Continent Africa

Capital Cairo

Country Area 387,048 sq miles

(30th)

Population (2014) 86,000,000

(15th)

Currency Egyptian Pound

Time Zone EET (UTC +2)

Drives Right Hand

Dialing Code +20

The metro is run by the National Authority for Tunnels. The lines use standard gauge (1435 mm).

The ticket price is EGP 1.00 for each journey (about GBP 0.10, EUR 0.13, or USD 0.16, average

exchange rate for December 2012), regardless of distance

Giza, 20 km southwest of Cairo, is the site of some of the most impressive and oldest (26th century

BC) ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and

sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramids of Giza, a number of other large

pyramids and temples, and Cairo's modern tower.

Saqqara, some 30 km south of Cairo is a vast, ancient burial ground which served as the necropolis

for the Ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis. It features numerous pyramids, including the world's

oldest standing step pyramid, as well as a number of mastabas.

Luxor, about 500 km south of Cairo, is the site of the ancient city of Thebes and has sometimes

been called "the world's greatest open air museum". It includes the ruins of the temple complexes

at Karnak and Luxor, which stand within the modern city. On the opposite side of the Nile River lie

the monuments, temples and tombs on the West Bank Necropolis, which include the Valley of the

Kings and Valley of the Queens.

Abu Simbel, about 850 km south of Cairo (near the Sudanese border) is an archaeological

site comprising two massive rock temples originally carved out of a mountainside during the reign

of Pharaoh Ramesses II (13th century BC). The complex was relocated in its entirety in the 1960s to

avoid being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser. They are now situated on an artificial hill

made from a domed structure high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir.