The union of Upper and Lower Egypt by the Menes in 3100 BC is traditionally
seen as the beginning of Egyptian history.
In 525 BC Egypt was conquered by the Persian Cambyses.
Persian rule came to an end in 332 BC when Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great. After three centuries, Roman rule took over, but after 395 AD, Egypt was administered from Constantinople and flourished as a center of Christianity until overrun by Muslims in the 7th century AD.
Egypt became politically and culturally important again for a brief period from 1250 to 1517 under the Mamluks.
This importance diminished under the Ottoman Turks (1517-1798).
France occupied Egypt from 1798-1805. In 1882 Egypt became a British protectorate and in 1922 a constitutional monarchy.
In 1952, Farouk, who had been king since 1937, was forced to abdicate, and the following year saw the complete independence of Egypt.
The constitution of 1971 was amended in 1980 to base the legal system on Islamic law and to declare Egypt to be a "socialist-democratic state".
The country is divided into 25 provinces or "muhafazats".
