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Egypt (Arabic: مصر, romanized Misr, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a Middle Eastern country in North Africa. While the country is geographically situated in Africa, the Sinai Peninsula, east of the Suez Canal, is a land bridge to Asia.
Covering an area of about 1,001,450 square kilometres (386,560 square miles), Egypt borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and Israel and the Gaza Strip to the northeast; on the north and the east are the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, respectively.
Egypt is the sixteenth most populous country in the world. The vast majority of its 78.8 million population (2006) live near the banks of the Nile River (about 40,000 km² or 15,450 sq. miles), 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 centres of greater Cairo, the largest city in Africa and the Middle East, and Alexandria.
Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most ancient and important monuments, including the Giza Pyramids and the Great Sphinx of Giza; the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts such as the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as the main political and cultural centre of the Arab and Middle Eastern regions.
Egypt's popularity as a tourist destination continues to grow amongst European countries, particularly in Italy, Germany and the UK. Whilst tourists have traditionally visited Egypt in search of the ancient monuments the country is famed for, many are now drawn by the lure of the bordering Red Sea and the magnificent sea life within. As a result, Egyptian holiday resorts including Sharm El-Sheikh, Taba, Hurghada and Marsa Alam are growing increasingly popular with diving enthusiasts.