Port Said
Encyclopedia
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt
extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
, north of the Suez Canal
, with an approximate population of 603,787 (2010). The city was established in 1859 during the building of the Suez Canal.
Port Said has been ranked the first among the Egyptian cities according to the Human Development Index
in 2009 and 2010, the economic base of the city is fishing
and industries, like chemicals, processed food, and cigarettes. 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 duty-free port, as well as a tourist resort especially during summer. It is home to the Lighthouse of Port Said
(the first building in the world built from reinforced concrete
).
There are numerous old houses with grand balconies on all floors, giving the city a distinctive look. Port Said's twin city is Port Fuad, which lies on the eastern bank of the canal. The two cities coexist, to the extent that there hardly is any town centre in Port Fuad. The cities are connected by free ferries
running all through the day, and together they form a metropolitan area
with over a million residents that extends both on the African and the Asian sides of the Suez Canal.
Port Said acted as a global city
since its establishment and flourished particularly during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century when it was inhabited by various nationalities and religions most of them were from Mediterranean countries, they coexisted in tolerance forming a real cosmopolitan community. Referring to this fact Rudyard Kipling
once said "If you truly wish to find someone you have known and who travels, there are two points on the globe you have but to sit and wait, sooner or later your man will come there: the docks of London
and Port Said."
on Easter Monday, April 25th, 1859, when Ferdinand de Lesseps
gave the first symbolic swing of the pickaxe to signal the beginning of construction. The first problem encountered was the difficulty for ships to drop anchor nearby. Luckily, a single rocky outcrop flush with the shoreline was discovered a few hundred meters away. Equipped with a wooden wharf, it served as a mooring berth for the boats. soon after, a wooden jetty was built, connecting the departure islet, as it quickly became known to the beach. This rock could be considered the heart of the developing city, and it was on the highly symbolic site, forty years later, a monument to de Lesseps was erected.
There were no local resources here, everything Port Said needed had to be imported: wood, stone, supplies, machinery, equipment, housing, food 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 often imported in kit form and made great use of wood. For the jetties, the new technique of conglomerate concrete or "beton Coignet" (named after its inventor Francois Coignet
) was used. Artificial blocks of concrete were sunk into the sea to be the foundations of the jetties. Still more innovative was the use of the same concrete for the lighthouse of Port Said
, the only original building still standing in Port Said.
In 1859 the first 150 labourers camped in tents around a wooden shed. A year later, the number of inhabitants had risen to 2000 - with the European contingent housed in wooden bungalows imported from northern Europe. By 1869, when the canal opened, the permanent population had reached 10,000. The European district, clustered around the waterfront, was separated from the Arab district, Gemalia, 400 meters to the west, by a wide strip of sandy beach where a tongue of Lake Manzala
reached towards the sea. This inlet soon dried out and was replaced by buildings, over time there was no division between the European and Arab quarters.
At the start of the twentieth century, two things happened to change Port Said: in 1902, Egyptian cotton from Mataria started to be exported via Port Said; and in 1904 a standard gauge railway opened to Cairo
. The result was to attract a large commercial community and to raise its social status. In particular a sizeable Greek community grew up.
Following the end of the World War I
, the directors of the Suez Canal Company decided to create a new city on the Asian bank building 300 houses for its labourers and functionaries, Port Fouad was designed by the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris
, the houses follow the French model, the new city was founded in December 1926.
By the late 1920s the population numbered over 100,000 people. Port Said by now was a thriving, bustling international port with a multi-national population: Jewish merchants, Egyptian shopkeepers, Greek photographers, Italian architects, Swiss hoteliers, Maltese administrators, Scottish engineers, French bankers and diplomats from all around the world. All lived and worked alongside the large local Egyptian community. And always passing through, international travellers to and from Africa, India and the Far East.
People of all nationalities and religions moved to the city and each community brought in its own customs, cuisine, religion and architecture. In the 1930s for example there were elegant public buildings designed by Italian architects. The old Arab Quarter was swallowed up into the thriving city.
Since its establishment Port Said played significant role in the Egyptian history, the British entered Egypt through the city in 1882 starting their occupation of Egypt, In 1936 a treaty was signed, between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Egypt called the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936
. It stipulated the British pledge to withdraw all their troops from Egypt, except those necessary to protect the Suez Canal and its surroundings. Following World War II
, Egypt denounced the Treaty of 1936, leading to skirmishes with British troops guarding the Canal in 1951.
