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

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 Medit ...

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

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...

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 The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

monastery and

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

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 Nuweiba (also spelled: Nueiba; ar, نويبع, ) is a coastal town in the eastern part of Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, located on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. History Historically, it is in the Asian Part of Egypt and the area was inhabited by t ...

killed 34 people and wounded over 170. In 2005,

Sharm El Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,670 ...

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 The Luxor massacre was the killing of 62 people, mostly tourists, on 17 November 1997, at Deir el-Bahari, an archaeological site and major tourist attraction across the Nile from Luxor, Egypt. Attack Deir el-Bahari is one of Egypt's top tour ...

of 1997, which killed 62 people). 2006 saw the Dahab bombings, which killed 23 people and wounded 80. The

Sinai insurgency The Sinai insurgency is an ongoing insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, that was commenced by Islamist militants against Egyptian security forces, which have also included attacks on civilians. The insurgency began during the Egyptian ...

, 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 inhabit the

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...

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

Landmarks

, an

monastery and

of world renown, is located in central part of the governorate, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of

, in the city of

Saint Catherine, Egypt Saint Catherine ( ar, سانت كاترين, ; el, Αγία Αικατερίνη; also spelled St. Katrine) is a city in the South Sinai Governorate of Egypt, at the foot of Mount Sinai. The city is famous for being the site of Saint Catherine's ...

. 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 The Syriac Sinaiticus or Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus (syrs), known also as the Sinaitic Palimpsest, of Saint Catherine's Monastery (Sinai, Syr. 30), or Old Syriac Gospels is a late-4th- or early-5th-century manuscript of 179 folios, containing a nea ...

and, until 1859, the

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

. Raithu Monastery is situated in

El Tor El Tor is a particular strain of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae'', the causative agent of cholera. Also known as ''V. cholerae'' biotype eltor, it has been the dominant strain in the seventh global cholera pandemic. It is distinguished from t ...

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

Cities and towns

Dahab Dahab ( arz, دهب, , "gold") is a small Egyptian town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, approximately northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, Dahab is now considered to be one of Egypt's most tre ...

* Saint Catherine *

* Taba * Ras sudr

Sites

Wadi Mukattab The Wadi Mukattab (Arabic for "Valley of Writing"), also known as the Valley of Inscriptions, is a wadi on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula near St Catherine's Monastery. It links the main road in the Wadi Feiran with the Wadi Maghareh's ancient turquois ...

* Wadi Feiran

References

External links

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