Simple directory > Regional > Egypt

Official name: Jumhuriyat Misr al Arabiya (Arab Republic of Egypt) Head of State: President Hosni Mubarak (re-elected for fifth term Sep 2005) Head of government: Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif (appointed by the President 9 Jul 2004) Ruling party: National Democratic Party (NDP) (re-elected Nov 2000) Area: 1,001,499 square km Population: 70.83 million (2004) Capital: Cairo Official language: Arabic Currency: Egyptian pound (LE) = 100 piastres Exchange rate: LE6.20 per US$ (Nov 2004) (Egyptian pound floated on 29 Jan 2003) GDP per capita: US$956 (2003) GDP real growth: 3.10% (2003) Labour force: 20.60 million (2003) Unemployment: 10.70% (2003) Inflation: 4.20% (2003) Oil production: 750,000 bpd (2003) Balance of trade: -US$6.62 billion (2003) Foreign debt: US$29.70 billion (2003)

 

Historical profile
1571 Egypt became part of the Ottoman Empire. Mohammed Ali assumed the rule of Egypt. His descendants ruled until 1952.

1869 Inauguration of the Suez Canal during the reign of Khedive Ismail.

1914 Egypt became a British protectorate.

1922 Following the revolution of Saad Zaghloul in 1919, Britain granted partial independence to Egypt, but retained the right to defend the Suez Canal and Egypt itself.

1936 Signing of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, which restricted British military presence to the Suez Canal Zone.

1948 Egypt contributed to a pan-Arab military force that failed to occupy the newly-created state of Israel.

1952 The 23 July Revolution, led by the army, ousted King Fu'ad, who had just succeeded his father, King Faruq.

1953 General Mohammed Neguib became president.

1954 Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser was appointed prime minister.

1956 Nasser became president and nationalised the Suez Canal. Israeli forces attacked and occupied the Sinai penisula and were later joined by Britain and France, which sought to regain control of the Canal zone. In the face of strong international opposition, particularly from the US, all three withdrew their forces.

1967 In June, Israel launched pre-emptive airstrikes against Egypt, followed by a quick ground offensive against Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian forces. The Six-Day War ended in Egypt's defeat and Israel took control of Sinai and the Gaza Strip, which had been Egyptian territory.

1970 Anwar al Sadat was elected president following the death of Nasser.

1971 The building of the Aswan High Dam was completed.

1973 The 6 October War (also known as the Yom Kippur War) – Egypt and Syria invaded Israel. Despite some early successful strategic gains for Egypt and Syria, Israel counter-attacked and repelled the invasion.

1977 Sadat visited Jerusalem, which led to the Camp David Peace Accords, the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in 1979 and the eventual Israeli withdrawal from Sinai.

1981 Hosni Mubarak became president following the assassination of Sadat. A state of emergency was declared.

1991 Egypt contributed to the US-led military campaign against Iraq. The outcome of the Gulf War established the political and economic framework for an Arab-Israeli peace process.

1994 Egypt was a party to peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, which began negotiations on the status of the former Egyptian territory of Gaza.

1995 Mubarak survived an assassination attempt during a visit to an Organisation of African Unity (OAU) meeting in Ethiopia.

1999 Mubarak was re-elected as president for a further six-year term.

2000 The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) won the legislative elections.

2001 Mubarak, President Bashar al Assad of Syria and King Abdullah of Jordan inaugurated a US$300 million electricity line linking the grids of the three countries.

2003 In April, Egypt signed a World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on removing all tariff barriers to information technology (IT) products, such as personal computers and telecommunications equipment.

2004 On 9 July, Prime Minister Atef Ebeid resigned. The President appointed Ahmed Nazif as prime minister and his government was sworn in on 14 July.

2005 In February, Egypt hosted the Sharm El Sheik summit, at which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon signed a truce, bringing to an end four years of violence between Israel and the Palestinian territories. Egypt and Jordan agreed to return their ambassadors to Israel. On 26 February, President Mubarak ordered a constitutional amendment, to be put to a referendum in May, allowing multiple candidates to compete in the 2005 presidential elections; these would be the first competitive elections since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952.

 

 

 

Web Links Sort By : Title URL Date Added Last Updated Hits Votes Rating Google PR Ascending Descending 1 . All-About-Egypt Egypt vacation tour guide featuring interesting facts about ancient Egyptian civilization and Egypt travel information. Category:   Regional > Egypt Business > Travel Business > Education Date Added: Mar 16, 2007 Hits: 1 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0   Member Reviews Visitor Ratings