The Egyptian Revolution of 1952 occurred, then in 1956 President Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company. The nationalisation escalated tension with Britain and France that colluded with Israel to invade Egypt, the invasion known in Egypt as the tripartite aggression or the Suez Crisis
, the main battles occurred in Port Said, which played a historic role in resisting the tripartite aggression that failed to achieve any of its objectives, the withdrawal of the last soldier of foreign troops was on the 23rd of December 1956, since then this day was chosen as Port Said's national day, and its widely celebrated annually in the valiant city.
After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, also called the Six Day War, the Suez Canal was closed by an Egyptian blockade until 5 June 1975, and the residents of Port Said were evacuated by the Egyptian government to prepare for the Yom Kippur War
(1973).
The city was re-inhabited after the war and the reopening of the Canal, in 1976 Port Said was declared duty-free port attracting people from allover Egypt, now the population of the city is 603,787.
, with moderate summers and winters. The city witnesses average rainfall during winters. Sleet
and hail
are also common, January and February are the coolest months while the hottest are July and August.
There are also Port Fouad
city (505,695km2) under the jurisdiction of the Port Said governorate forming metropolitan
Port Said.
is a public university that follows the Egyptian system of higher education. The most notable faculties of the university are the faculty of engineering and the faculty of science. In addition, the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport
is a semi-private educational institution that offers courses for high school , undergraduate level students , postgraduate. It is considered the most reputable university in Egypt after the AUC American University in Cairo
because of its worldwide recognition from (board of engineers at UK & ABET in USA). Sadat Academy for Management Sciences is an Egyptian Public Academy under the authorization of the Ministry of State for Administrative Development.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoun_private_school
located about 6 km away from city centre.
The airport will be reopened in February 2011 after being modernised to be fit for international flights.
. Tickets can be reserved online using the Egyptian National Railways website.
Port Said is linked by the Ferry
to its twin city Port Fouad
which is considered the Asian part of this Afro-Asian governorate "Port Said" on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, the ferry is used to cross the Canal between the two cities holding both people and cars as well for free, the time between the two cities across the canal by using the ferry doesn't exceed 10 minutes.
es are operated by Port Said
Governorate's Agency for Public Passenger Transport. Private Transport also are available referred to as Micro Buses (14 seat minibus
).Saloon car Taxicabs are comfort white and blue with reasonable price.
of Port Said is the 28th-busiest seaport for container
transport, the second-busiest in the Arab world
(narrowly behind the port of Salalah
in Oman
), and the busiest container seaport in Egypt, with 3,470 TEU
transported in 2009. It is divided into:
The port is bordered, seaward, by an imaginary line from the western breakwater boundary till the eastern breakwater end. And from the Suez Canal area, it is bordered by an imaginary line extending transversely from the southern bank of the Canal connected to Manzala Lake, and the railways arcade livestock.
East verge channel
Two breakwaters protect the port entrance channel: the western breakwater is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long, and the eastern breakwater is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km).
The Northern Area is allocated for vessels with deep drafts. The Southern Area is for all vessel types.
Port Said Stadium
is a multi-purpose stadium
in Port Said, Egypt
. It is currently used mostly for football matches, and was used for the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship
, 2006 African Cup of Nations, 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup
held in Egypt. The stadium was built in 1954. It holds 17,988 people.
The second most popular sport in Port Said is Handball
, the city has a club called Port Said Club that won many local and African tournaments during the nineties.
Port Said Hall
is an Indoor Hall in Port Said that hosts competitions of Handball, Basketball and Volleyball, and was used for the 1999 World Men's Handball Championship
held in Egypt. It holds 5000 people.
Hockey
and other sports are practiced on a lower scale.
Port Said is a main summer resort and tourist attraction
, due to its public and private beaches, cosmopolitan heritage, Museum
s and duty-free port, beside the other landmarks like the Lighthouse of Port Said
, the war memorial that has shape of the Pharaonic ancient obelisks and the building of the Suez Canal Authority
headquarter in Port Said, also Tennis, Egypt island situated in lake Manzaleh is a destination that attracts tourists to enjoy visiting this ancient Islamic city which was demolished during the crusades
.
Volgograd
, Russia
(1962) Bizerte
, Tunisia
(1977)
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, north of the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
, with an approximate population of 603,787 (2010). The city was established in 1859 during the building of the Suez Canal.
