About Egypt

The richness of the annual flood of the Nile River, along with the semi-isolation, which is provided by the Eastern and the Western deserts, allowed the development of one of the world’s greatest civilizations. The Pharaohs united kingdom started about 3200 B.C., and a large number of Pharaohs dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennium. The last Pharaoh dynasty fell during the Persian invasion in 341 B.C., who were replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. The Arabs introduced the Islam religion and the Arabic language in the 7th century and ruled Egypt for the next six centuries. A local military caste called the “Mamluks” overthrown the Arabs about 1250 and continued to govern Egypt after the conquer of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. The Inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869 make Egypt an important world transportation road. Britain took over Egypt’s government in 1882 to protect its investments in the Suez Canal, however, the nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Egypt acquired partially independent from the United Kingdom in 1922 and obtained full sovereignty from Britain in 1952. The Aswan High Dam was completed in 1971, which result in Lake Nasser that have altered the ecology of Egypt. Egypt has the largest population in the Arab world with limited arable lands and the growing dependence on the Nile River, which result in the stress of the society and overtax. The Egyptian government has struggled to meet the economic demands of its population through massive investments in communications, transportation, and infrastructure.

Inspired by the Tunisian revolution in 2010, the opposition groups in Egypt led demonstrations across the country, which result in the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Egypt’s military forces assumed national leadership until a new parliament was elected in early 2012; later that same year, Mohammed Morsi (The Muslim Brotherhood Candidate) won the presidential election. After the violent protests throughout 2013 against Morsi’s regime, the Egyptian Armed Forces intervened to remove Morsi in July 2013 and replaced him with the interim president Adly Mansour. In January 2014, voters approved a new constitution by referendum and elected Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in May 2014 as a president.

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