Egypt: Urban Settlements

Miller Hagler

Egypt and Urbanization

fig.1 Map of Egypt
Geographers and Urban Settlements
     When examining urban settlements geographers will look at factors such as population density, birth and death rates, migration rates, and push/pull factors. All of these factors present a picture of the growth or decline of an urban settlement; whose living there, whose leaving, whose arriving, for what reasons are they coming or leaving, and in what numbers.
     Other factors likely to be considered are the local languages and cultures, the state of the political environment, and income rates.

fig. 2 Population density in Egypt
Urban Settlements in Egypt
     Cairo, the Egyptian capital, is also the country's largest city, siting at the southern end of the Nile Delta and supporting a population between 10 and 20 million people(see fig.2). That is a greater population than any U.S. city south of New York or East of L.A., and significantly higher than that of any major Canadian city(Stearns 95).
     Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, boasts a population only slightly lower than that of Cairo. Founded in the wake of the short-lived empire of Alexander the Great, Alexandria was one of the many "flourished and important scientific centers"(Stearns 95) of the ancient world.
     A key aspect of both of these cities, as well as the cities of Gizeh and Shubra El-Kheima, is location. These cities, along with most every other urban city in Egypt, sits along the path of the Nile, an area that boasts a population density of 1,001-12800 people per square mile(see fig.2). This figure illustrates the vital role water has played in the historical development of Egypt, and is particularly telling in how important the Nile has been.

Works Cited

Stearns, Peter N. World History in Brief: Major Patterns of Change and Continuity. 7th ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2005. Print.

Figure Sources

 Wolfman. Egypt-CIA WFB Map. Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.

 Phillip. Population Denisty in Egypt. Digital image. Writing to Comprehend. Blogger, 5 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. <http://writetocomprehend.blogspot.com/2013/11/population-density.html>.