23 July

Egypt’s Free Officers Movement overthrew the government of King Farouk in an event that became known as the Egyptian Revolution of July. The revolution changed not only the country’s political system but also laid the foundation for major reforms in land ownership, tenancy and the distribution of large agricultural estates.

At the time, much of Egypt’s cultivable land was controlled by a small number of wealthy landowning families, while millions of farmers worked as tenants or agricultural labourers instead of owning the land they cultivated.

A few weeks after the revolution, the new government introduced Egypt’s first major agrarian reform law. The legislation limited an individual’s agricultural land ownership to a maximum of 200 feddans. A feddan is an Egyptian unit of land measurement roughly equal to one acre, while 200 feddans are equivalent to approximately 84 hectares.

Land exceeding the permitted limit was taken over by the state and gradually redistributed among small farmers and landless families. The law also introduced controls on agricultural rents, provided greater protection to tenant farmers and encouraged the formation of agricultural cooperatives for small landowners.

These reforms became a major turning point in Egypt’s modern land and property history. For the first time, the state imposed limits on large private landholdings and attempted to distribute ownership among a broader section of the population.

The reforms also changed the role of land in rural Egypt. Agricultural property was no longer viewed only as a source of wealth and political power for large landowners, but increasingly became a source of housing, employment and economic security for small farmers.

It is important to clarify that the revolution took place on July 23, while the formal land reform law was introduced later, in September 1952. Therefore, July 23 is considered the beginning of this major transformation in Egypt’s land ownership system rather than the date on which the law itself was enacted.