{ site_name: 'Places in the News', subscribe_url:'/share/sites/Bapu4ruC/placesinthenews.php' }

May 2016

The Mediterranean Basin

The Mediterranean Basin

Egypt

Egypt

France

France

EgyptAir flight 804 disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea on its way from Paris to Cairo. Flight 804 departed from Paris, France in the late evening of May 18th; in the early morning of May 19th, the aircraft was lost from air traffic control radars shortly after entering Egyptian airspace. Search and rescue operations were launched from both Greece and Egypt.

Paris, located along the Seine River in the North of France is the cultural and political capital of France. Likewise, Cairo, Egypt is on the Nile River in the North and is also the capital. The two capital cities lie just under 2000 miles (3215 km) apart. France is roughly the size of Texas; Egypt is more than three times the size of New Mexico. The Mediterranean Sea is the world's largest inland sea (c.965,000 sq mi/2,499,350 sq km).

France today is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader among European nations. It plays an influential global role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the G-8, the G-20, the EU and other multilateral organizations. France rejoined NATO's integrated military command structure in 2009, reversing De Gaulle's 1966 decision to withdraw French forces from NATO. Since 1958, it has constructed a hybrid presidential-parliamentary governing system resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier, more purely parliamentary administrations. In recent decades, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the introduction of a common currency, the euro, in January 1999. In the early 21st century, five French overseas entities - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Reunion - became French départements (regions) and were made part of France proper.

A unified kingdom arose in present day Egypt ca. 3200 BC; a series of dynasties ruled the area for three millennia. In 341 BC, the Persians overthrew the Egyptian dynasty; later, the region was controlled by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. In the 7th century, the Arabs introduced Islam and the Arabic language. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 elevated Egypt as an important world transportation hub; Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty from Britain in 1952.

CIA World Factbook; USGS Earthquake Hazards Program; The Columbia Gazetteer, 5/2016; 5/2016; 5/2016

These maps have also been used: