Most Egyptians live congested in the narrow Nile valley. Only 1 per cent
of the population lives concentrated on the oases, which are dispersed over
the desert areas that constitute 96.5 per cent of the country’s total surface.
With a population of 68 million inhabitants distributed over an area of
35,000 km2
, the actual average population density for 2003 can be calculated
at 1,940 inhabitants/km2
, which is an unusual figure for an agricultural country
of this size. The more the number of people living in the country increases,
the smaller the per capita nutritional area becomes (see Figure 1.2). Between
1821 and 2001 the cropping area, which thanks to an all-year-round favourable
climate and availability of irrigation water was 1.9 times as large as the agri-
cultural area in Egypt today, decreased from 5,280 m2
 to 865 m2
 per capita.