Egypt Geography & Climate

Egypt's geography is dominated entirely by the Nile River, which cuts a narrow, fertile ribbon through otherwise vast desert running the length of the country from Sudan north to the Mediterranean, where it fans out into the wide, agriculturally rich Nile Delta.

Beyond the Nile Valley and Delta, over 90% of Egypt's land is desert -- the Western Desert, part of the larger Sahara, stretches toward Libya and holds isolated oases like Siwa and Bahariya, while the Eastern Desert runs between the Nile and the Red Sea coast.

The Sinai Peninsula, Egypt's only territory in Asia, is a mountainous, rugged landscape distinct from the rest of the country, home to Mount Sinai and the Red Sea's northern reefs, while southern Upper Egypt narrows around Aswan before the Nile continues into Sudan.

Egypt has a desert climate nearly everywhere -- hot, dry, and sunny most of the year, with very little rainfall outside a small strip along the Mediterranean coast around Alexandria.

Temperatures rise significantly moving south along the Nile -- Cairo and the Delta are hot in summer but see genuinely mild, pleasant winters, while Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt are considerably hotter year-round and can become dangerously extreme in the summer months.

The Red Sea coast and Sinai benefit from coastal breezes that moderate the desert heat somewhat, making them more bearable in summer than the Nile Valley, while desert nights, even in summer, can turn surprisingly cool given how dry and clear the air stays after sunset.