Suez

Suez, city (1996 pop. 417,610), NE Egypt, at the northern end of the Gulf of Suez and at the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. An important port with extensive facilities, it is also a refueling station, a holding area for ships entering the canal, and a center for the storage and refining of oil. Petroleum products, paper, and fertilizers are major manufactures. Suez is linked by rail with Ismailia and Cairo; oil is conveyed by pipelines to Cairo and Alexandria. The city is also a departure point for pilgrims on their way to Mecca. Although the site of the city was occupied in antiquity, Suez was little more than a small village throughout most of its history. In the 16th cent. it became a naval and trading station under the Ottoman Turks. After the completion (1869) of the Suez Canal the city became a major port. Its economy suffered during the periods that the canal was closed following the Arab-Iraeli Wars. Suez became a tax-free industrial zone after the canal permanently reopened in 1975.

Ship canal, Isthmus of Suez, Egypt. Connecting the Red Sea with the eastern Mediterranean Sea, it extends 101 mi (163 km) from Port Said to the Gulf of Suez and allows ships to sail directly between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Built by the French-owned Suez Canal Co., it was completed in 1869 after a decade of construction. Its ownership remained largely in French and British hands until Egypt nationalized it in 1956, setting off an international crisis (see Suez Crisis). It has a minimum width of 179 ft (55 m) and a depth of about 40 ft (12 m) at low tide. Though protected by international treaty, the canal has been closed twice. The first closing was during the Suez Crisis. The canal was closed again by the Six-Day War (1967) and remained inoperative until 1975. It is one of the world's most heavily used shipping lanes.

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Suez (السويس ) 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. Together they form a metropolitan area. Railway 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 travelling to and from Mecca.

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 1869. 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 Third Arab-Israeli War in 1967. Reconstruction of Suez began soon after Egypt reopened the Suez Canal, following the October 1973 war with Israel.

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. 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.

Gallery

See also

• Suez Port