Collection of basic Egyptian socio-economic data and the interdisciplinary analysis based on them

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Egypt is well known to be a hydrological society dependent on the Nile. As such, Egypt has emerged as a centralized society and an example of the rural urban dichotomy. The outcome of this emphasis on the rural urban divide is the neglect of the regional perspective. Indeed, studies on Egypt generally use only one regional distinction, that between Lower and Upper Egypt. Yet, the adequacy of these regional categories as socio-economic categories has not been examined. Explanations of the regional differences have been limited to political/cultural ones. This research critically examines the simplistic view of Egyptian society as a homogeneous society, especially the rural-urban dichotomy, by employing the multi-perspective view approach. The multi-perspective view signifies the multi-disciplinary combination of the analysis based on the following various kinds of data and information.(1) agglomerated statistical data at town (shiyakhat)/ village (qarya) level produced by Egyptian government.(2) micro data collected through the household surveys.(3) geographical information, including detailed village maps at the building level.(4) qualitative information such as family histories and historical manuscripts and interviews with peasants, village authorities and notables.(2), (3) and (4) are original data and information obtained through fieldwork in 19 villages to adopt the multi-perspective view approach. Using these original data, the regional diversity was clarified from the both of macro and micro viewpoints.