History And Culture:

Egypt is known for its long and ancient history. According to the U.S. Department of State, Egypt has been a unified region for over 5,000 years and there is evidence of settlement prior to that. By 3100 B.C.E., Egypt was controlled by a ruler named Mena and he began the cycle of rule by Egypt’s various pharaohs. Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza were built during the 4th dynasty and ancient Egypt was height from 1567-1085 B.C.E.

The last of Egypt’s pharaoh’s was dethroned during a Persian invasion of the country in 525 B.C.E.

but in 322 B.C.E. it was conquered by Alexander the Great. In 642 C.E., Arab forces invaded and took control of the area and began to introduce the Arabic language which still exists in Egypt today.

In 1517, the Ottoman Turks entered and took control of Egypt which lasted until 1882 except for a short time when Napoleon’s forces took control of it.

Beginning in 1863, Cairo began to grow into a modern city and Ismail took control of the country in that year and remained in power until 1879. In 1869, the Suez Canal was built.

Ottoman rule in Egypt ended in 1882 after the British stepped in to end a revolt against the Ottomans. They then occupied the area until 1922, when the United Kingdom declared Egypt independent. During World War II, the U.K. used Egypt as an operations base. Social instability began in 1952 when three different political forces began to clash over control of the region as well as the Suez Canal. In July 1952, the Egyptian government was overthrown. On June 19, 1953, Egypt was declared a republic with Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser as its leader.

Nasser controlled Egypt until his death in 1970, at which time President Anwar el-Sadat was elected. In 1973, Egypt entered a war with Israel and in 1978 the two countries signed the Camp David Accords which later led to a peace treaty between them. In 1981, Sadat was assassinated and Hosni Mubarak was elected as president shortly thereafter.

Throughout the rest of the 1980s and into the 1990s, Egypt’s political progress slowed and there were a number of economic reforms aimed at expanding the private sector, while reducing the public.

In January 2011 protests against Mubarak’s government began and Egypt remains socially unstable.