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Arab Republic of Egypt: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox country|name=Arab Republic of Egypt|native_name=جمهورية مصر العربية|image_flag=Flag of Egypt.svg|image_coat=Coat of arms of Egypt.svg|capital=[[Cairo]]|largest_city=[[Cairo]]|mode_of_production=[[Capitalism]]|government_type=Unitary semi-presidential republic|image_map=Egypt map.png|map_width=260|official_languages=Arabic|national_languages=Egyptian Arabic|area_km2=1,010,408|population_estimate=102,674,145|population_estimate_year=2021}}
{{Infobox country|name=Arab Republic of Egypt|native_name=جمهورية مصر العربية|image_flag=Flag of Egypt.svg|image_coat=Coat of arms of Egypt.svg|capital=[[Cairo]]|largest_city=[[Cairo]]|mode_of_production=[[Capitalism]]|government_type=Unitary semi-presidential republic|leader_title1=President|leader_name1=[[Abdel Fattah el-Sisi]]|leader_title2=Prime Minister|leader_name2=[[Moustafa Madbouly]]|national_anthem="بلادي، بلادي، بلادي"|image_map=Egypt map.png|map_width=260|official_languages=Arabic|national_languages=Egyptian Arabic|religion=[[Islam]]|area_km2=1,010,408|population_estimate=110,000,000|population_estimate_year=2023|currency=Egyptian pound}}


'''Egypt''' (مصر), officially known and recognized as the '''Arab Republic Egypt''' (جمهورية مصر العربية), is a transcontinental ('Eurafrasian'), nation in the North African, and Western Asian Region of Africa, and Asia.  
'''Egypt''' (مصر ''Miṣr or Maṣr''), officially known and recognized as the '''Arab Republic of Egypt''' (جمهورية مِصر العربية), is a transcontinental nation in North [[Africa]] and the Sinai Peninsula and [[West Asia]].  It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, [[State of Palestine|Palestine]] to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, [[Republic of the Sudan|Sudan]] to the south, and [[State of Libya|Libya]] to the west. Egypt consists of 27 governorates (subdivisions) with [[Cairo]] as the capital and largest city of Egypt, while [[Alexandria]], the second-largest city, is an important industrial and tourist hub at the Mediterranean coast. At approximately 100 million inhabitants, Egypt is the 14th-most populated country in the world, and the third-most populated in Africa, behind [[Federal Republic of Nigeria|Nigeria]] and [[Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|Ethiopia]]. [[Islam]] is the official [[religion]] with a sizeable Coptic [[Christianity|christian]] minority and Arabic is the official language.<ref>{{Citation|year=2014|title=Constitution of The Arab Republic of Egypt 2014|title-url=http://www.sis.gov.eg/Newvr/Dustor-en001.pdf|pdf=http://www.sis.gov.eg/Newvr/Dustor-en001.pdf|trans-lang=دستور جمهورية مِصر العربية 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=The Association of Religion Data Archives|title=Religion Indexes (Egypt)|url=https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?u=73c|retrieved=2023-11-5}}</ref>


== History ==
The majority of its population live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, where the only arable land is found. The large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypt's territory, are sparsely inhabited and mostly by Bedouins, and the south (also called upper Egypt) has a sizeable amount of Nubians. About 43% of Egypt's residents live across the country's urban areas,<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=The World Bank|title=Urban population (% of total population) - Egypt, Arab Rep.|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?locations=EG}}</ref> with most spread across the densely populated centers of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.  
===1952 Revolution & the Egyptian Republic ===
The revolution of July 23, 1952, called the White Revolution, succeeded in forcing King Farouk I to abdicate the throne to Crown Prince Ahmed Fouad and leave the country on July 26, 1952, and a regency council was formed, before the monarchy was abolished, and the republic was declared on June 18, 1953. The revolution broadcast its first statement, with the voice of Mohamed Anwar Sadat, and the revolution announced 6 principles, divided into two groups, three for destruction: the elimination of colonialism, the elimination of feudalism, capitalism and the corruption of power, and three for construction: the establishment of a national army, the establishment of social justice, and the establishment of a healthy democratic life. According to British documents, King Farouk requested British military intervention to abort the rebellion against him, as his uncle Khedive Tawfiq did in 1882, but he did not receive an answer. He considered a "white coup" after which he would declare a "military dictatorship" ruled by decrees with the force of law and postpone any parliamentary elections indefinitely. The "Free Officers" movement, which led the July Revolution, aborted his thinking and preceded him before taking him into exile. Nasser's ability to manage critical situations was demonstrated. Farouk looked terrified, according to a cable from US Ambassador Jefferson Caffrey, who calmed him down to no avail. Another British cable sent to the Imperial General Staff in London on Monday, July 21 of the same year, read: "The information we have is that there is widespread tension in Egyptian military units and the possibility of disobedience is contained.<nowiki>''</nowiki> The movement's success on the morning of July 23 was marked by the possibility that British troops, amounting to 120,000 troops in Suez Canal camps, would intervene to abort them. According to British documents, there was a ready-made plan called "Rodeo" to occupy Cairo, the Delta and Alexandria in case of a sudden emergency and was prepared to be implemented. That plan relied on abstract force without any legal cover after the abrogation of the 1936 Convention. In the first moments of the movement, before announcing its first statement, Prime Minister Najib al-Hilali, who was able to reach the young journalist at the headquarters by phone with the instinct of the press, asked: "Can you ask them if they want the ministry to resign?" There was no valuable information about the movement's orientation, nor who was in charge, and there were contradictions in conclusions and actions. With the force of the hard documents, any talk of a connection between the Free Officers and U.S. intelligence is nonsense. Every revolution has its pros and cons, but the pros of the July 1952 revolution overshadowed its negatives. One of the most important achievements of this revolution, at the political level, was its success in independence from the English colonizer, who was ordering and ending in the country, and returned control of the reins of power in Egypt to the hands of the Egyptians, and succeeded in abolishing the monarchy, declaring the republic, then signing the evacuation agreement, and the departure of the British from the soil of the homeland, and the subsequent abolition of the 1923 constitution, and the proclamation of Major General Mohamed Naguib, the first Egyptian president of the republic, on June 18, 1953. The July Revolution led by President Abdel Nasser achieved a political victory, despite its newness, in 1956, against the three most powerful countries, England, France and "Israel", and constituted an incentive for all developing countries to stand in the face of colonialism, and Abdel Nasser's fame spread, at the time, in the Western world, and the image of Egypt changed from an occupied country from Britain, to a powerful influential country in the world that succeeded, in the same year, in the nationalization of the Suez Canal, and return it to its sons and beneficiaries. Nasser's revolution made Egypt an influential regional leader, translated into the establishment and establishment of the Non-Aligned Organization in 1961, the culmination of the Bandung Conference in 1955, the establishment of the Organization of African Unity in 1963, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 1968. Egypt under Nasser was effective at all regional and international levels, supporting decolonization movements. For example, the resistance movement for the liberation of Algeria started from Cairo in 1954, the Arab "movements for the liberation of Yemen, Iraq and the Gulf states", and the birth of the Palestinian resistance from Cairo in 1965, on the basis of the three no's: no reconciliation. No confession. There are no negotiations, and what was taken by force cannot be recovered without force


Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage along the Nile Delta back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE. It is considered a cradle of civilization.


"If a day, week or month in the life of a nation can be described as a milestone in its history, December 1948 is that month in the life of modern Egypt before the July 1952 revolution, in that month the most important international influence on the Egyptian decision moved from the United Kingdom to the United States, that is, from the British Empire, which grew old and dimmed its voice, to the American empire descending on the world like airplanes descend. on its landings." -  Mohamed Hassanein Heikal
Egypt's long and rich cultural heritage is an integral part of its national identity, which reflects its unique transcontinental location being simultaneously [[Mediterranean]], West Asian and African.  


Egypt is a founding member of the [[United Nations]], the anti-imperialist [[Non-Aligned Movement]], the [[Arab League]], the [[African Union]], [[Organization of Islamic Cooperation]] and the [[World Youth Forum]].


== History ==


They included [[Communism|communists]], nationalists of the [[Wafd Party]], members of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], and aristocrats who were against the monarchy. Nasser supported [[Anti-colonialism|anti-colonial]] forces in [[People's Democratic Republic of Algeria|Algeria]] and nationalized the [[Suez Canal]]. The USA and [[Europe]] rejected Egypt's request for assistance, so it turned to the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|USSR]]. In 1956, [[French Republic|France]], [[State of Israel|Israel]], and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|UK]] attacked the Suez Canal, but Egypt successfully defended it. In 1957, Cairo hosted the [[Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Conference]], a successor to the [[Bandung Conference]], with delegates from 45 Asian and African countries.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=Cairo|page=51–53|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref>
=== Ancient history ===
===Arab Republic of Egypt===
[[Menes]] united Upper and Lower Egypt by military conquest and proclaimed himself pharaoh. He created a centralized state with a [[ruling class]] of priests and officials below himself. During the Old Kingdom, Egypt conquered the Sinai Peninsula and used its copper to make tools. The pharaohs were overthrown around 2250 BCE following a period of famine and foreign invasion.


=== Arab Spring ===
Around 1600 BCE, the New Kingdom took power in Egypt before collapsing again to invaders in the 12th century BCE. Stonemasons and carpenters organized first recorded [[Strike action|strike]] in history in 1170 BCE.<ref name=":02222">{{Citation|author=Neil Faulkner|year=2013|title=A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals|chapter=The First Class Societies|page=18–24|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedljwr5izotdclz23o3c5p4di4t3ero3ncbfytip55slhiz4otuls?filename=Neil%20Faulkner%20-%20A%20Marxist%20History%20of%20the%20World_%20From%20Neanderthals%20to%20Neoliberals-Pluto%20Press%20%282013%29.pdf|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=9781849648639|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=91CA6C708BFE15444FE27899217FBA8E}}</ref>


=== Presidency of Hosni Mubarak (Oct, 1981 - 2011) ===
=== Mamluk Sultanate ===
{{Main article|Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517)}}


===== '''2011 Egyptian revolution''' =====
=== Ottoman rule ===
{{Main article|Egypt Eyalet (1517–1914)}}


== Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014) ==
=== Sultanate of Egypt ===
{{Main article|Sultanate of Egypt (1914–1922)}}


=== Muslim Brotherhood ===
=== 1919 revolution ===
The [[Egyptian Communist Party]] supported the [[Wafd Party]]'s 1919 uprising against the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922)|British]].<ref name=":02" /> Women of all classes protested against the British and cut telephone lines, leading the British to kill many of them. Egypt gave women the right to vote in 1923 but reversed it soon after.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=Cairo|page=51–60|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref>


=== Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ===
In 1924, when [[Saad Zaghloul]] of the Wafd Party became prime minister, he arrested the entire central committee of the ECP.<ref name=":02">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2017|title=Red Star over the Third World|chapter=Enemy of Imperialism|page=78|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacecu7gb2ei65us6ip3r2ugcgkblneqcftbm456mb6bzvprkbqk55qm?filename=Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20Red%20Star%20Over%20the%20Third%20World-LeftWord%20Books%20%282018%29.pdf|city=New Delhi|publisher=LeftWord Books}}</ref>


=== 2012 Egyptian Presidential Election ===
=== Kingdom of Egypt ===
{{Main article|Kingdom of Egypt (1922–1953)}}


=== Presidency of Mohamed Morsi (June, 2012 - July 2013) ===
===1952 revolution and republic ===
{{Main article|Republic of Egypt (1953–1958)}}
In 1952, the [[Free Officers]] led by [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] organized a nationalist revolution against King [[Farouk]]. They included [[Communism|communists]], nationalists of the [[Wafd Party]], members of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], and aristocrats who were against the monarchy. Nasser supported [[Anti-colonialism|anti-colonial]] forces in [[People's Democratic Republic of Algeria|Algeria]] and nationalized the [[Suez Canal]]. The USA and [[Europe]] rejected Egypt's request for assistance, so it turned to the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|USSR]]. In 1956, [[French Republic|France]], [[State of Israel|Israel]], and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|UK]] attacked the Suez Canal, but Egypt successfully defended it. In 1957, Cairo hosted the [[Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Conference]], a successor to the [[Bandung Conference]], with delegates from 45 Asian and African countries.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=Cairo|page=51–53|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref>


=== Egyptian Constitution of 2012 ===
=== United Arab Republic (UAR) ===
{{Main article|United Arab Republic (1958–1971)}}


