1.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
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Governorates of Egypt
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Governorates are the first-level of the subdivisions. Egypt is divided, for administrative purposes, into twenty-seven governorates, egyptian governorates are the top tier of the countrys jurisdiction hierarchy. A governorate is administered by a governor, who is appointed by the President of Egypt, most governorates have a population density of more than one thousand per km², while the three largest have a population density of less than two per km². Governorates are either fully urban or else a mixture of urban, the official distinction between urban and rural is reflected in the lower tiers, i. e. fully urban governorates have no regions, as the markaz is, natively, a conglomeration of villages. Moreover, governorates may comprise just one city, as in the case of Cairo Governorate or Alexandria Governorate, hence, these one-city governorates are only divided into districts. Cairo Governorate consists of 41 districts, Alexandria Governorate consists of 7, two new governorates were created in April 2008, Helwan and 6th of October. In April 2011, however, the 6th of October and Helwan governorates were again incorporated into the Cairo and Giza Governorates, respectively. Luxor was created in December 2009, to be the 29th governorate of Egypt, but with the abolition of the 6th of October and Helwan governorates, before 1979, local government traditionally enjoyed limited power in Egypts highly centralized state. Under the central government, there were twenty-six governorates and these were subdivided into regions, each of which was further subdivided into towns or villages. At each level, there was a structure that combined representative councils and government-appointed executive organs headed by governors, district officers. Governors were appointed by the president, and they, in turn, the coercive backbone of the state apparatus ran downward from the Ministry of Interior through the governors executive organs to the district police station and the village headman. Before the 1952 revolution, state penetration of the areas was limited by the power of local notables. However, under Nasser, land reform reduced their socioeconomic dominance, the extension of officials into the countryside permitted the regime to bring development and services to the village. State penetration did not retreat under Sadat and Mubarak, the earlier effort to mobilize peasants and deliver services disappeared as the local party and cooperative withered, but administrative controls over the peasants remained intact. The local power of the old families and the headmen revived, the district police station balanced the notables, and the system of local government integrated them into the regime. Sadat took several measures to decentralize power to the provinces and towns, governors acquired more authority under Law Number 43 of 1979, which reduced the administrative and budgetary controls of the central government over the provinces. The elected councils acquired, at least formally, the right to approve or disapprove the local budget, in an effort to reduce local demands on the central treasury, local government was given wider powers to raise local taxes. Local representative councils became vehicles of pressure for government spending, under Mubarak decentralization and local autonomy became more of a reality, and local policies often reflected special local conditions
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Port Said Governorate
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Port Said Governorate is one of the Canal Zone governorates of Egypt. It is located in the part of the country, on the Mediterranean Sea at the northern gate of the Suez Canal. Its capital is the city of Port Said, it is the home of the Suez Canal Authority headquarters and it is urban with 98. 2% of the area populated. Port Said Governorate also includes Port Fuad, in 2015 a huge natural gas reserve was discovered and was described as the largest ever found in the Mediterranean Sea. It was found off the coast of Port Said, Egypt now has one of the largest areas of natural gas and Italian company, ENI has been contracted to work on the natural gas liquefaction for Egypt. It was welcome news as Egypt has long suffered an energy crisis, the New Suez Canal project launched in 2015 included dredging of the East Port Said Canal. Port Said Port Fuad At the 2006 Census, there were 570,768 people,2015 estimates put that figure at 666,599. With an urbanization rate of 100%, the Port Said Governorate is one of the most urbanized in the country, along with Cairo, in February,2012, more than 70 people died in the Port Said Stadium Riot after a soccer match. Social unrest in early 2013 continued for at least two weeks, while protesting, on March 5,2013, protesters set fire to the governorates headquarters and several people were injured. In October,2016 Egyptians protested the increase in their rent on apartments, one official and several residents were arrested. Port Said Governorate is a transit point for trade, importing and exporting millions of tons of goods each year. Tourism is also promoted for the region, there are several museums in this area. For cultural tourism one may want to visit the Port Said National Museum of Antiquities which opened in 1987 and is located at the confluence of the Suez Canal waters and the Mediterranean Sea. It houses about 9,000 artifacts from all eras, ranging from the Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, the Military Museum of Port Said, established in 1964, commemorates the 1956 the tripartite aggression on the city. It features armory and military artifacts, equipment used in the wars fought between 1956 -1967 and in 1973, al-Nasr Museum of Modern Art in Port Said opened on December 25,1995 and includes artwork by Egyptian artists in various branches of Fine Art. This makes it a favorite with tourists, nearby, is the Suez Canal Authority building built on the banks of Port Said at the start of the project. The lighthouse and jetties at Port Said, located at the terminus of the Suez canal. The lighthouse is a monolith 180 feet high, in the construction 120,000 tons of Teil hydraulic lime were used
