Egypt, officially the United Federation of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Egypt is one of the most populous countries in the world. The great majority of its estimated 850 million live near the provinces bordering the meditarranean. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About two thirds of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with the majority spread across the densely-populated centres of Cairo and Istanbul.