Suez

Governorate (Arabic: محافظة السويس Muḥāfāzah as-Suways) is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country and is coterminous with the city of Suez. It is situated north of the Gulf of Suez. Railway lines and highways connect the city with Cairo, Port Said, and Ismailia. Suez has a petrochemical plant, and its oil refineries have pipelines carrying the finished product to Cairo. These are represented in the flag of the governorate: the blue background refers to the sea, the gear refers to Suez’s status as an industrial governorate, and the flame refers to the petroleum firms of Suez. The modern city of Suez is a successor of the ancient city of Clysma (Ancient Greek: Κλῦσμα, romanized: Klŷsma, meaning “surf, waves that break”; Coptic: ⲡⲉⲕⲗⲟⲩⲥⲙⲁ, romanized: Peklousma; Arabic: القلزم, romanized: al-Qulzum), a major Red Sea port and a center of monasticism.

History Early Islamic era In the 7th century AD a town named “Kolzum” stood just north of the site of present-day Suez and served as eastern terminus of a canal built by Amr ibn al-‘As, linking the Nile River and the Red Sea. Kolzum’s trade fell following the closure of the canal in 770 by the second Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur, to prevent his enemies in Arabia from accessing supplies from Egypt and the lands north of it. Nonetheless, the town benefited from the trade that remained between Egypt and Arabia.[6] By 780 al-Mansur’s successor al-Mahdi restored part of the canal.[7] The Qarmatians led by al-Hasan al-A’sam defeated a Fatimid army headed by Jawhar al-Siqilli at Kolzum in 971 and thereby captured the town. Following his defeat in Cairo by al-Siqilli at the end of that year, Hasan and his forces retreated to Arabia via Kolzum. Suez was situated nearby and served as a source of drinking water for Kolzum, according to the Arab traveler al-Muqaddasi, who visited in 986.

Population According to population estimates, in 2015 all 622,859 residents of the governorate lived in urban areas. With an urbanization rate of 100% the Suez Governorate is one of the most urbanized in the country, along with Cairo and Port Said.

Ports There are five ports in the Suez Governorate: namely El-Sokhna port, Tewfiq port, Adabeya port, petrol basin port, and El-Atka fishing port.