Port Said has been ranked the first among the Egyptian cities according to the Human Development Index
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...
in 2009 and 2010, the economic base of the city is fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and industries, like chemicals, processed food, and cigarettes. Port Said is also an important harbour for exports of Egyptian products like cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
and rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, but also a fueling station for ships that pass through the Suez Canal. It thrives on being a duty-free port, as well as a tourist resort especially during summer. It is home to the Lighthouse of Port Said
Lighthouse of Port Said
The Lighthouse of Port Said is one of the most important architectural and tourist landmarks in the city of Port Said in Egypt. Considered a unique example for the evolution of architecture during the nineteenth century in the city, the lighthouse was designed by François Coignet at the request of...
(the first building in the world built from reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
).
There are numerous old houses with grand balconies on all floors, giving the city a distinctive look. Port Said's twin city is Port Fuad, which lies on the eastern bank of the canal. The two cities coexist, to the extent that there hardly is any town centre in Port Fuad. The cities are connected by free ferries
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
running all through the day, and together they form a metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
with over a million residents that extends both on the African and the Asian sides of the Suez Canal.
Port Said acted as a global city
Global city
A global city is a city that is deemed to be an important node in the global economic system...
since its establishment and flourished particularly during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century when it was inhabited by various nationalities and religions most of them were from Mediterranean countries, they coexisted in tolerance forming a real cosmopolitan community. Referring to this fact Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
once said "If you truly wish to find someone you have known and who travels, there are two points on the globe you have but to sit and wait, sooner or later your man will come there: the docks of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Port Said."
History
Port Said was founded by Sa'id of EgyptSa'id of Egypt
Muhammad Sa'id Pasha was the Wāli self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan from 1854 until 1863, officially owing fealty to the Ottoman Sultan but in practice exercising virtual independence. He was the fourth son of Muhammad Ali Pasha. Sa'id was a Francophone, educated in Paris.Under Sa'id's rule...
on Easter Monday, April 25th, 1859, when Ferdinand de Lesseps
Ferdinand de Lesseps
Ferdinand Marie, Vicomte de Lesseps, GCSI was the French developer of the Suez Canal, which joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas in 1869, and substantially reduced sailing distances and times between the West and the East.He attempted to repeat this success with an effort to build a sea-level...
gave the first symbolic swing of the pickaxe to signal the beginning of construction. The first problem encountered was the difficulty for ships to drop anchor nearby. Luckily, a single rocky outcrop flush with the shoreline was discovered a few hundred meters away. Equipped with a wooden wharf, it served as a mooring berth for the boats. soon after, a wooden jetty was built, connecting the departure islet, as it quickly became known to the beach. This rock could be considered the heart of the developing city, and it was on the highly symbolic site, forty years later, a monument to de Lesseps was erected.
There were no local resources here, everything Port Said needed had to be imported: wood, stone, supplies, machinery, equipment, housing, food 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 often imported in kit form and made great use of wood. For the jetties, the new technique of conglomerate concrete or "beton Coignet" (named after its inventor Francois Coignet
François Coignet
François Coignet was a French industrialist of the nineteenth century. He was a pioneer in the development of structural prefabricated and reinforced concrete. Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete as a technique for constructing building structures.- Biography :Coignet, along with...
) was used. Artificial blocks of concrete were sunk into the sea to be the foundations of the jetties. Still more innovative was the use of the same concrete for the lighthouse of Port Said
Lighthouse of Port Said
The Lighthouse of Port Said is one of the most important architectural and tourist landmarks in the city of Port Said in Egypt. Considered a unique example for the evolution of architecture during the nineteenth century in the city, the lighthouse was designed by François Coignet at the request of...
, the only original building still standing in Port Said.
In 1859 the first 150 labourers camped in tents around a wooden shed. A year later, the number of inhabitants had risen to 2000 - with the European contingent housed in wooden bungalows imported from northern Europe. By 1869, when the canal opened, the permanent population had reached 10,000. The European district, clustered around the waterfront, was separated from the Arab district, Gemalia, 400 meters to the west, by a wide strip of sandy beach where a tongue of Lake Manzala
Lake Manzala
Lake Manzala is a brackish lake, sometimes called a lagoon, in northeastern Egypt on the Nile Delta near Port Said and a few miles from the ancient ruins at Tanis. It is the largest of the northern deltaic lakes of Egypt. As of 2008 it is 47km long and 30km wide.-Geography:Lake Manzala is long but...
reached towards the sea. This inlet soon dried out and was replaced by buildings, over time there was no division between the European and Arab quarters.
