Minya
is the capital of the Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located approximately 245 km (152 mi) south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile River, which flows north through the city. Minya has one of the highest concentrations of Coptic Christians in Egypt (approximately 50% of total population). It is the home city of the Minya University, Suzanne Mubarak Center for Arts, the new Minya Museum, and the regional North of Upper Egypt Radio and Television.
Etymology The city’s Arabic name comes from the Coptic, rendered in as ⲧⲙⲱⲛⲏ in Bohairic and ⲧⲙⲟⲟⲛⲉ in Sahidic, which in turn came from Ancient Greek: μονή, lit. ’stopping-place, station, monastery’. The modern city of Minya is often identified with the Ancient Egyptian settlement of Men’at Khufu based on the resemblance of two names, although this claim, proposed by Gauthier and Drew-Bear, is denied by modern Egyptology as the former has a clear Greek etymology. Minya is dubbed by the locals “Bride of Upper Egypt”, in reference to its strategic location in Middle Egypt as a vital link between the north and the south of Egypt.
Climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh). Luxor, Minya, Sohag, Qena and Asyut have the widest difference of temperatures between days and nights of any city in Egypt, with almost 16 °C (29 °F) difference. The city of Minya is located tightly between two ranges of about 500 m (1,600 ft)-mountains on both western and eastern sides, and falls away from the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, thus giving the city a significant temperature difference between summer and winter. During summertime, temperatures could reach 40 °C (104 °F), while winter in Minya sees temperatures drop to below 0 °C (32 °F) levels at night. While hail or snow are extremely rare due to Minya’s low precipitation averages, frost will occasionally form on cold winter nights. The average annual rainfall in Minya is 5.3 mm (0.21 in).
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