SUEZ

'Suez' ( ) is a seaport town (population ca. 497,000) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has two harbors, Port Ibrahim and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities. Rail lines and highways connect the city with Cairo and Port Said. Suez has a petrochemical plant, and its oil refineries have pipelines carrying the finished product to Cairo.
Suez is a way station for Muslim pilgrims traveling to and from Mecca.

Contents

History

Suez Canal

History

In the 7th century a town near the site of present-day Suez was the eastern terminus of a canal linking the Nile River and the Red Sea. In the 16th century Suez was a Turkish naval station.
Its importance as a port increased after the Suez Canal opened in 1859. The city was virtually destroyed during battles in the late 1960s and early 1970s between Egyptian and Israeli forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula. The town was deserted following the Second Arab-Israeli War in 1956. Reconstruction of Suez began soon after Egypt reopened the Suez Canal, following the October 1973 war with Israel.

Suez Canal

Main articles: Suez Canal

There was a canal from the Nile delta to the Gulf of Suez in ancient times, when the gulf extended further north than it does today. This fell into disuse, and the present canal was built in the nineteenth century.
The Suez Canal offers a significantly shorter passage for ships than passing round the Cape of Good Hope. The construction of the Suez Canal was favoured by the natural conditions of the region: the comparatively short distance between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the occurrence of a line of lakes or depressions which became lakes (Lake Manzala in the north, and depressions, Timsah and the Bitter Lakes, part way along the route), and the generally flat terrain. The construction of the canal was proposed by the engineer and French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who acquired from Said Pasha the rights of constructing and operating the canal for a period of 99 years. The Suez Canal Company (Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez) was formed. Construction took 11 years, and the canal opened on 17th November 1869. Giuseppe Verdi composed his now-famous opera Aída to commemorate the opening. The canal had an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade.
In 1956, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the canal, provoking the Suez Crisis. Following the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, the canal was closed, to be reopened only in 1975.
Today, the canal is a vital link in world trade, and contributes significantly to the Egyptian economy.