===== 2013 Egyptian coup d'état =====
=== Arab Spring ===


=== Interim Presidency of Adly Mansour ( July, 2013 - June 2014) ===
==== '''2011 revolution''' ====
In 2011, millions of people in Egypt rose up to overthrow the U.S.-backed police state led by [[Hosni Mubarak]].<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Mazda Majidi|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=U.S. imperialism and the coup in Egypt|date=2013-07-20|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/us-imperialism-and-the-coup-html/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714134706/https://www.liberationnews.org/us-imperialism-and-the-coup-html/|archive-date=2019-07-14|retrieved=2022-07-13}}</ref> Due to the lack of a revolutionary socialist party, the capitalist Muslim Brotherhood party took power under [[Mohamed Morsi]].<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=How can we make a revolution? Lessons of Egypt and Occupy|date=2014-07-06|url=https://www.liberationschool.org/can-make-revolution-lessons-egypt-occupy/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505234706/https://www.liberationschool.org/can-make-revolution-lessons-egypt-occupy/|archive-date=2021-05-05|retrieved=2022-07-13}}</ref>


=== Current Presidency of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ===
Morsi supported U.S. efforts to overthrow [[Bashar al-Assad]] in [[Syrian Arab Republic|Syria]] and passed a new constitution limiting the rights of women and religious minorities.<ref name=":0" />


=== Egyptian Constitution of 2014 ===
==== 2013 Egyptian coup d'état ====
 
In 2013, with US and UK support,<ref>{{Web citation|author=[[Kit Klarenberg]]|newspaper=[[The Grayzone]]|title=Leaked documents reveal Reuters helped overthrow Egyptian democracy|date=2023-07-05|url=https://thegrayzone.com/2023/07/05/reuters-overthrow-egyptian-democracy/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708210001/https://thegrayzone.com/2023/07/05/reuters-overthrow-egyptian-democracy/|archive-date=2023-07-08}}</ref> General [[Abdel Fattah al-Sisi|Abdul Fatah Saeed el-Sisi]] removed Morsi from power and appointed [[Hazem El Beblawi|Hazem Al Beblawi]] as prime minister. The military has killed almost 100 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref name=":0" /> In 2022, el-Sisi told poor people to "eat leaves" to survive due to food shortages.<ref name=":1">{{News citation|author=Dejan Kukic|newspaper=[[In Defence of Marxism]]|title=Sisi says “let them eat leaves” as food crisis sharpens class lines in Egypt|date=2022-07-08|url=https://www.marxist.com/sisi-says-let-them-eat-leaves-as-food-crisis-fuels-sharpens-class-lines-in-egypt.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709165928/https://www.marxist.com/sisi-says-let-them-eat-leaves-as-food-crisis-fuels-sharpens-class-lines-in-egypt.htm|archive-date=2022-07-09|retrieved=2022-07-16}}</ref>
 
 
In 2011, millions of people in Egypt rose up to overthrow the U.S.-backed police state led by [[Hosni Mubarak]].<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Mazda Majidi|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=U.S. imperialism and the coup in Egypt|date=2013-07-20|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/us-imperialism-and-the-coup-html/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714134706/https://www.liberationnews.org/us-imperialism-and-the-coup-html/|archive-date=2019-07-14|retrieved=2022-07-13}}</ref> Due to the lack of a revolutionary socialist party, the capitalist Muslim Brotherhood party took power under [[Mohamed Morsi]].<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=How can we make a revolution? Lessons of Egypt and Occupy|date=2014-07-06|url=https://www.liberationschool.org/can-make-revolution-lessons-egypt-occupy/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505234706/https://www.liberationschool.org/can-make-revolution-lessons-egypt-occupy/|archive-date=2021-05-05|retrieved=2022-07-13}}</ref> Morsi supported U.S. efforts to overthrow [[Bashar al-Assad]] in [[Syrian Arab Republic|Syria]] and passed a new constitution limiting the rights of women and religious minorities.<ref name=":0" />
 
