nyanza at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda and it flows north for some 130 kilometers, to Lake Kyoga. For the remaining part it flows westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the very northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta
6.
Sudan
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Sudan, also known as North Sudan since South Sudans independence and officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northern Africa. It is the third largest country in Africa, the River Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. Before the Sudanese Civil War, South Sudan was part of Sudan, Sudan was home to numerous ancient civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Kush, Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, Meroë and others, most of which flourished along the Nile. During the pre-dynastic period Nubia and Nagadan Upper Egypt were identical, by virtue of its proximity to Egypt, the Sudan participated in the wider history of the Near East inasmuch as it was Christianized by the 6th century, and Islamized in the 15th. As a result of Christianization, the Old Nubian language stands as the oldest recorded Nilo-Saharan language, Sudan was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world until 2011, when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum. Sudan is now the third largest country in Africa and also the third largest country in the Arab world and its capital is Khartoum, the political, cultural and commercial centre of the nation. It is a representative democratic federal republic. The politics of Sudan are regulated by an organization called the National Assembly. The Sudanese legal system is based on Islamic law, the countrys place name Sudan is a name given to a geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to eastern Central Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān, or the lands of the Blacks, during the fifth millennium BC migrations from the drying Sahara brought neolithic people into the Nile Valley along with agriculture. The population that resulted from this cultural and genetic mixing developed social hierarchy over the centuries become the Kingdom of Kush at 1700 BC. The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient Nubian state centered on the confluences of the Blue Nile and White Nile, and the Atbarah River and it was established after the Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, centered at Napata in its early phase. After King Kashta invaded Egypt in the eighth century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt for a century before being defeated and driven out by the Assyrians. At the height of their glory, the Kushites conquered an empire that stretched from what is now known as South Kordofan all the way to the Sinai, pharaoh Piye attempted to expand the empire into the Near East, but was thwarted by the Assyrian king Sargon II. Sennacheribs successor Esarhaddon went further, and invaded Egypt itself, deposing Taharqa, Taharqa fled back to his homeland where he died two years later. Egypt became an Assyrian colony, however, king Tantamani, after succeeding Taharqa, Esarhaddon died while preparing to leave the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in order to eject him. However, his successor Ashurbanipal sent an army into southern Egypt and routed Tantamani. During Classical Antiquity, the Nubian capital was at Meroë, in ancient Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Ethiopia
7.
Libya
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The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya, the other large city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya. Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age, the Phoenicians established trading posts in western Libya, and ancient Greek colonists established city-states in eastern Libya. Libya was variously ruled by Carthaginians, Persians, Egyptians and Greeks before becoming a part of the Roman Empire, Libya was an early center of Christianity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century, in the 16th century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli, until Ottoman rule began in 1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, Ottoman rule continued until the Italian occupation of Libya resulted in the temporary Italian Libya colony from 1911 to 1943. During the Second World War Libya was an important area of warfare in the North African Campaign, the Italian population then went into decline. Libya became an independent kingdom in 1951, a military coup in 1969 overthrew King Idris I, beginning a period of sweeping social reform. Since then, Libya has experienced a period of instability, the European Union is involved in an operation to disrupt human trafficking networks exploiting refugees fleeing from wars in Africa for Europe. At least two political bodies claim to be the government of Libya, the Council of Deputies is internationally recognized as the legitimate government, but it does not hold territory in the capital, Tripoli, instead meeting in the Cyrenaica city of Tobruk. Parts of Libya are outside of either governments control, with various Islamist, rebel, the United Nations is sponsoring peace talks between the Tobruk and Tripoli-based factions. An agreement to form an interim government was signed on 17 December 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, a nine-member Presidency Council, the leaders of the new government, called the Government of National Accord, arrived in Tripoli on 5 April 2016. Since then the GNC, one of the two governments, has disbanded to support the new GNA. The name Libya was introduced in 1934 for Italian Libya, reviving the name for Northwest Africa. The name was based on use in 1903 by Italian geographer Federico Minutilli. It was intended to supplant terms applied to Ottoman Tripolitania, the region of what is today Libya having been ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1911
8.
