The Eastern Desert of Egypt occupies 21% (c. 223000 km2) of the total area of Egypt. From the early beginnings of the last century, this desert attracted scientists, especially botanists, to study its flora, ecology and vegetation. This study (between Latitudes 30 00 N and 24 00 N) included an up-to-date checklist of its flora, quantitative analysis of its vegetation, patterns of species distribution, and a proposed phytogeographical map based on GIS analysis techniques of 500 geo-referenced sites as a preliminary step towards a general vegetation map. Classification of the vegetation yielded...