The vast majority of Egypt's inhabitants live in the Nile valley and delta, and the rest of the country (about 96% of Egypt's total land area) is sparsely populated. Most modern Egyptians are of a complex racial mixture, being descended from the ancient Egyptians, Berbers, sub-Saharan Africans, Arabs, Greeks, and Turks. Arabic is the official language; many educated Egyptians also speak English and French. As much as 95% of the people are Sunni Muslims, and most of the rest are Coptic Christians.

An Overview :

Population :
77,505,756 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure :
0-14 years: 33% (male 13,106,043/female 12,483,899)
15-64 years: 62.6% (male 24,531,266/female 23,972,216)
65 years and over: 4.4% (male 1,457,097/female 1,955,235) (2005 est.)

Median age :
total: 23.68 years
male: 23.31 years
female: 24.05 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate :
1.78% (2005 est.)

Birth rate :
23.32 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate :
5.26 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate :
-0.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio :
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate :
total: 32.59 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 33.31 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 31.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth :
total population: 71 years
male: 68.5 years
female: 73.62 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate :
2.88 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate :
less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS :
12,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths :
700 (2003 est.)

Nationality :
noun: Egyptian(s)
adjective: Egyptian

Ethnic groups :
Eastern Hamitic stock (Egyptians, Bedouins, and Berbers) 99%, Greek, Nubian, Armenian, other European (primarily Italian and French) 1%

Religions :
Muslim (mostly Sunni) 94%, Coptic Christian and other 6%

Languages :
Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes

Literacy :
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57.7%
male: 68.3%
female: 46.9% (2003 est.)