Egyptian revolution of 2011
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The Egyptian revolution of 2011, locally known as the January 25 Revolution, began on 25 January 2011 and took place across all of Egypt. The date was set by various groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian police day as a statement against increasing police brutality during the last few years of Mubaraks presidency. It consisted of demonstrations, marches, occupations of plazas, non-violent civil resistance, acts of civil disobedience, millions of protesters from a range of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The revolution started by calls for protests from online youth groups, initially these included liberal, anti-capitalist, nationalist, and feminist elements, but they finally included Islamist elements as well. Violent clashes between security forces and protesters resulted in at least 846 people killed and over 6,000 injured, protesters retaliated by burning over 90 police stations across the country. The protests took place in Cairo, Alexandria and all cities across the nation. The protesters primary demands were the end of the Mubarak regime and emergency law, freedom, justice, a responsive non-military government, strikes by labour unions added to the pressure on government officials. During the uprising, the capital Cairo was described as a war zone, protesters defied a government-imposed curfew, which was impossible to enforce by the police and military. Egypts Central Security Forces, loyal to Mubarak, were replaced by military troops. In the chaos, there was some looting by gangs which was instigated by plainclothes police officers, in response, watch groups were organized by civilians to protect neighbourhoods. International reaction has varied, with most Western nations condoning peaceful protests but concerned about the stability of Egypt, the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions have influenced demonstrations in other Arab countries, including Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria and Libya. Mubarak dissolved his government, appointing former head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Omar Suleiman vice-president in an attempt to quell dissent, Mubarak asked aviation minister and former chief of Egypts air force Ahmed Shafik to form a new government. Mohamed ElBaradei became an opposition figure, with all major opposition groups supporting his role as negotiator for a transitional unity government. In response to mounting pressure, Mubarak in another attempt to contain the crisis announced he did not intend to seek re-election in September. On 11 February 2011 Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak would resign as president, the previous cabinet, including Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik, would serve as a caretaker government until a new one was formed. On 24 May 2011, Mubarak was ordered to trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protesters and, if convicted. On 2 June 2012 Mubarak was found guilty of complicity in the murder of protesters and sentenced to imprisonment, but the sentence was overturned on appeal. A number of protesters, upset that others tried with Mubarak were acquitted, Mubarak was eventually cleared of all charges on 29 November 2014, although Egypts prosecutor general announced he would appeal the verdict
9.
National Democratic Party (Egypt)
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The National Democratic Party, often simply called in Arabic, الحزب الوطني Al-Ḥizb al-Waṭaniy – the National Party, was an Egyptian political party. It was founded by President Anwar El Sadat in 1978, the National Democratic Party was an authoritarian centrist party. From its inception, it was by far the most powerful of the parties to emerge from the Arab Socialist Union, the former ruling party since 1962. However, in contrast to ASUs strong emphasis on Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, the NDP was a member of the Socialist International from 1989, until it was expelled in 2011, in response to the revolution. The party was dissolved on 16 April 2011 by court order, the electoral system in Egypt under which the National Democratic Party operated did not meet internationally recognized standards of electoral democracies. According to the Freedom House, the system is designed to ensure solid majorities for the ruling NDP at all levels of government. In 2009, Dr. Ali El Deen Hilal Dessouki, Media Secretary of the NDP, described Egypt as a political system. Dessouki also stated that the center of power in Egypt is the military. The truth of the matter is that participation and pluralism are now at lower levels than at any time since Mubarak assumed the presidency in the wake of Anwar Sadats assassination. Freedom House ranks Egypts Political Rights Score 6 and Civil Liberties Score 5, Egypt has operated under a state of emergency for all but five months since 1967, allowing the president to outlaw demonstrations, hold detainees indefinitely without trial, and issue law by decree. Generally, emergency law provides the government with the authority to control every level of political activity, the duration of the law is three years, but it is routinely renewed. In total, the state of emergency declared during the 1967 war lasted for 13 years, President Mubarak argued in his Presidential Public Address in 1998 that emergency law is required in order to confront terrorism protect democracy and stability. In practice, though, the law was used to not only control and contain terrorism, for example, campaign gatherings require prior permission from the Ministry of Interior under emergency law. Thus, when a candidate plans to hold a meeting, he must submit an application to the local police station stating details such as date, location. The application is sent to the Ministry of Interior for consideration. The Peoples Assembly, which is characterised as the lower house of Egypts quasi-bicameral legislature, is constitutionally empowered to question. However, that it chooses to not do so cannot be attributed to unanimous approval of presidential policies, in actuality, the Peoples Assembly is restricted to the role of rubber-stamping presidential authority because it is confined by presidential powers beyond its control. Under Article 152 of the Constitution, the president is able to have his proposals bypass the Peoples Assembly, consequently, it is impossible for the Assembly to consider or reject the policy
10.
Farafra, Egypt
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The Farafra depression is the second biggest depression by size in Western Egypt and the smallest by population, near latitude 27. 06° north and longitude 27. 97° east. It is in the large Western Desert of Egypt, approximately midway between Dakhla and Bahariya oases, Farafra has an estimated 5,000 inhabitants mainly living in the town of Farafra and is mostly inhabited by the local Bedouins. Often grouped within Farafra are the hot springs at Bir Sitta and it has massive chalk rock formations that are textbook examples of ventifact and which have been created as a result of occasional sandstorm in the area. The Farafra desert is a place visited by some schools in Egypt. The desert was also the location in the music video accompanying the piece Echoes in the 2008–2011 album by the Klaxons. Jasrmmd road, and the locally developed clays at the top of the white chalk west of Qasr Farafra, the Roman spring of Ain Bishay bubbles forth from a hillock on the northwest edge of town. It has been developed into a grove of date palms together with citrus, olive, apricot and carob trees. Several families tend the crops here, you should seek someone out, due to its geographical location and geological formation it has more than 100 wells spread out over the lands of the Farafra, many of which natural. Most of these wells are used in aggregation of the land in the oasis. Some of the wells in Farafra have become a favorite tourist destination, Bir Sitta, Bir Saba and Bir Ithnian wa ishrin are the most important. Because of the warm temperature and a slight percentage of sulfur. There is a large lake touristic well named Abu Nus 15 kilometers north of the edge of the Farafra, köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert. Die ägyptischen Oasen Bahriya und Farafra in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, frank Bliss, Artisanat et artisanat d’art dans les oasis du désert occidental égyptien. The Farafra Oasis, Its Topography and Geology, part 3 of Geological Survey Report, Geological Survey Report]. Reissue of the Classic History and Description, publisher, American Univ. in Cairo Press,1974. Travel guide Farafra oasis on Wikivoyage Images from Farafra and White Desert
11.
