The Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence on 28 February 1922 was the formal legal instrument by which the United Kingdom recognised Egypt as an independent sovereign state. The status of Egypt had become highly convoluted ever since its virtual breakaway from the Ottoman Empire in 1805 under Muhammad Ali Pasha. From then on, Egypt was de jure a self-governing vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, but de facto independent, with its own hereditary monarchy, military, currency, legal system, and empire in Sudan. From 1882 onwards, Egypt was occupied by the United Kingdom, but not annexed, leading to a unique situation of a country that was legally a vassal of the Ottoman Empire whilst having almost all the attributes of statehood, but in reality being governed by the United Kingdom in what was known as a "veiled protectorate".

In 1914, the legal fiction of Ottoman sovereignty was ended, and the Sultanate of Egypt (which the Ottomans had destroyed in 1517) was re-established, but Egypt was not legally independent. Though the United Kingdom did not annex Egypt, it made the restored sultanate a protectorate (a state not part of the British Empire but nonetheless administered by the United Kingdom), thereby formalising the political and military role that it had exercised in Egypt since 1882.

The continued control of Egyptian affairs by the United Kingdom, as well as British repression of Egyptians who pushed for independence, sparked the Egyptian Revolution of 1919. Subsequently, the United Kingdom government entered into negotiations intended to abate Egyptian grievances whilst maintaining its own military presence and political influence in the country. When these negotiations failed, the United Kingdom acted unilaterally to terminate the protectorate and recognise Egypt as an independent state.

In the unilateral declaration, the United Kingdom granted to itself "reserved" powers in four areas central to the governance of Egypt: foreign relations, communications, the military, and Sudan, which was legally a condominium of both Egypt and the United Kingdom. These reserved powers, to which the Egyptian government did not consent, meant that nationalist grievances against the United Kingdom continued and would contribute to the causes of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 three decades later. According to historian Jennifer Elkins, the Egyptian independence declaration did not entail sovereignty for Egypt, but rather a "semiautonomous" status.

A protectorate is a state that is controlled and protected by another sovereign state. It is a dependent territory that has been granted local autonomy over most internal affairs while still recognizing the suzerainty of a more powerful sovereign state without being its direct possession. In exchange, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations depending on the terms of their arrangement. Usually protectorates are established de jure by a treaty. Under certain conditions as of Egypt under British rule (1882–1914) e.g., a state can also be labelled as a de facto protectorate or a "veiled protectorate".A protectorate is different from a colony as they have local rulers, are not directly possessed and rarely experience colonization by the suzerain state. A state that is under the protection of another state while retaining its "international personality" is called a protected state, not a protectorate.