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Located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, Alexandria (in Arabic, Iskandariyyah) is the chief seaport in Egypt, and that country's second largest city, and the capital of the Al Iskandariyah governate. It is located at 31°12? N 29°15? E, 208 km (129 miles) northwest of Cairo. The Canopic mouth of the Nile (now dry) was 19 km (12 miles) east, near the ancient city of Canopus. It was named after its founder, Alexander the Great, and as the seat of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt quickly became one of the greatest cities of the Hellenistic world second only to Rome in size and wealth throughout much of antiquity. However, upon the founding of Cairo by Egypt's mediæval Islamic rulers its status as the country's capital was ended, and it fell into a long decline, which by the late Ottoman period had seen it reduced to little more than a small fishing village.
MAREOTIS (Arabic Mariut), the most westerly of the lakes in the Delta of Egypt. On the narrow strip of land separating the lake from the Mediterranean the city of Alexandria is built.
Published for Elisee Reclus Universal Geography |
