Egypt profile - Leaders
President: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
Retired Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was elected president in May 2014, almost a year after he removed his predecessor, President Mohammed Morsi, from office.
He had served as armed forced chief under Mr Morsi, and was a key figure in the interim government which took over after the ouster.
Some Egyptians celebrated the possibility that Mr Sisi would bring stability to a country in upheaval since the removal of long-term leader Hosni Mubarak during the ''Arab Spring'' in 2011.
To some Mr Sisi is a hero for ending the rule of Mr Morsi, who was voted into office in 2012 and who alienated many Egyptians who took to the streets demanding his resignation.
Others worry that he represents a return to the authoritarian security state that prevailed under Mr Mubarak.
Supporters of Mr Morsi resent what they see as his removal in a coup and have been vocal in calling for his return. Hundreds of supporters have been killed in street clashes with police and in a crackdown on Islamists.
The Muslim Brotherhood that underpinned Mr Morsi's presidency has been banned and declared a "terrorist group".
In his long military career Mr Sisi has had little actual combat experience, latterly specialising mainly in military intelligence. On his appointment as army chief under Mr Morsi he was the youngest member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
He is the latest in a line of Egyptian rulers drawn from the military that was only briefly broken during Mr Morsi's year in office.
He was born in Cairo in 1954.