Formerly a British protectorate, Egypt became a formally independent monarchy on 18 February 1922. On 18 June 1953, it was declared a republic and, in 1954, Colonel Gamal Abd el-Nasser seized power. In 1956, Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company. This led to armed intervention by France, the United Kingdom and Israel (the Suez Crisis). Israeli troops occupied the Gaza Strip (formerly part of Palestine and governed by Egypt from 1948-1949) and the Sinai Peninsula. Decisive action taken by the United Nations, with the consensus of the USA and USSR, forced Israel to withdraw. In 1967, a new war broke out with Israel (the “Six-Day War”), ending in Egypt’s defeat and the Israeli occupation of the Sinai and Gaza. In an effort to free Sinai, in 1973, Egypt re-opened hostilities with the “War of Yom Kippur”. In 1978, the Egyptian President, Anwar el-Sadat, and the Israeli Premier Menachem Begin signed the peace accord at Camp David which restored Sinai to Egypt but not Gaza (Gaza subsequently came under Palestinian administration). After the assassination of President Sadat (1981) by an Islamic extremist group, his Vice-President Hosni Mubarak, took his place. He held absolute power for 30 years until 11 February 2011, when he handed in his resignation when widespread demonstrations demanded that he should step down.
The first free presidential elections (16-17 June 2012) were won by Mohamed Morsi, the candidate backed by the Muslim Brotherhood Islamic party, who had also won by a landslide in the 2011-12 legislative elections. In 2013, after growing street protests, the army led by the minister of defence Abdel Fattah el-Sisi removed President Morsi from office (on 3 July) and appointed in his stead Adly Mansour, head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, effectively taking control of the country. Supporters of the ousted President Morsi staged large demonstrations led by the Muslim Brotherhood (organization which was officially disbanded by a court in September 2013); the harsh repression by the police resulted in hundreds of victims.
In the presidential elections on 26/27 May 2014, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi won a landslide majority, inaugurating a regime that has repressed dissent and limited civil liberties.
The country aspires to have a leading role in the fight against Islamic armed groups in its interior (Sinai) and in nearby countries, mainly in Libya, where Egypt has actively intervened since 2015.
According to the Constitution approved in 2014 and amended in 2019, the President, who holds executive powers, is elected by direct suffrage for a six-year term and can be re-elected only once. The Parliament is made up of a House of Representatives (596 members with a five-year mandate, of which 568 elected and 28 appointed by the President) and a Senate, re-established in 2019, consisting of 200 elected members and 100 appointed by the President.

Defence and justice.
In addition to the armed forces, there are two paramilitary corps: the Central Security Forces and the National Guard. The legal system combines features of British Common Law, the Napoleonic Codes and Islamic Law.

Economic situation.
The shrinking growth rate caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was reduced in the second half of 2020 due to easing isolation measures and sizeable income support and credit contributions (the central bank considerably lowered interest rates). The worsening of the health situation in 2021, however, led to a new contraction, further impoverishing a society that was already experiencing high unemployment and uneven distribution of wealth. Public debt remains very high, despite the fact that up until 2020 the deficit in public accounts was being lowered.

Primary sector.
In Egypt agriculture is dependent on irrigation. Cultivated land is limited to the area of the Nile Delta and the Nile Valley. Since the land will yield as many as three crops a year, the crops are known by special names, depending on the season: shetwi are winter crops (wheat, forage, beans, barley, onions, linen), sefi are summer crops (cotton, rice, maize, sugar-cane, peanuts, sesame), nili are autumn crops (rice and maize). Cotton of the long-fibre variety is mainly grown in the Nile Delta.
In terms of value, the most important crops include: vegetables (especially tomatoes), rice, grapes, wheat, citrus fruit, sugar cane and dates. Fishing is practiced inland (tilapia, catfish, carp), in the Mediterranean (sardines, shrimp, mullet) and in the Red Sea (round scad, sardines, anchovy), and through farming industries (tilapia, mullet).