Date palm
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Phoenix dactylifera, commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, the species is widely cultivated and is naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Date trees typically reach about 21–23 metres in height, growing singly or forming a clump with stems from a single root system. The leaves are 4–6 metres long, with spines on the petiole, the leaflets are 30 cm long and 2 cm wide. The full span of the ranges from 6–10 m. The species name dactylifera date-bearing comes from the Greek words daktylos, which date, and fero. Dates have been a food of the Middle East and the Indus Valley for thousands of years. There is archaeological evidence of cultivation in eastern Arabia between 5530 and 5320 calBC. They are believed to have originated around what is now Iraq, the Ancient Egyptians used the fruits to make date wine, and ate them at harvest. There is also evidence of date cultivation in Mehrgarh around 7000 BCE. Evidence of cultivation is found throughout later civilizations in the Indus Valley. In later times, traders spread dates around South West Asia, northern Africa, dates were introduced into Mexico and California by the Spaniards in 1765, around Mission San Ignacio. A date palm cultivar, known as Judean date palm is renowned for its long-lived orthodox seed and this particular seed is presently reputed to be the oldest viable seed, but the upper survival time limit of properly stored seeds remains unknown. Fossil records show that the palm has existed for at least 50 million years. The fruit is known as a date, the fruits English name, as well as the Latin species name dactylifera, both come from the Greek word for finger, dáktulos, because of the fruits elongated shape. Dates are oval-cylindrical, 3–7 cm long, and 2–3 cm diameter, dates contain a single stone about 2–2.5 cm long and 6–8 mm thick. Three main cultivar groups of date exist, soft, semi-dry, the type of fruit depends on the glucose, fructose, and sucrose content. The date palm is dioecious, having male and female plants
12.
Minya Governorate
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Minya Governorate is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. Its capital city, Minya is located on the bank of the Nile River. The name may originate from the citys name in Egyptian Menat Khufu. According to population estimates from 2015 the majority of residents in the live in rural areas. Out of an estimated 5,156,702 people residing in the governorate,4,183,284 people live in areas as opposed to only 973,418 in urban areas. The capital of Minya governorate is the city of Minya, the governorate is one of the most highly populated governorates of Upper Egypt. Its remarkable history, including Ancient Egyptian, Hellenistic, Roman, dehnet, Fraser Tombs, Sharuna, and Zawyet el-Maiyitin comprise monuments dating back to the Old Kingdom. The village of Bani Hasan al Shurruq houses 390 rock-cut decorated tombs, the Speos Artemidos is nearby, and hosts temples built by Queen Hatshepsut. Akhetaten was built by Pharaoh Akhenaten and dedicated to the god Aten, Akhenaten lived there in isolation with his beautiful wife, Nefertiti, and daughters, devoting himself to the monotheistic religion that he preached. The glorious remains of the palaces, temples and tombs still exist today, other significant archaeological sites in the governorate of Minya include Deir Abu Hinis, Deir el-Bersha, El-Sheikh Said, and Tuna el-Gebel. El Ashmunein was the capital of the region during this period and it was the main center of worship of the god Thoth. Today, the ruins of a Greek temple, similar to the Parthenon, the tomb and chapel of Petosiris are found near the modern village of Tuna el-Gebel. Antinopolis was built in 130 A. D. by the Roman emperor Hadrian in memory of his favorite cup-bearer Antinous, the Monastery of the Virgin Mary at Gebel el-Teir is an important Christian site near the city of Samalut. Its church was built by Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, in 328, oxyrhynchus was an important administrative center during the Hellenistic Period, and remains an important archaeological source for papyri from the Byzantine Egypt. Maghagha hosts the mosque of the famous Muslim Zayid ibn al Mugharah, today, Minya governorate has the highest concentration of Coptic Christians of 50% of the total population. There are also a number of monasteries in the region. In 1981, the Basic Village Service Program of USAID, had several water, in 2013, The United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security helped farmers in Minya by doing consultation work with them and taking soil samples. The national holiday of the Minya governorate is on 18 March and it commemorates those who were executed by the British at Deir Mawas on 18 March 1919
Egypt