At the start of the twentieth century, two things happened to change Port Said: in 1902, Egyptian cotton from Mataria started to be exported via Port Said; and in 1904 a standard gauge railway opened to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
. The result was to attract a large commercial community and to raise its social status. In particular a sizeable Greek community grew up.
Following the end of the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the directors of the Suez Canal Company decided to create a new city on the Asian bank building 300 houses for its labourers and functionaries, Port Fouad was designed by the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the houses follow the French model, the new city was founded in December 1926.
By the late 1920s the population numbered over 100,000 people. Port Said by now was a thriving, bustling international port with a multi-national population: Jewish merchants, Egyptian shopkeepers, Greek photographers, Italian architects, Swiss hoteliers, Maltese administrators, Scottish engineers, French bankers and diplomats from all around the world. All lived and worked alongside the large local Egyptian community. And always passing through, international travellers to and from Africa, India and the Far East.
People of all nationalities and religions moved to the city and each community brought in its own customs, cuisine, religion and architecture. In the 1930s for example there were elegant public buildings designed by Italian architects. The old Arab Quarter was swallowed up into the thriving city.
Since its establishment Port Said played significant role in the Egyptian history, the British entered Egypt through the city in 1882 starting their occupation of Egypt, In 1936 a treaty was signed, between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Egypt called the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936
Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936
The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Egypt; it is officially known as The Treaty of Alliance Between His Majesty, in Respect of the United Kingdom, and His Majesty, the King of Egypt...
. It stipulated the British pledge to withdraw all their troops from Egypt, except those necessary to protect the Suez Canal and its surroundings. Following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Egypt denounced the Treaty of 1936, leading to skirmishes with British troops guarding the Canal in 1951.
The Egyptian Revolution of 1952 occurred, then in 1956 President Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company. The nationalisation escalated tension with Britain and France that colluded with Israel to invade Egypt, the invasion known in Egypt as the tripartite aggression or the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
, the main battles occurred in Port Said, which played a historic role in resisting the tripartite aggression that failed to achieve any of its objectives, the withdrawal of the last soldier of foreign troops was on the 23rd of December 1956, since then this day was chosen as Port Said's national day, and its widely celebrated annually in the valiant city.
After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, also called the Six Day War, the Suez Canal was closed by an Egyptian blockade until 5 June 1975, and the residents of Port Said were evacuated by the Egyptian government to prepare for the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
(1973).
The city was re-inhabited after the war and the reopening of the Canal, in 1976 Port Said was declared duty-free port attracting people from allover Egypt, now the population of the city is 603,787.
Climate
Port Said has a desert climateDesert climate
A desert climate , also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub.An area that features this climate usually experiences less than...
, with moderate summers and winters. The city witnesses average rainfall during winters. Sleet
Ice pellets
Ice pellets are a form of precipitation consisting of small, translucent balls of ice. Ice pellets usually are smaller than hailstones. They often bounce when they hit the ground, and generally do not freeze into a solid mass unless mixed with freezing rain...
and hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
are also common, January and February are the coolest months while the hottest are July and August.
Districts
Modern Port Said is divided into six districts:- Al-Ganoub District:(504,000km2)
- Al-Zohour District:(262,581km2)
- Al-Dawahy District:(62,673km2)
- Al-Sharq District:(5,017km2)
- Al-Manakh District:(3,312km2)
- Al-Arab District:(1,592km2)
There are also Port Fouad
Port Fouad
Port Fuad is a city in north-eastern Egypt under the jurisdiction of Port Said Governorate, located across the Suez Canal from Port Said. It forms the northwesternmost part of Sinai Peninsula and has a population of 560,000...
city (505,695km2) under the jurisdiction of the Port Said governorate forming metropolitan
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
Port Said.
