Why Almost Everyone in Egypt Lives Along One Thin Green Line

Egypt has 113 million people — and almost all of them live on a green line you can see from space. Roughly 95% of Egyptians are packed into the Nile Valley and its Delta, on about 5% of the land, while the remaining 95% of the country — desert bigger than France and Germany combined — sits almost completely empty. In this episode of Empty Places, we look at how one river built a civilisation, why the flood that fed Egypt for 5,000 years was switched off in 1970, and what happened when Egypt tried to break the river's grip: the Toshka mega-project meant to build a second Nile Valley, forty new cities in the sand, and a brand-new capital rising in the desert. Then we give our ranked verdict on why the line still holds. Next episode: Canada — why 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border. #emptyplaces #geography #egypt #nile