Egypt borders are Libya in the west, Sudan in the south, the Mediterranean Sea in the north, and the Red Sea and Israel in the east.   The eastern region, across the Suez Canal, is the Sinai Peninsula, and this region slopes up to the high mountains of Mt Catherine (Gebel Katherina at 2642 meters is Egypt's highest point) and Mt Sinai.  Along Egypt's Mediterranean coast, there are countless white-sand beaches, some developed as tourist resorts but many still pristine and isolated.

Throughout most of the year, Egypt's climate is hot and dry. Average daily temperature stays up around 20 ^oC (68 ^oF) on the Mediterranean coast and a pleasant 26 ^oC (80 ^oF) in Aswan during the winter months (December-February). Maximum temperatures get to 31 ^oC (88 ^oF) and 50 ^oC (122 ^oF) respectively during the summer. Winter nights only get down to 8 ^oC, chilly by Egyptian standards.

Alexandria receives the most rain with 19 cm each year, while Aswan is almost bone-dry with just 2 mm annually. Between March and April, the khamasin blows in from the Western Desert at up to 150 km per hour.