Egypt is mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge into Western Asia. Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea in the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west. Most of the 76 million population live in the narrow strips down the side of the Nile - the large areas of the Sahara Desert are only sparsely populated.
In land area Egypt is twice the size of France, but 99% of the population live in about 5.5% of the land area. Apart from the Nile Valley the majority of Egypt is desert, with only a little rain falling in the north. Temperatures average between 27C and 32C and even higher on the Red Sea Coast and 13C-21C in winter.