Egypt

Culture

Main article: Culture of Egypt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The capital city, Cairo, is Africa's largest city and has been renowned for centuries as a center of learning, culture and commerce of Egypt.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Egypt also hosts two major religious institutions. Al-Azhar University, the oldest Islamic institution for higher studies (founded around 970 CE) with its corresponding mosque Al-Azhar. The head of Al-Azhar is traditionally regarded as the supreme leader of Sunni Muslims all over the world. Egypt also has a strong Christian heritage as evidenced by the existence of the Coptic Orthodox Church headed by the Patriarch of Alexandria, which has a following of approx. 50 million Christians worldwide (one of the famous Coptic Orthodox Churches is Saint Takla Haimanot Church in Alexandria http://www.St-Takla.org).

Related Topics:
Al-Azhar University - Islamic - 970 - Coptic Orthodox Church - Patriarch of Alexandria

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Though considered a low-income country, Egypt has a thriving media and arts industry, with more than 30 satellite channels and more than 100 motion pictures produced a year. To bolster its media industry, especially with the keen competition from the Persian Gulf states and Lebanon, it has built a large media city that it has promoted as the "Hollywood of the East". Egypt has the only opera house amongst Arab countries.

Related Topics:
Persian Gulf states - Opera

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some famous Egyptians include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Gamal Abdel Nasser (former president)
• Boutros Boutros-Ghali (former Secretary General of the United Nations)
• Naguib Mahfouz (Nobel Prize-winning novelist)
• Umm Kulthum (singer)
• Omar Sharif (actor)
• Ahmed Zewail (Nobel Prize-winning chemist)
• Mohamed ElBaradei (Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize)
• Anwar Sadat (former president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize)