A unified kingdom in Egypt was founded circa 3200 BC by King Narmer, and ruled by a series of dynasties for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty, known as the Thirtieth Dynasty, fell to the Persians in 343 BC. Subsequent conquests were also made by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. It was the Muslim Arabs who introduced Islam to the Egyptians, and ruled Egypt for the next six centuries.

Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub, and, to protect its investments, the United Kingdom seized control of Egypt's government in 1882. Finally, an Egyptian Republic was declared in 1953 with General Muhammad Naguib as the first President of the Republic.

During Egypt's first few independent decades, numerous wars erupted between the newly-formed state of Israel (1948) over land rights and immigration to the Middle East. In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made a historic visit to Israel and began a dialogue between the two nations. The 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty was brokered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter and signed by Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. However, Sadat was assassinated in 1981 as a direct result of the Treaty. He was succeeded by the current president, Hosni Mubarak.

Capital: Cairo
Official Language: Arabic
Population: 78,887,007
Currency: Egyptian Pound
What's Popular: Umm Kulthoum (1904-1975)
Considered the most gifted Arab singer of
the 20th Century