Sidi Barrani ( ar, سيدي براني ) is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in
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 ...
, near 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 ...
, about
east of the
Egypt–Libya border
The Egypt–Libya border ( ar, الحدود المصرية الليبية) is 1,115 km (693 mi) in length and runs from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the tripoint with Sudan in the south.
Description
The border starts in the north o ...
, and around from
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...
,
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 ...
.
Named after
Sidi
''Sidi'' or ''Sayidi'', also Sayyidi and Sayeedi, ( ar, سيدي, Sayyīdī, Sīdī (dialectal) "milord") is an Arabic masculine title of respect. ''Sidi'' is used often to mean "saint" or "my master" in Maghrebi Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. Wi ...
es-Saadi el Barrani, a
Senussi
The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi ( ar, السنوسية ''as-Sanūssiyya'') are a Muslim political-religious tariqa (Sufi order) and clan in colonial Libya and the Sudan region founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Senussi ( ar, السنوسي ...
sheikh who was a head of its
Zawiya, the village is mainly a
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 ...
community. It has food, gasoline outlets and one small hotel, but virtually no tourist activity or visited historical curiosities. It is the site of an
Egyptian Air Force
The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية المصرية, El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīya), is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all milit ...
base.
History
Located close to the Roman city of Zygra, in the Roman province of
Libya Inferior
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 (ancient ...
, Sidi Barrani is often mentioned in historical records to mark the limit of the initial
Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya. The
Italian Tenth Army built a series of
forts
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
in the vicinity.
American Field Service
AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professional ...
volunteers, providing ambulance services and serving with the British
8th Army were based in the area, in June 1942, 30 miles east of Sidi Barrani.
Sidi Barrani was a destination during the
total solar eclipse on October 3, 2005, as expeditions traveled to the best observation point, Zawiet Mahtallah, east of Sidi Barrani.
[
" Valoria La Buena annular eclipse expedition Oct. 3, 2005" (report),
Solar Physics Group, Astrophysics Lab, University of Rome, January 10, 2007,
webpage (mostly Italian)]
ICRA-solar
mentions the Sidi Barrani observation area.
Climate
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as
hot desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one ...
(''BWh''), but it is part of 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. ...
which has moderated temperatures.
In popular media
In Kurt Vonnegut's novel ''
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...
'', Sidi Barrani is the site where Dan Gregory (a tormenting magazine illustrator and Nazi sympathizer) was killed on 7 December 1940 during the
Battle of Sidi Barrani
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
. The battle continued until 10 December, in which 30,000 British troops defeated almost 80,000 Italian soldiers holding the town.
"Did I ever tell you about the time I was in Sidi Barrani?" was a catchphrase for
Kenneth Horne
Charles Kenneth Horne, generally known as Kenneth Horne, (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969) was an English comedian and businessman. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on three BBC Radio series: ''Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh ...
in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
was, according to his memoirs, posted to Sidi Barrani during the Second World War.
(Oct. 2005, copyright 2005–2007 Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület)
at Sidi Barrani (Oct. 2005, copyright 2005–2007 Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület)
(9 KB).
* Photograph of Sidi Barrani observers (Oct. 2005, copyright 2005–2007 Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület)