South Sinai Governorate ( ar, محافظة جنوب سيناء ') is the least populated

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

of Egypt. It is located in the east of the country, encompassing the southern half of the Sinai Peninsula.

Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( ar, دير القدّيسة كاترين; grc-gre, Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Katherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, ...

, an Eastern Orthodox Church monastery and UNESCO World Heritage Site of world renown, is located in the central part of the governorate.

Municipal divisions

The governorate is divided into the following municipal divisions for administrative purposes with a total estimated population as of July 2017 of 102,507.

Tourism

The governorate is an attractive destination for tourism due to its amazing and fascinating nature scenes, however it has several terrorist attacks. In 1985, a mass murder occurred in the Ras Burqa resort and killed 8 people (7 Israeli tourists and 1 Egyptian policeman). The

2004 Sinai bombings The 2004 Sinai bombings were three bomb attacks targeting tourist hotels in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, on 7 October 2004. The attacks left 34 people dead and 171 injured. The bombings The explosions occurred on the night of 7 October, against ...

that targeted tourist hotels in and around Nuweiba killed 34 people and wounded over 170. In 2005, Sharm El Sheikh was hit by a terrorist attack. 88 people were killed, the majority of them Egyptians, and over 200 were wounded, at that time making it the deadliest terrorist action in the country's history (exceeding the Luxor massacre of 1997, which killed 62 people). 2006 saw the Dahab bombings, which killed 23 people and wounded 80. The Sinai insurgency, although happening mainly in the neighboring North Sinai Governorate, has occasionally spilled over to South Sinai. In February 2014, a tourist bus was attacked in Taba. The perpetrators killed the Egyptian bus driver and three South Korean tourists. After 2014, The Egyptian government and the Egyptian army took firm actions to eliminate terrorism, and now the city is quite safe.

Demographics

According to population estimates, in 2015 the majority of residents in the governorate lived in urban areas, with an urbanization rate of 51.1%. Out of an estimated 167,426 people residing in the governorate, 85,502 people lived in urban areas as opposed to only 81,924 in rural areas. The

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

inhabit the Mount Sinai area. Due to poor accessibility, at times the orchards in the mountains have served to hide narcotics smugglers in the region.

Landmarks

, an Eastern Orthodox Church monastery and UNESCO World Heritage Site of world renown, is located in central part of the governorate, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai, in the city of Saint Catherine, Egypt. Built between 548 and 565, the monastery is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world. The site contains the world's oldest continually operating library, possessing many unique books including the Syriac Sinaiticus and, until 1859, the Codex Sinaiticus.

Raithu Monastery El Tor ( ar, الطور ''/'' ), also romanized as ''Al-Tur'' and ''At-Tur'' and known as ''Tur Sinai'', formerly Raithu, is a small city and the capital of the South Sinai Governorate of Egypt. The name of the city comes from the Arabic term for ...

is situated in El Tor. It was built on a site where some 40 monks were massacred in the 4th or 5th century.

Cities and towns

* Dahab * El Tor * Nuweiba * Saint Catherine * Sharm El Sheikh * Taba *

Ras sudr Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio statio ...

Sites

* Wadi Mukattab * Wadi Feiran

References

External links

El Wattan News of South Sinai Governorate
{{Authority control Governorates of Egypt