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Demography |
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population is Egypt's most immense
problem, with 63 million people, it
is the most populous nation in the Arab World, and
next to Nigeria, it has the
second highest population in
Africa.
From 6
millions in the year 1880, it is
expected to reach 80 millions by
the year 2005. The
annual growth rate is 2.2% while, thanks to the Family Organization
Program (FOP), it dropped 6% from the 1985 rate. Nevertheless, this
amounts to over one million people each year.
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Egypt is a highly centralized country, 96% of the population lives on only 4%
of the land, and due to the rapid urbanization of the past two decades,
18 millions of the 63 live in the Greater Cairo
area, and 6
millions
live in Alexandria, while the rest are scattered along the Nile Valley.
Despite
the improvement of Egypt's Economy, the increase in
GNP is immediately consumed by the increase
in population, in
other words, if the population
growth rate does not decrease
significantly, there is no way
the economy will improve.
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government is trying, in vain, to cope with exploding population, in
terms of schools, health facilities, accommodation etc.
The
past five years have also witnessed
effective attempts of decentralization,
residential areas have been
constructed outside Cairo, as well as
highways to take you to and from Cairo. |
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