Tanta
Tanta, Egypt
طنطا Template:Ar icon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname: El Badawy City | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Governorate | Gharbia |
| Elevation | 12 m (39 ft) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Total | 445,560 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EST) |
| Area code | (+20) 40 |
Tanta, Egypt (Egyptian Arabic: طنطا Ṭanṭa , pronounced [ˈtˤɑntˤɑ]) is a city in Egypt. It is the country's fifth largest populated area, with an estimated 429,000 inhabitants (2008).[1] Tanta is located 94 km (58 mi) north to Cairo and 130 km (81 mi) southeast of Alexandria. The capital of the Gharbia Governorate, it is a centre for the cotton-ginning industry and the main railroad hub of the Nile Delta.
Overview
Tanta is known for its sweets, eaten during the mulid (Arabic: المولد) festivals. The main streets are Al- Bahr(algeish) Street, Al-Galaa Street, Al-Nahaas Street, Hassan Radwan Street, Alnady street and Saeed Street.
Tanta has cotton ginning factories and textile industries, and is also a university town (Tanta University since 1972)and an institute attached to the El-Azhar University in Cairo as well as the seat of a Metropolitan of the Coptic Church.
This city comes to life in late October at the end of the cotton harvest. About two million people from around the Delta and other parts of the Arab world come for the Moulid of Sayid Ahmed el-Badawi, which is an eight day celebration. The moulid is centered around the Mosque and Tomb of Sayid Ahmed el Badawi. El Badawi was the founder of one of Egypt's largest Sufi orders called Badawiya. He was born in Morocco, but emigrated to Arabia. He was sent to Tanta in 1234 as a representative of the order from Iraq. He was given permission to start a new order in Tanta and it soon flourished. His tomb was destroyed in the mid-nineteenth century but another was built and is the center of the festival. During the festival many sugar-coated nuts called 'hubb el Azziz' ('seeds of the Beloved Prophet') are eaten. They have been considered a delicacy since ancient times. The Museum of Tanta contains collections from the present day back to Pharaonic times.
History
Three annual festivals are held in Tanta in honor of Ahmad al-Badawi, a revered Sufi figure of the 13th century, who founded the El-Ahmadiah tariqah and is buried in the main mosque of the city (see Egyptian festivals).
Climate
| Climate data for Tanta, Egypt | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 18.7 (65.7) |
19.4 (66.9) |
22.1 (71.8) |
27.1 (80.8) |
31.0 (87.8) |
33.6 (92.5) |
33.1 (91.6) |
32.7 (90.9) |
31.6 (88.9) |
29.2 (84.6) |
24.2 (75.6) |
20.3 (68.5) |
26.9 (80.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) |
6.6 (43.9) |
7.8 (46.0) |
11.2 (52.2) |
14.3 (57.7) |
17.3 (63.1) |
19.7 (67.5) |
19.7 (67.5) |
17.8 (64.0) |
15.3 (59.5) |
11.5 (52.7) |
8.0 (46.4) |
14 (57) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 13 (0.5) |
8 (0.3) |
7 (0.3) |
3 (0.1) |
2 (0.1) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
2 (0.1) |
4 (0.2) |
12 (0.5) |
51 (2.0) |
| Source: Climate Charts[2] | |||||||||||||
Famous people born in Tanta
- Kamal Amin (Arabic: كمال أمين) (1923–1979) Egyptian Artist.
- Abdu Al-Hamouli (Arabic: عبده الحامولى) (1836–1901) Arab-Egyptian singer in the second half of the 1800s.
- Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary (Arabic: محمود خليل الحصرى) (1917–1980) Renowned reciter of the Qur'an.
- Mohamed Fawzi (Arabic: محمد فوزى), (1918–1966) Egyptian composer, singer, and actor.
- Hoda Sultan (Arabic: هدى سلطان) (1925–2006) Egyptian singer and actress.
- Naima Akef (Arabic: نعيمة عاكف) (1939–1966) Egyptian bellydancer and movie superstar.
- Doria Shafiq (Arabic: درية شفيق) (1908–1975) One of the few who led the Women's Liberation Movement in Egypt in the early 1950s.
- Soheir al Morshedy (Arabic: سهير المرشدى) (1946 - ) Egyptian actress.
- Mustafa Kamil Pasha (1874–1908) Egyptian nationalist leader, orator, and editor.
- Ahmed Hegazy (1936 - ) Popularly known as "Hegazy" - caricature artist.
- Nasr Abu Zayd "Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd" (1943–2010) Egyptian Qur'anic thinker and a liberal theologian in Islam.
- Dr.Osama abou hamer د.أسامة سعيد أبوحمر ) Egyptian Consultant of Neuro psychiatry Based in London managed to simplify the psychological and behavioral diseases in TV programs Europe and England.
- Ahmed Khaled Tawfik (1962 - ) Egyptian author.
See also
- Nile Delta - Information on the region.
- University of Tanta.
References
- ^ World Gazetteer. "Statistical information on Tanta, Egypt". Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ^ "Tanta, Egypt: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data". Climate Charts. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. "Geographical information on Tanta, Egypt". Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- Detailed map of Egyptian towns and temples: http://unimaps.com/egypt/index.html