Secondary sector
Minerals.
Egypt’s main mineral resources are hydrocarbons: its petroleum deposits lie in the area of the Red Sea, Sinai (Abū Zanīmah, Abū Rudays, Alma and Wādī Fayrān), the Gulf of Suez (Balā’im Barrī, Morgan, Garra, July, Amal, Ra’s Badrān, Ramaḍān) and El Alamein (Abū al Gharādīq, Umm Barakah, Māliḥah); there are natural gas fields at Abū Māḍī, Abū Qīr, Abū al Gharādīq and Obayed, off Port Said (Zohr).
The main oil pipelines run from Suez to Cairo, and from Suez to Alexandria via Cairo (320 km). There are also deposits of phosphates, manganese, iron ore and coal. There are working saltpans along the Mediterranean coast.
Energy and industry.
The largest thermoelectric power plants are at Cairo, Alexandria, Banī Suwayf, Damietta, Port Said and Suez. Most of the hydroelectric power produced is generated by the facilities at Aswan. The main iron and steel centres are Ḥulwān and Ad Dukhaylah; aluminium is produced at Naj’Ḥammādī. Oil refineries are located at Alexandria, Asyūṭ, Cairo (Mostorod), Suez and Ṭanṭā; two natural gas liquefaction plants operate in Damietta and Idku, on the Mediterranean coast.
The main products of the chemical industry are fertilizers and superphosphates (at Aswan, Kafr-az-Zayyāt, Suez, Alexandria and Ḥulwān). The textile industry is important, with numerous cotton factories (in Alexandria, Cairo, Al-Maḥallah al-Kubrā, Kafr ad-Dawwār, Damietta, Port Said and Az-Zaqāzīq), silk factories (at Damietta and Cairo), wool and jute factories (Shubrā al-Khaymah, Bilbays), and rayon-processing factories (at Misr and Kafr ad-Dawwār).
Other important activities include tobacco-processing, sugar production (at Kawm Umbū, Armant, Naj’Ḥammādī, Abū Qurqāṣ, Ash Shaykh Faḍl and Al-Ḥawāmidīyah), paper (at Alexandria) and cement (Al-‘Arish, Alexandria, Aswān, Asyūṭ, Cairo, Banī Suwayf, Ḥulwān, Qinā, Samālūt and Suez).

Main exports
(M US$ - 2017) crude oil and petroleum products 4 623, fruit and vegetables 2 336, gold 2 107, electrical and electronic equipment 1 728, plastics 1 507, apparel and accessories 1 377

Finance and banking.
The Central Bank of Egypt carries out the functions of the country’s central bank. The stock exchanges are located in Cairo and Alexandria.

Tourism. Tourism is one of the main sources of foreign currency, but it is sensitive to the country’s political situation. The most popular destinations, apart from the capital, are the archaeological sites along the Nile (Abu Simbel, Luxor, Thebes, Memphis and Giza) and the Red Sea coastal resorts (Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada and Marsa Alam).

Transport.
The road and railway networks have been developed almost exclusively in the Nile Valley and the Nile Delta. The River Nile and its many canals are used intensively by shipping.
Suez Canal.
Opened on 17 November 1869 and nationalized on 26 July 1956, the canal is managed by the Suez Canal Authority. On 6 August 2014, the doubling with a new 72 km waterway was inaugurated. Total length: 193 km; width at 11 m deep: 205-225 m; depth: 24 m; maximum draught allowed: 20 m; time to travel: approximately 11 hours; full capacity: about 97 ships/day.

Media and telecommunication.
Egypt is one of the principal centres of radio, television and film production in Africa.

Education, culture & research.

Education is compulsory and free between the ages of 6 and 14; primary schooling lasts for six years, while secondary schooling is divided into two cycles of 3 years. The Al-Azhar University in Cairo is the Arab world’s leading university.