Colleges and universities
Port Said has a number of higher education institutions. Port Said UniversityPort Said University
Port Said University is a university in Port Said, Egypt. It was established in 2010, after the decision of the Egyptian president to establish this university to succeed Port Said's branch of the Suez Canal University which was established in 1976....
is a public university that follows the Egyptian system of higher education. The most notable faculties of the university are the faculty of engineering and the faculty of science. In addition, the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport
Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport
The Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport is an organization specialized in Science and Technology and Maritime Transport....
is a semi-private educational institution that offers courses for high school , undergraduate level students , postgraduate. It is considered the most reputable university in Egypt after the AUC American University in Cairo
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo is an independent, non-profit, apolitical, secular institution of higher learning located in Cairo, Egypt...
because of its worldwide recognition from (board of engineers at UK & ABET in USA). Sadat Academy for Management Sciences is an Egyptian Public Academy under the authorization of the Ministry of State for Administrative Development.
Schools
Port Said contains about 349 schools in all different educational stages between governmental, experimental, private language schools beside French historical schools.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoun_private_school
Airports
Port Said is served by Port Said AirportPort Said Airport
Port Said Airport serves the city of Port Said, Egypt, at the north end of the Suez Canal.In 2009, the airport served 30,196 passengers .-Modernisation:...
located about 6 km away from city centre.
The airport will be reopened in February 2011 after being modernised to be fit for international flights.
Highways
- The International coastal road. (AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
- Port Said) - CairoCairoCairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
– IsmailiaIsmaïlia-Notable natives:*Osman Ahmed Osman, a famous and influential Egyptian engineer, contractor, entrepreneur, and politician, was born in this town on 6 April 1917....
- Port Said desert road.(Port Said - Cairo /220 km) - Port Said - DamiettaDamiettaDamietta , also known as Damiata, or Domyat, is a port and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the intersection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile, about north of Cairo.-History:...
road.
Train
The Port Said train station is on Mustafa Kamal Street, There are frequent train services from Cairo, Alexandria and other main Egyptian cities to Port Said. The travel time between Cairo and Port Said is about four hours while the Alexandria - Port Said route can be covered in about six hours.Intercity passenger service is operated by Egyptian National RailwaysEgyptian National Railways
Egyptian National Railways is the national railway of Egypt and managed by the parastatal Egyptian Railway Authority .-1833–77:...
. Tickets can be reserved online using the Egyptian National Railways website.
Ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
to its twin city Port Fouad
Port Fouad
Port Fuad is a city in north-eastern Egypt under the jurisdiction of Port Said Governorate, located across the Suez Canal from Port Said. It forms the northwesternmost part of Sinai Peninsula and has a population of 560,000...
which is considered the Asian part of this Afro-Asian governorate "Port Said" on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, the ferry is used to cross the Canal between the two cities holding both people and cars as well for free, the time between the two cities across the canal by using the ferry doesn't exceed 10 minutes.
Other means of public transport
Public busBus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es are operated by Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
Governorate's Agency for Public Passenger Transport. Private Transport also are available referred to as Micro Buses (14 seat minibus
Minibus
A minibus or minicoach is a passenger carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
).Saloon car Taxicabs are comfort white and blue with reasonable price.
Port
The PortPort
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
of Port Said is the 28th-busiest seaport for container
Containerization
Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
transport, the second-busiest in the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
(narrowly behind the port of Salalah
Salalah
Salalah , is the capital and seat of the governor or Wali of the southern Omani province of Dhofar. The population of Salalah was 197,169 in 2009....
in Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
), and the busiest container seaport in Egypt, with 3,470 TEU
Twenty-foot equivalent unit
The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...
transported in 2009. It is divided into:
- Port Said Port
- East Port Said Port
The port is bordered, seaward, by an imaginary line from the western breakwater boundary till the eastern breakwater end. And from the Suez Canal area, it is bordered by an imaginary line extending transversely from the southern bank of the Canal connected to Manzala Lake, and the railways arcade livestock.
Navigation channels
Main channel- Length: 8 km (5 mi)
- Depth: 13.72 m (45.01 ft)
East verge channel
- Length: 19.5 km (12 mi)
- Depth: 18.29 m (60.01 ft)
Approach area
Dwelling area
The Suez Canal dwelling area is situated between latitudes 31° 21' N and 31° 25' N and longitudes 32° 16.2°' E and 32° 20.6' E. where vessels awaiting to accede Port Said port stay whether to join the North convoy to transit the Suez Canal to carry out stevedoring operations or to be supplied with provisions and bunkers. The dwelling area is divided into two sections:The Northern Area is allocated for vessels with deep drafts. The Southern Area is for all vessel types.
