The study area is located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt where
it occupies a large district between the River Nile Valley and
the Red Sea and covers four Governorates (Fig. 1). Along
the River Nile Valley, these governorates are, from north to
south; Asyut, Sohag, and Qena. It also includes a large sector
of Red Sea Governorate overlooking the Red Sea Coast. The
road is connecting these four governorates (Fig. 1). Sohag –
Safaga new highway is considered to be a development investible
transportation road and one of the most important lateral
connections between Upper Egypt and the Red Sea and its
ports. It begins from Sohag governorate and extends toward
the east in the direction of the Red Sea until it meets with
Qena – Safaga road. The study area is located in a buffer zone
of 25 km from both sides of the road (NARSS, 2010; Elbeih
et al., 2011). This buffer area was chosen to cover the proposed
development activities previously suggested around the road.
This buffer area is believed to be more influenced by the road
and in the same time includes a number of natural resources
and minerals that could be fully utilized to share in developing
the areas in the road vicinity. As shown in Fig. 1, the study
area is located between latitudes 25 570 37.500 and 27 340
57.000 N and longitudes 31 00 37.700 and 34 90 7.600 E with an
area of about 25513 km2.