In 2013, General [[Abdel Fattah al-Sisi|Abdul Fatah Saeed el-Sisi]] removed Morsi from power and appointed [[Hazem El Beblawi|Hazem Al Beblawi]] as prime minister. The military has killed almost 100 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref name=":0" /> In 2022, General el-Sisi told poor people to "eat leaves" to survive due to food shortages.<ref name=":1">{{News citation|author=Dejan Kukic|newspaper=[[In Defence of Marxism]]|title=Sisi says “let them eat leaves” as food crisis sharpens class lines in Egypt|date=2022-07-08|url=https://www.marxist.com/sisi-says-let-them-eat-leaves-as-food-crisis-fuels-sharpens-class-lines-in-egypt.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709165928/https://www.marxist.com/sisi-says-let-them-eat-leaves-as-food-crisis-fuels-sharpens-class-lines-in-egypt.htm|archive-date=2022-07-09|retrieved=2022-07-16}}</ref>
== Geography ==
== Geography ==
[[File:Egypt administrative regions.png|thumb]]Egypt's natural borders include the Red Sea, and the Aqaba Gulf, which forms the Sinai Peninsula. The country operates the Suez Canal, which links the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea. Egypt borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, all sharing a tri point border at the Hassanein Plateau. Other areas include the Hala'ib Triangle, which both Sudan and Egypt have a little dispute over, which covers the Elba National Park as well as the administer town of Hala'ib, a fact which both countries <nowiki>''</nowiki>de facto<nowiki>''</nowiki> run the region. The Bir Tawil Trapezoid is also a <nowiki>''</nowiki>disputed<nowiki>''</nowiki> spill of land, that both countries neither claim. In addition to disputes, Saudi Arabia also lays claim to the Tiren and Sanafir Islands, off the coast of the Red Sea. About 90%+ of the country lives on 5.5% of the country in the north region of the Nile River Delta. Egypt contains a lot of eroded rock formations, extinct volcano calderas, plateaus, mountains, oasis, sand dunes, as well as several Wadis. The country geographically is settled in the incredibly arid western Saharan and Libyan deserts, of northern Africa. With the exclusion of the Sinai Peninsula and its snowcapped mountains and average rainfall, the rest of the country rarely receives precipitation, with the rest of the country averaging around 1 inch of rain each year (2.54 cm). Landscapes like the Al-Farrafrah white desert, are of example. The most recognizable, and most distinguishable asset of the Egyptian nation, the Nile River. As the longest river in the world, at over 6.600 kms, flowing north, draining into the Mediterranean. The river has for eons, and millennia, supplied, and nourished the lands around the Egypt and its insanely arid, and dry deserts, to cultivate food, and vitalize the increasing population, therefore creating the world's first major, and early civilizations. Egyptians have rare access to fresh water which is irrigated, and has in return made the nation, the biggest cultivator of dates, and artichokes. The Nile in the south is the famous Nasser Reservoir, which was created by one of the largest dams in the world, constructed in 1971, to control floods.
[[File:Egypt administrative regions.png|thumb]]
 
== References ==
== References ==
[[Category:African countries]]
[[Category:African countries]]
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Asian countries]]
[[Category:Asian countries]]
<references />

Latest revision as of 20:11, 5 July 2024

Arab Republic of Egypt
جمهورية مصر العربية
Flag of Arab Republic of Egypt
Flag
Coat of arms of Arab Republic of Egypt
Coat of arms
Anthem: "بلادي، بلادي، بلادي"
Location of Arab Republic of Egypt
Capital
and largest city
Cairo
Official languagesArabic
Recognised national languagesEgyptian Arabic
Religion
Islam
Dominant mode of productionCapitalism
GovernmentUnitary semi-presidential republic
• President
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
• Prime Minister
Moustafa Madbouly
Area
• Total
1,010,408 km²
Population
• 2023 estimate
110,000,000
CurrencyEgyptian pound


Egypt (مصر Miṣr or Maṣr), officially known and recognized as the Arab Republic of Egypt (جمهورية مِصر العربية), is a transcontinental nation in North Africa and the Sinai Peninsula and West Asia. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Palestine to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Egypt consists of 27 governorates (subdivisions) with Cairo as the capital and largest city of Egypt, while Alexandria, the second-largest city, is an important industrial and tourist hub at the Mediterranean coast. At approximately 100 million inhabitants, Egypt is the 14th-most populated country in the world, and the third-most populated in Africa, behind Nigeria and Ethiopia. Islam is the official religion with a sizeable Coptic christian minority and Arabic is the official language.[1][2]

The majority of its population live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, where the only arable land is found. The large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypt's territory, are sparsely inhabited and mostly by Bedouins, and the south (also called upper Egypt) has a sizeable amount of Nubians. About 43% of Egypt's residents live across the country's urban areas,[3] with most spread across the densely populated centers of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.

Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage along the Nile Delta back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE. It is considered a cradle of civilization.

Egypt's long and rich cultural heritage is an integral part of its national identity, which reflects its unique transcontinental location being simultaneously Mediterranean, West Asian and African.

Egypt is a founding member of the United Nations, the anti-imperialist Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the African Union, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the World Youth Forum.

History[edit | edit source]

Ancient history[edit | edit source]

Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt by military conquest and proclaimed himself pharaoh. He created a centralized state with a ruling class of priests and officials below himself. During the Old Kingdom, Egypt conquered the Sinai Peninsula and used its copper to make tools. The pharaohs were overthrown around 2250 BCE following a period of famine and foreign invasion.

Around 1600 BCE, the New Kingdom took power in Egypt before collapsing again to invaders in the 12th century BCE. Stonemasons and carpenters organized first recorded strike in history in 1170 BCE.[4]

Mamluk Sultanate[edit | edit source]

See main article: Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517)

Ottoman rule[edit | edit source]

See main article: Egypt Eyalet (1517–1914)

Sultanate of Egypt[edit | edit source]

See main article: Sultanate of Egypt (1914–1922)

1919 revolution[edit | edit source]

The Egyptian Communist Party supported the Wafd Party's 1919 uprising against the British.[5] Women of all classes protested against the British and cut telephone lines, leading the British to kill many of them. Egypt gave women the right to vote in 1923 but reversed it soon after.[6]

In 1924, when Saad Zaghloul of the Wafd Party became prime minister, he arrested the entire central committee of the ECP.[5]

Kingdom of Egypt[edit | edit source]

See main article: Kingdom of Egypt (1922–1953)

1952 revolution and republic[edit | edit source]

See main article: Republic of Egypt (1953–1958)

In 1952, the Free Officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser organized a nationalist revolution against King Farouk. They included communists, nationalists of the Wafd Party, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and aristocrats who were against the monarchy. Nasser supported anti-colonial forces in Algeria and nationalized the Suez Canal. The USA and Europe rejected Egypt's request for assistance, so it turned to the USSR. In 1956, France, Israel, and the UK attacked the Suez Canal, but Egypt successfully defended it. In 1957, Cairo hosted the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Conference, a successor to the Bandung Conference, with delegates from 45 Asian and African countries.[7]

United Arab Republic (UAR)[edit | edit source]

See main article: United Arab Republic (1958–1971)

Arab Spring[edit | edit source]

2011 revolution[edit | edit source]

In 2011, millions of people in Egypt rose up to overthrow the U.S.-backed police state led by Hosni Mubarak.[8] Due to the lack of a revolutionary socialist party, the capitalist Muslim Brotherhood party took power under Mohamed Morsi.[9]

Morsi supported U.S. efforts to overthrow Bashar al-Assad in Syria and passed a new constitution limiting the rights of women and religious minorities.[8]

2013 Egyptian coup d'état[edit | edit source]

In 2013, with US and UK support,[10] General Abdul Fatah Saeed el-Sisi removed Morsi from power and appointed Hazem Al Beblawi as prime minister. The military has killed almost 100 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.[8] In 2022, el-Sisi told poor people to "eat leaves" to survive due to food shortages.[11]

Geography[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Constitution of The Arab Republic of Egypt 2014 (2014). [PDF]
  2. ↑ "Religion Indexes (Egypt)". The Association of Religion Data Archives. Retrieved 2023-11-5.
  3. ↑ "Urban population (% of total population) - Egypt, Arab Rep.". The World Bank.
  4. ↑ Neil Faulkner (2013). A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals: 'The First Class Societies' (pp. 18–24). [PDF] Pluto Press. ISBN 9781849648639 [LG]
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Vijay Prashad (2017). Red Star over the Third World: 'Enemy of Imperialism' (p. 78). [PDF] New Delhi: LeftWord Books.
  6. ↑ Vijay Prashad (2008). The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World: 'Cairo' (pp. 51–60). [PDF] The New Press. ISBN 9781595583420 [LG]
  7. ↑ Vijay Prashad (2008). The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World: 'Cairo' (pp. 51–53). [PDF] The New Press. ISBN 9781595583420 [LG]
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Mazda Majidi (2013-07-20). "U.S. imperialism and the coup in Egypt" Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2019-07-14. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  9. ↑ "How can we make a revolution? Lessons of Egypt and Occupy" (2014-07-06). Liberation School. Archived from the original on 2021-05-05. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  10. ↑ Kit Klarenberg (2023-07-05). "Leaked documents reveal Reuters helped overthrow Egyptian democracy" The Grayzone. Archived from the original on 2023-07-08.
  11. ↑ Dejan Kukic (2022-07-08). "Sisi says “let them eat leaves” as food crisis sharpens class lines in Egypt" In Defence of Marxism. Archived from the original on 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
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