Museums
- Port Said National Museum, It is located in Palestine street in front of the tourist jetty, near the centre of the city. It contains about 9000 artifacts that narrate the story of Port Said and EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. - Port Said Military Museum was inaugurated in 1964.It is located in 23 July street, It narrates the story of the Egyptian resistance in Port Said for the tripartite aggression during the Suez CrisisSuez CrisisThe Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
in 1956, the wars of 1967 and 1973, also It contains a hall that narrates the genesis of the city and the Suez Canal. - Museum of Modern Art in EgyptMuseum of Modern Art in EgyptMuseum of Modern Art—Port Said is a modern and contemporary art museum, located in Shohada Square, in Port Said, Egypt. The town of Port Said has an international history of being a cultural crossroads and cosmopolitan community, located at the confluence of the Suez Canal and Mediterranean Sea, on...
.
Sports
The main sport that interests Port Saidians is football, as is the case in the rest of Egypt and Africa, meanwhile Port Saidians are known by their enthusiasm in supporting their popular team Al-Masry Club.Port Said Stadium
Port Said Stadium
Port Said Stadium or "Stad Būr Sa'īd", is a multi-use stadium with an all-seated capacity of 18,000. Located in Al-Manakh district in Port Said, Egypt, it was completed in 1955, and was inaugurated by Hussein el-Shafei the Egyptian minister of social affairs on behalf of President Gamal Abdel Nasser...
is a multi-purpose stadium
Multi-purpose stadium
Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed in such a way as to be easily used by multiple sports. While any stadium could potentially host more than one sport, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multi-functionality over specificity...
in Port Said, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. It is currently used mostly for football matches, and was used for the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship
1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship
-Group B:---------------------Group C:---------------------Group D:-------------------------Knockout Stage:-Quarterfinals:-------------Semifinals:-----Playoff for 3rd place:-Final:-Top goalscorers:...
, 2006 African Cup of Nations, 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup
2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup
The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, was the 17th U-20 tournament, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October, in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Suez and Ismaïlia...
held in Egypt. The stadium was built in 1954. It holds 17,988 people.
The second most popular sport in Port Said is Handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
, the city has a club called Port Said Club that won many local and African tournaments during the nineties.
Port Said Hall
Port Said Hall
Port Said Indoor Hall is an Olympic-standard, multi-use indoor sporting arena located in Al-Zohour district in Port Said, Egypt. The capacity of the arena is 5,000 spectators.It was built in time for the 1999 World Men's Handball Championship....
is an Indoor Hall in Port Said that hosts competitions of Handball, Basketball and Volleyball, and was used for the 1999 World Men's Handball Championship
1999 World Men's Handball Championship
The 1999 World Championship for men in team handball was the 16th edition of the Men's World Handball Championship. It was held in Egypt, from June 2 to June 15, in the cities of Cairo, Ismailia and Port Said.-Preliminary round:In the following tables:...
held in Egypt. It holds 5000 people.
Hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
and other sports are practiced on a lower scale.
Tourism
Tourism in Egypt
Tourism is one of the most important sectors in Egypt's economy. More than 12.8 million tourists visited Egypt in 2008, providing revenues of nearly $11 billion. The sector employs about 12 percent of Egypt's workforce. -History:...
, due to its public and private beaches, cosmopolitan heritage, Museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s and duty-free port, beside the other landmarks like the Lighthouse of Port Said
Lighthouse of Port Said
The Lighthouse of Port Said is one of the most important architectural and tourist landmarks in the city of Port Said in Egypt. Considered a unique example for the evolution of architecture during the nineteenth century in the city, the lighthouse was designed by François Coignet at the request of...
, the war memorial that has shape of the Pharaonic ancient obelisks and the building of the Suez Canal Authority
Suez Canal Authority
is a state owned authority which owns, operates and maintains the Suez Canal. It was set up by Egypt to replace the Suez Canal Company in the 1950s which resulted in the Suez Crisis...
headquarter in Port Said, also Tennis, Egypt island situated in lake Manzaleh is a destination that attracts tourists to enjoy visiting this ancient Islamic city which was demolished during the crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
.
Notable natives
- Abdulrahman FawziAbdulrahman FawziAbdulrahman Fawzi was an Egyptian footballer who played at the 1934 FIFA World Cup. He scored twice for Egypt in their 2-4 loss against Hungary, which was the first time that an African team had competed at the FIFA World Cup...
