Welcome to Egypt
Background
Egypt's civilization, which dates back to at least 3000 B.C., is one of the oldest in the world. Most people know that the ancient Egyptians were led by pharaohs who built monuments to themselves such as the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. Egyptians adapted to the environment by using water and silt from the Nile River for irrigation and farming. The ancient Egyptians’ many achievements included mummification, hieroglyphics, the use of papyrus as paper, a system of written numbers, and the development of a calendar based on the flooding of the Nile River. Pharaohs ruled Egypt for almost 3,000 years. After the end of the age of the pharaohs, Egypt was conquered by other civilizations, such as the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. Each of these groups contributed to Egyptian culture in important ways. Egypt became an Islamic country after it was conquered by Muslim Arabs in 643 A.D. European interest in controlling Egypt began in 1798, when Napoleon attempted to colonize Egypt as a way to disrupt British trade to India. For the next 150 years, Egypt was imperialized by French, Ottoman, and British forces. During World War I, Egypt was a protectorate of the French and British. In 1922, Egypt achieved independence, and in 1952 it became a republic led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. The Europeans tried to maintain control of the Suez Canal, an important waterway which allows Asians and Europeans to trade without having to sail all the way around Africa. Nasser asserted Egypt’s power by nationalizing the canal in 1954.
Egypt Today
Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa; in fact, it has the fifteenth largest population of the world’s 193 nations. Much of Egypt is desert, so the majority of the population lives near the banks of the Nile River delta. Around half of Egypt's residents live in cities, such as Cairo and Alexandria. Egypt receives the least amount of precipitation of any country in the world. Cotton and oil are Egypt’s most valuable exports. Because of its strategic location and powerful history, Egypt has been a dominating force in Middle Eastern history for many years. Since the establishment of the state of Israel, Egypt and Israel have been involved in several military conflicts with each other. In 1977, Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president, signed the Camp David Accord peace agreement with Menachem Begin, the prime minister of Israel. Soon after, Sadat was assassinated by extremists opposed to any peace talks with Israel. Hosni Mubarak has been the president of Egypt since 1981. Although Islam is the state religion of Egypt, the government is officially secular. In recent years, this has made Egypt a target for attacks by fundamentalist groups that want to overthrow the government.
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