201125 January–11 February 2011 · Tahrir Square, Cairo

Tahrir Square and the 2011 Egyptian revolution

Huge crowd and tents filling Tahrir Square on the evening of 9 February 2011 — Archival image: Jonathan Rashad. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by Tunisia's uprising, Egyptians began protesting against police brutality and the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak on 25 January 2011. Hundreds of thousands occupied Tahrir Square for eighteen days, and protesters linked arms to guard the Egyptian Museum from looters. Mubarak resigned on 11 February. At least 846 people were killed, and military rule returned within three years.

Revolutions & Resistance
Political History
Cairo & Giza, Egypt

Sites

Site 1: Tahrir SquareRedesigned square with an obelisk and ram sphinxes; no memorial to the uprising.Map ↗
Site 2: Egyptian Museum, TahrirPink museum on the square that protesters guarded during the occupation.Map ↗