The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, (in Arabic: مصر, Romanized Misr, in Egyptian Arabic Masr), is a republic in Northern Africa. While most of the country is geographically situated in Africa, the Sinai Peninsula east of the Suez Canal is in Asia.

Covering an area of about 1 ,001 ,450 square kilometers (386,560 rni'), Egypt shares land borders with Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and Israel and the Gaza Strip to the northeast and has coasts on the north and east by the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, respectively.

Egypt is the fifteenth most populous country in the world. The vast majority of its 77 million population (2005) live near the banks of the Nile River (about 40,000 km2 or 15,450 mi2), where the only arable agricultural land is found. Large areas of land are part of the Sahara Desert and are sparsely inhabited. About half of the Egyptian people today are urban, living in the densely populated centers of greater Cairo, the largest city in Africa, and Alexandria.

Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most stunning ancient monuments, including the Giza Pyramids, the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings and the Great Sphinx of Giza; the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as the main political and cultural centre of the Arab and Middle Eastern regions.