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French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
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Suez Canal
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The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. It was constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, after 10 years of construction, it was officially opened on November 17,1869. It extends from the terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez. Its length is 193.30 km, including its northern and southern access channels, in 2012,17,225 vessels traversed the canal. The original canal was a waterway with passing locations in the Ballah Bypass. It contains no locks system, with seawater flowing freely through it, in general, the canal north of the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. South of the lakes, the current changes with the tide at Suez, the canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority of Egypt. Under the Convention of Constantinople, it may be used in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag. In August 2014, construction was launched to expand and widen the Ballah Bypass for 35 km to speed the canals transit time, the expansion was planned to double the capacity of the Suez Canal from 49 to 97 ships a day. At a cost of $8.4 billion, this project was funded with interest-bearing investment certificates issued exclusively to Egyptian entities, the New Suez Canal, as the expansion was dubbed, was opened with great fanfare in a ceremony on 6 August 2015. On 24 February 2016, the Suez Canal Authority officially opened the new side channel and this side channel, located at the northern side of the east extension of the Suez Canal, serves the East Terminal for berthing and unberthing vessels from the terminal anytime of day and night. Ancient west–east canals were built to travel from the Nile River to the Red Sea. One smaller canal is believed to have been constructed under the auspices of Senusret II or Ramesses II. Another canal, probably incorporating a portion of the first, was constructed under the reign of Necho II, the legendary Sesostris may have started work on an ancient canal joining the Nile with the Red Sea. In his Meteorology, Aristotle wrote, One of their kings tried to make a canal to it, so he first, and Darius afterwards, stopped making the canal, lest the sea should mix with the river water and spoil it. Strabo wrote that Sesostris started to build a canal, and Pliny the Elder wrote,165. Later the Persian king Darius had the idea, and yet again Ptolemy II. This proved to be the canal made by the Persian king Darius I
6.
Port Said
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Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 kilometres along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787. The city was established in 1859 during the building of the Suez Canal, Port Said is also an important harbour for exports of Egyptian products like cotton and rice, but also a fueling station for ships that pass through the Suez Canal. It thrives on being a port, as well as a tourist resort especially during summer. It is home to the Lighthouse of Port Said, there are numerous old houses with grand balconies on all floors, giving the city a distinctive look. Port Saids twin city is Port Fuad, which lies on the bank of the canal. The two cities coexist, to the extent that there is hardly any town centre in Port Fuad, the only other metropolitan area in the world that also spans two continents is Istanbul. Most of them were from Mediterranean countries, and they coexisted in tolerance, the name of Port Said first appeared in 1855, It was chosen by an International committee composed of Great Britain, France, the Russian Empire, Austria, Spain and Piedmont. It is a name which composed of two parts, Port and Said, who granted Ferdinand de Lesseps the concession to dig the Suez Canal. Port Said was founded by Said of Egypt on Easter Monday, April 25,1859, the first problem encountered was the difficulty for ships to drop anchor nearby. Luckily, a rocky outcrop flush with the shoreline was discovered a few hundred meters away. Equipped with a wharf, it served as a mooring berth for the boats. Soon after, a jetty was built, connecting the departure islet, as it quickly became known. This rock could be considered the heart of the city, and it was on this highly symbolic site, forty years later. There were no local resources here, everything Port Said needed had to be imported, wood, stone, supplies, machinery, equipment, housing, food and even water. Giant water storage containers were erected to supply fresh water until the Sweet Water Canal could be completed, one of the most pressing problems was the lack of stone. Early buildings were imported in kit form and made great use of wood. A newly developed technique was used to construct the jetties called conglomerate concrete or Beton Coignet, artificial blocks of concrete were sunk into the sea to be the foundations of the jetties. Still more innovative was the use of the concrete for the lighthouse of Port Said
Egypt
Media related to Port Fouad at Wikimedia Commons
