Ezbet El Borg ( ar, عزبة البرج, ; also transliterated ', lit. ''Village of the Tower'') is a coastal city with a large fishing industry in Damietta Governorate,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. It is 15 km (9 mi) northeast of

Damietta Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...

, and 210 km (130 mi) from

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. Its population is approximately 70,000. The city is situated on the

northern coast of Egypt The Northern Coast of Egypt ( ar, الساحل الشمالي, "'", North Coast, commonly shortened to "'", "The Coast" or "The Egyptian Coast") extends for about along the Mediterranean Sea, it covers entirely the northern territory of Egypt. ...

at the mouth of the Damietta river, a

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...

of the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

, opposite

Ras El Bar Ras El Bar ( ar, رأس البر ', ), which translates to "head of land", is a resort city in the Governorate of Damietta, Egypt. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea at the mouth of the Damietta Nile branch. There are approximately 25,000 ...

History

The city was named in reference to the defensive tower that once stood there (" Burj" in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

means tower). In 1869, a

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

was built to guide ships in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, but this location is now just a shallow spot in the Nile riverbed. The town was historically granted to the Syrian ''Kahil'' family by

Muhammad Ali of Egypt Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...

. In recent history, there were accusations of ballot stuffing at the local voting station during the 2007 Shura Council election. The

August 2009 Egyptian hostage escape On August 13, 2009, Egyptians captured by Somali pirates and held hostage for ransom attacked their captors, using whatever was at their disposal before seizing weapons from the pirates. They managed to overpower their captors and reach Aden, Yeme ...

from Somali pirates mostly involved sailors from the town.

Economy

The city is home to approximately 10,000 fishermen (1% of Egypt's total), and the base of Egypt's largest fishing boat fleet, including boats of the traditional

felucca A felucca ( ar, فلوكة, falawaka, possibly originally from Greek , ) is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in the eastern Mediterranean—including around Malta and Tunisia—in Egypt and Sudan (particularly along the Nile and in protect ...

type. The city is also home to a sardine-canning factory operated by the Edfina Company. The fishing sector provides the main source of income for the locals. Many of the fishing boats venture far along the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea. It is also a center for ship and yacht-building in Egypt. In 2014 and 2015, the fishermen of Ezbet El Borg were involved in a dispute with the Egyptian Authority for Maritime Safety regarding compliance with maritime safety standards.

References

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External links

Photograph
Fishing communities Mediterranean port cities and towns in Egypt Populated places in Damietta Governorate

History

Economy

See also

References

External links