Damietta Governorate

Damietta Governorate

Damietta governorate is a small province located in the extreme northeast of Egypt in the delta region. It is sparsely populated with slightly more than 1 million people. Damietta is divided into administrative sub-districts: Damietta Central, Faraskur Central, Zarqa Central, and Kafr Saad Central. These 4 administrative centers, or "markaz" in Arabic, altogether consist of 10 cities, 35 local village units, 59 villages, and 722 sub-villages. The capital of Damietta governorate is the historically famous Damietta city. This province is also well known for housing a large number of educational institutions. In total, there are 657 schools, 7 colleges, and 19 professional training institutes in various fields located in the Damietta governorate. Historically, Damietta governorate is well-known for the Battle of Faraskur and the Siege of the city of Damietta during the Fifth and Seventh Crusades.

The economy of Damietta Governorate

The main source of income of Damietta governorate is the production of various furniture products, which are exported to other countries in the Middle East, the EU, and the USA. Due to the abundance of palm trees, Damietta governorate also earns a lot by exporting large amounts of palm trees to other foreign countries. The top two palm tree importers from Damietta are Greece and China. Damietta is also famous for the widespread cultivation of wheat, rice, maize, cotton, potatoes, lemon, grapes, and tomatoes. In fact, Damietta supplies a significant amount of Egypt's domestic food. Among the other major flourishing industries of this region, the preparation of dry sweets, the packaging of sardines, and the manufacture of Domiati cheese and other dairy products are also prominent. There is also the Segas Liquified Natural Gas Plant, which is a joint venture of a Spanish utility company, an Italian oil company, and two Egyptian energy companies. Recently, the Egyptian branch of a Canadian company has also set up a large methanol plant here.

Damietta city

This city was named tamiat in ancient Egypt. It was later ruled by the Romans and then taken over by the Arabs in the 7th century AD. Both the Fifth and Seventh Crusades were fought between the French and the Egyptians for the control of this city, as it is situated in an advantageous position near the Nile. In fact, the modern name of this port city is acquired from the Damietta River, which is a channel of the Nile. Damietta city is particularly famous for its numerous guava trees and palm trees, which line the entire coastal region, from Ras El Bar to Gamasa. Ras El Bar is one of the earliest-built summer resorts in Egypt and is located at the meeting point of the Nile and the Mediterranean Sea. Several historical mosques in the Damietta city area are also notable tourist attractions, due to their splendid architecture and historical and religious importance; Amr Ibn Al-a'as Mosque, Al-Bahr Mosque, Al-Maainy Mosque, Al-Matbuly Mosque, and Al-Radwaniya Mosque are the most outstanding mosques in the area. They were all built by the ancient Arab rulers of Egypt. The ruins of Damietta Fort also draw huge tourist interest, mainly due to its ancient date and historical importance.