Matrouh Governorate ( ar, محافظة مطروح ) is one of the
governorates of Egypt
Egypt has a Centralisation, centralised system of local government officially called local administration as it is a branch of the Executive (government), Executive. The country is divided into twenty-seven governorates ( '; ; genitive case#Ara ...
. Located in the north-western part of the country, it borders
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. Its capital is
Mersa Matruh
Mersa Matruh ( ar, مرسى مطروح, translit=Marsā Maṭrūḥ, ), also transliterated as ''Marsa Matruh'', is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highway ...
.
Municipal divisions
The governorate is divided into
municipal divisions with a total estimated population as of July 2017 of 429,370.
Overview
The interior of the Matrouh Governorate is part of Egypt's
Western Desert, including the
Siwa Oasis
The Siwa Oasis ( ar, واحة سيوة, ''Wāḥat Sīwah,'' ) is an urban oasis in Egypt; between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert, 50 km (30 mi) east of the Libyan Egypt–Li ...
, in antiquity known for its shrine to
Amun
Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → (Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egyptian ...
. In the center of the Governorate is the
Qattara Depression
The Qattara Depression ( ar, منخفض القطارة, Munḫafaḍ al-Qaṭṭārah) is a depression in northwestern Egypt, specifically in the Matruh Governorate. The depression is part of the Western Desert of Egypt.
The Qattara Depressi ...
, descending to 133 metres below sea level.
Marsa Matrouh is the ancient grc-koi, Παραιτόνιον ''Paraitónion'',
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''Paraetonium''. It was the westernmost city of the
Ptolemaic Kingdom in the
Hellenistic period
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
. The city of
Apis, some 18 km to the west of Paraetonium, marked the boundary to Libycus
nome, and the
Halfaya Pass
Halfaya Pass ( ar, ممر حلفيا, translit=Mamarr Ḥalfayā ) is in northwest Egypt, 11.5 kilometres east of the border with Libya and 7.5 kilometres south of the other, more major pass in the ridge today. A high, narrow escarpment extends ...
(at
Sallum
Sallum ( ar, السلوم, translit=as-Sallūm various transliterations include ''El Salloum'', ''As Sallum'' or ''Sollum'') is a harbourside village or town in Egypt. It is along the Egypt/Libyan short north–south aligned coast of the Mediterra ...
) marked the boundary to
Marmarica
Marmarica ( Greek Μαρμαρική) in ancient geography was a littoral area in Ancient Libya, located between ''Cyrenaica'' and ''Aegyptus''. It corresponds to what is now the Libya and Egypt frontier, including the towns of Bomba (ancien ...
proper.
Matrouh Governorate contains many historical sites related to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The latter include
el Alamein
El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...
, which comprises cemeteries of fallen soldiers from
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
and
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
forces. An estimated 16 million mines, planted by the Europeans during the world wars and called "
devil's gardens
The Devil's gardens was the name given by Field Marshal () Erwin Rommel, commander of the German during the Second World War, to the defensive entanglements of land mines and barbed wire built to protect Axis defensive positions at El Alamein ...
", still hinder development of most of the governorate, and are constantly being removed.
The province has been described as "religiously conservative".
Population
According to population estimates, in 2015 the majority of residents in the governorate lived in urban areas, with an
urbanization
Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...
rate of 70.6%. Out of an estimated 447,846 people residing in the governorate, 316,005 people lived in urban areas as opposed to only 131,841 in rural areas.
Industrial zone
According to the Egyptian Governing Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), in affiliation with the Ministry of Investment (MOI), the following industrial zones are located in this governorate:
*The industrial zone in K 26
References
External links
El Watan News of Matrouh Governorate
{{Authority control
Governorates of Egypt