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Egypt's
geography is about the River Nile, its banks, and the Delta, moving
further to deserts and mountains, sliding on coasts and seas.
Each part of Egypt has its own character.
The Nile and its valley is perhaps the most interesting character
of the country. The Nile valley, no more that ten kilometers wide
on average, is the narrow, fertile ribbon that, along with the
Delta hosts the vast majority of Egypt's population. Its Delta
is the great green fan beginning just north of Cairo where the
Nile splits into two distributaries, the Rashid (Rosetta) and
the Dumyat (Damietta) branches.
The Eastern Desert is very stony sand highlighted by the crags
revealing the eons of striations to the bare eye and low-lying
dark purple mountains set back from the Gulf of Suez. The Western
Desert is a completely different story and is by far the largest.
Parts of it are below sea level and it is here that the major
oases are found.
One such interesting feature is the world's deepest depression,
and among the largest outright. Known as the Qattara depression
it begins but a few kilometers from the Mediterranean, with the
top right corner beginning at the famed World War II battlefield
of el Alamein, where both Britain and Egypt successfully defeated
first the Italians and then Romel and the Nazis, before extending
south west towards the Libyan border and ending at the famous
Siwa oasis.
The Sinai Peninsula is probably the most dramatic in terms of
color and topography, with valleys, streams, mountains, massifs,
and high majestic plateaus.
Aswan's High Dam, the countries larger blessing yet partial curse,
represents the world's largest artificial lakes, yet drowning
villages and archaeological sites to complete it are certainly
the claims that remain against it. It allowed the controlled irrigation
of the Nile, once known for seasonal flooding on an immense scale,
it has now served to increase the growing season.
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