Egypt
Two-third of the area of Egypt is covered by desert. The
arable lands lie on the two coasts of the River Nile where 55 million
inhabitants live. The Capital is Cairo, the „city of mosques”. (There are 500
mosques and minarets in Cairo.) The official language is arabian, the most
widespread religion is the Muslim.
The leading economic branch is the agriculture. Two periods
can be separated from the point of view of cultivation in a year: In winter,
wheat and vegetables are produced. The most important plants of the summer
culture: cotton, sugar cane, corn and rice. By the extension of irrigation
there may be two harvests.
On the mediterranean coast lemon, orange and grapes, in the
oases, date is produced.
Because of the overpopulated villages the population can
only be supplied by food importation. The country often needs help.
The standard of animal breeding is low. Donkeys and camels
are used for transporting burdens. Poultry.
The most important energy resources of the country are oil
and natural gas. Minerals: iron ore and phosphate.
The leading branches of the industry are the textile and
food industry. The chemical industry produces medicines and artificial
fertilizers.
The routes of passenger transport follow the valley of the
River Nile. The air transport mainly serves the traffic among the continents.
The transport of goods is concentrated on the River Nile and the Suez Canal.
The South African
Republic
The South African Republic is the most developed and
industrialized country of Africa.
Apart from the narrow plains by the coasts the surface is
characterized by the great height above sea level. The Southern and Eastern
parts of the country are highlands. The slopes of the highlands face towards
the Kalahari Basin which ancient basin is covered by young sediments.
The climate is varied. On the West there lie semi-deserts
that are poor in precipitation. Here the cool sea current is accompanied by
frequent fog formation. On the South mediterranean, on the highlands
continental is the prevailing climate.The climate of the Eastern coast is
similar to the mediterranean one but in summer there is more precipitation.
The interior parts are without an outlet. The great rivers’
water flowing into the Atlantic Ocean (River Oranje and its tributary, River
Vaal) is connected with the arable lands by irrigation systems.
The aborigines were Balck. In order to possess its territory
there was a war between the English and the Dutch, the English won.
The overwhelming part of today’s population in the country
is Black (75%) but speaks countless languages. Most part of the white
population is of Dutch origins. The assimilation of the Black, the Asians and
Europeans comes to 10% of the whole population.
The South African Republic is rich in mineral resources. The
most important ones: diamond, gold, platinum and uranium ore. In the generation
of energy the thermal power plants are in the first place but the nuclear and hydroelectric power plants are also
important. The most significant branches of heavy industry: metallurgy, machine
production and chemical industry.
The agriculture has favourable endowments. On the
mediterranean coasts grapes and citruses, on the highlands cereals and on the
wet Eastern regions sugar cane and banana are produced. The corn is important from the point of view of
exportation.
Sheep, goat and cattle breeding are important. However, the
agriculture shows two extremes. The up-to-date farms of the white produces for
the world market but the native tribes hardly can satisfy their own needs on
the dry highlands because of the backwarded means of production and the soil
decay.
Exportation: mainly gold, diamond and coal. Apart from this
ores, cotton and foods are sold. And the country imports mineral oil and
machines.
The traffic system is the most developed on the continent.
The capital is pretoria, the big industrial centres are Cape Town and
Johannesburg.
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