, (Former Egyptian player in Al-MasryAl-MasryAl-Masry Sporting Club , is an Egyptian sporting club based in Port Said. Founded in 1920 by a group of Egyptians in Port Said to be the first club for the Egyptians in the city which was full of many other clubs for the foreign communities which inhabited Port Said...
,participated in the World Cup 1934) - Abdel Rahman Shokry, (Egyptian poet)
- Amr DiabAmr DiabAmr Abdol-Basset Abdol-Azeez Diab is an Egyptian singer and composer of geel music; the contemporary face of Egyptian el-geel pop music, according to World Music. Diab is the best-selling Arab recording artist of all time, according to Let's Go Egypt...
, (Egyptian singer and composer and best-selling Arab recording artist) - El-Sayed El-DhizuiEl-Sayed El-DhizuiEl-Sayed Mohammed Al-Tabei “El-Dhizui” is a former Egyptian footballer.He was born in Port Said.The great Egyptian forward El-Sayed Al-Tabei was given the nickname El-Dhizui for his likeness to a local-based Italian player called Desi Lucetti...
, (Former Egyptian player in Al-MasryAl-MasryAl-Masry Sporting Club , is an Egyptian sporting club based in Port Said. Founded in 1920 by a group of Egyptians in Port Said to be the first club for the Egyptians in the city which was full of many other clubs for the foreign communities which inhabited Port Said...
and one of the top scorers in the Egyptian Premier LeagueEgyptian Premier LeagueThe Egyptian Premier League is an Egyptian professional league for football clubs and represents the top flight of Egyptian football. The championship consists of nineteen competing teams in a home and away league system. It is currently known as the Etisalat Egyptian Premier League, after the...
) - Fayza Aboel Naga, (Egyptian minister of international cooperation)
- Hani Abou Raida, (FIFA executive member)
- Hans DijkstalHans DijkstalHenri Frans "Hans" Dijkstal was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He served as Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister from 22 August 1994 until 3 August 1998...
, (Dutch politician "former Deputy Prime Minister") - Ibrahim El BatoutIbrahim El BatoutIbrahim El Batout is an Egyptian filmmaker, based in Cairo, Egypt. Born in Port Said on 20 September 1963.He has worked as a director, producer and cameraman capturing stories mainly about human loss, suffering, and displacement since 1987. He has directed numerous documentaries for international...
, (Egyptian director) - Mahmoud Yassin, (Egyptian actor)
- Malak Algamal, (Egyptian actress)
- Mohamed Sayed Said, (Egyptian journalist and political analyst)
- Mohamed ShawkyMohamed ShawkyMohamed Ali Abu El Yazid Shawky is an Egyptian footballer. He plays the Defensive midfielder position for Egyptian Premier League side Al-Ahly as well as the Egypt's national football team...
, (professional football player with Al-AhlyAl-AhlyAl-Ahly Sports Club , commonly known as simply Al-Ahly, is an Egyptian sporting club. Founded in April 1907, Al-Ahly was named in 2000 by the Confederation of African Football as the "African Club of the Century"...
) - Mohamed ZidanMohamed ZidanMohamed Abdullah Zidan is an Egyptian footballer. He currently plays as a striker for the German club Borussia Dortmund as well as the Egyptian national team. Nicknamed "Zizou", he is known for putting unique designs in his hair.-Early career:Zidan was born in Port Said, Egypt, to an Egyptian...
, (professional football player with Borussia DortmundBorussia DortmundBallspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
) - Mohsen Sarhan, (Egyptian actor)
- Mosaad Nour, (Former Egyptian player in Al-Masry Club "the historic star of the team")
- Nagea Abou-El-Nour El-Qeaa
- Samir Farag, (Luxor governor)
- Sekina Fouad, (Egyptian journalist and novelist)
- Suheir Ramzi, (Egyptian actress)
- Ibrahim Soudan
Twin towns — Sister cities
Port Said is twinned with:Volgograd
Volgograd
Volgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(1962) Bizerte
Bizerte
Bizerte or Benzert , is the capital city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia and the northernmost city in Africa. It has a population of 230,879 .-History:...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
(1977)
External links
- Port Said Governorate Official website (in Arabic)
- Port Said Page on Facebook
- History of Port Said 1859-1939 (in English)
- Port Said Port Authority
- Portsaid's Free-zone
- Portsaid history
- Portsaid-online (in Arabic)