According to most scholars the history of modern Egypt dates from the start of the rule of Muhammad Ali'v in 1805 and his launching of Egypt's modernization project that involved building a new army and suggesting a new map for the country, though the definition of Egypt's modern history has varied in accordance with different definitions of modernity. Some scholars date it as far back as 1516 with the Ottomans' defeat of the Mamlūks in 1516–17.

Muhammad Ali's dynasty became practically independent from Ottoman rule, following his military campaigns against the Empire and his ability to enlist large-scale armies, allowing him to control both Egypt and parts of North Africa and the Middle East. In 1882, the Khedivate of Egypt became part of the British sphere of influence in the region, a situation that conflicted with its position as an autonomous vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. The country became a British protectorate in 1915 and achieved full independence in 1922, becoming a kingdom under the rule of Muhammad Ali's dynasty, which lasted until 1952.

Gamal Abdel Nasser ended monarchical rule and established a republic in Egypt, known as the Republic of Egypt, following the 1952 Egyptian revolution. Egypt was ruled autocratically by three presidents over the following six decades: by Nasser from 1954 until his death in 1970, by Anwar Sadat from 1971 until his assassination in 1981, and by Hosni Mubarak from 1981 until his resignation in the face of the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

In 2012, after more than a year under the interim government of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, with Field Marshal Tantawi as its chairman, elections were held and the Islamist Mohamed Morsi became the first democratically elected head of state in the entire history of Egypt. In 2013, after millions of Egyptians in huge rallies and demonstrations demanding Morsi's resignation, the army announced the ousting of Morsi and preparations for a new election. Resulting in the election of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi