ON THE 17 DECEMBER, 2011 a Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest over mistreatment by local officials.

He later died from his injuries, but his actions sparked a series of protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and across the Middle East which became known as the ‘Arab Spring’ and led to the resignation of presidents Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi.

The Egyptian movement began on 25 January. Over 800 people were killed in violent clashes between police and protesters over the following weeks as thousands gathered in Cairo, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities calling for Mubarak’s resignation:

(Video via RussiaToday)

Pressure on Mubarak escalated when on 31 January the army announced its support for the “legitimate demands of honourable citizens” and said it would not use force against protesters – although protesters continued to die in clashes with security forces.

Within two weeks, 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak had resigned after 30 years in office. Mubarak has since gone on trial for corruption and the intentional killing of unarmed protesters. In the wake of his resignation, the military took control and despite pledging to oversee the transfer of power to an elected government, unrest arose again and again during 2011 over the slow pace of political reform.

Nationwide polls were recently held – the first parliamentary elections since Mubarak’s resignation – which put Islamists in the lead of the lower house, and a presidential election is planned before July this year. However, tensions remain between protesters and police amid concerns that the military will not cede control as they have pledged, but will seek to maintain some level of influence on the country’s rule and its new constitution.

Nobel laureate and secular political figure Mohamed ElBaradei criticised the recent violence against protesters, tweeting:

Targeted attacks on peaceful activists continue. Is the regime’s failure to provide security due to impotence or is it intentional?

Here, in photos, are the key points of the year that followed the outbreak of the Egyptian revolution on 25 January, 2011: