1894 19,369 1895 20,508 1896 20,651 1897 20,245 1898 29,186 1899 Boer war 1900 16,689 1901 36,662 1902 21,095 1903 33,944 1904 19,238 1905 26,158 1906 21,479 1907 24,223 1908 31,999 1909 77,491 1910 84,437 1911 92,000 1912 82,589 1913 85,714 1914 91,619 1915 100,000 1916 125,000[90] EGYPT Egypt, the northeastern corner of the African continent, is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean sea, on the northeast by Palestine, on the east by the Red sea and on the west by Tripoli and the Sahara. The 22nd parallel of north latitude is the dividing line between it and the Sudan on the south. Its area is about 400,000 square miles, of which by far the greater part is desert; it has been truly said that the principal features of Egypt are the desert and the Nile. In 1907 the entire population was 11,189,978, exclusive of nomadic Bedouin tribes, who numbered about 97,000. Of these 10,366,046 were Egyptians, 735,012 settled Bedouins, 65,162 Nubians and 221,139 foreigners—British, Italians, Turks and Greeks. The wonderful fertility of the soil of the valley of the Nile is due to the annual inundation caused by the melting of the snows and the spring rains in the region in which the Blue Nile has its source. The turbulent waters of the swollen stream rush down the Nubian valley laden with rich loam from the mountains of Abyssinia, and this is deposited upon the flat plains on either side when the river overflows its banks. The period of high water begins in June and lasts until the end of September. The rainfall is slight and there are years when there is none whatever. Crops, therefore, depend upon irrigation, and powerful pumping plants supply the needs of the large estates, while the small native holdings depend upon water-wheels worked by buffaloes or by the natives themselves. The irrigation possibilities of the country were greatly extended by the huge dam constructed by the government at Assuan in 1902. In the cane-raising country, the average temperature in summer ranges between 82 degrees and 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and between 50 degrees and 86 degrees in winter. Cool nights are the rule and occasionally there is a killing frost.