According to historical data in a country like Egypt, a population began to form about twelve thousand years ago. Then, tribes from North and East Africa came to its territory in search of fertile lands . Representatives of other regions of the continent were later added to them. Thus, several tribes simultaneously lived in the Nile Valley. Over time, after a series of bloody wars, skirmishes and enslavements, the indigenous population of Egypt formed. Initially, it consisted of several hundred thousand people, and during the heyday of the country reached a mark of several million.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, more than forty million people lived in the Nile Valley. Moreover, almost one million more was added to this amount each year. The population of Egypt (2013), according to official figures, is 83.66 million. This is the largest number in the history of the country. Now the state takes 16th place in the world in such an indicator as the population growth rate . According to scientists, if the situation does not change, then as of 2050 the number of inhabitants of the country will exceed 120 million people.
It should be noted that the territory of the state is unevenly populated. People mainly live on its five percent, which is about one million square kilometers. The average population density is 76 people per 1 km 2 . At the same time, in the Suez Canal and the Nile Delta, this indicator grows to 1,500 inhabitants per 1 km 2 . The most sparsely populated in the country are the shores of the bays of the Red and Mediterranean Seas, the mining towns in the eastern, as well as the oases of the western desert.
Egypt, whose population consists of 90% of the Arabs of the East Hamite group, is a Muslim country (94% of believers). The remaining 6% profess Christianity. The ethnic minority include Bedouins, Nubians, and other nomadic peoples who live mainly in the southern part of the state. More than half of the inhabitants are peasants. An interesting fact is that in a state like Egypt, one-third of the population consists of children under the age of fifteen.
More than twenty million people live in the capital of Cairo. In all major cities you can meet a large number of Europeans. Despite the relatively poor environmental conditions, the average life expectancy in Egypt is quite high: 73 and 68 years for women and men, respectively. Most of the Egyptians are illiterate due to the low standard of living of the peasants. The reason for this situation can be called the fact that the system of six-year compulsory education practically does not work in the country. The fact is that children mainly work in the fields along with adults during harvesting and sowing.
Due to the lack of arable land, millions of rural residents annually move to large cities. In addition, many Egyptians went to work in the neighboring rich countries involved in oil production.
The state government believes that Egypt, whose population is constantly growing, will develop better if the pace of this growth decreases. That is why a lot of efforts are being made in the country to regulate fertility. In particular, the idea that each family should have no more than two children is being actively promoted.