Alexandria

Alexandria is a Mediterranean seaport along the northern coast of Egypt, west of the Nile Delta. The city stretches along a narrow strip of land between Lake Mariout and the open sea. It serves as the primary maritime freight terminal for Egyptian foreign commerce and shipping.

Alexander the Great founded the settlement in 331 BC, near the Egyptian village of Rhakotis. Ptolemy I Soter made it the capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom a few decades later, establishing a center for Mediterranean scholarship and commerce. Sostratus of Cnidus completed the Pharos lighthouse during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The city remained the administrative capital of Egypt under Roman rule until the seat of government moved inland to Fustat in 641. Muhammad Ali Pasha revived the port in the 19th century, completing the Mahmoudiyah Canal to restore a direct freshwater connection to the Nile River.

The Port of Alexandria and nearby Dekheila handle container traffic, bulk grain imports, and petroleum shipments for Egypt. Administrative offices manage maritime trade across the western docks, where customs agencies clear commercial cargo. Petrochemical manufacturing takes place at the Middle East Oil Refinery, alongside cotton spinning and iron processing in the Amreya district. Industrial plants also produce paper, fertilizers, and processed vegetables for distribution across North Africa. Alexandria University, founded in the 1930s as Farouk I University, provides technical education in marine engineering, agriculture, and medicine.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened along the eastern harbor in the early 2000s as a library complex containing museums and research institutes. At the harbor entrance, the Citadel of Qaitbay dates to the late 15th century, built by Sultan al-Ashraf Qaitbay on the foundation site of the ancient lighthouse. Inland stands Pompey's Pillar, a red granite column erected at the end of the 3rd century for Emperor Diocletian. Further east along the coastline, Montaza Palace preserves Ottoman and Florentine pavilions commissioned by Khedive Abbas II in the 1890s as a royal coastal retreat.