Beheira Governorate enjoys an important strategical place, west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile. In addition, it comprises four important highways, namely the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, the Cairo agricultural road, the international road, and the circular road. Beheira Governorate is also home to many of the most important Coptic monasteries in Wadi El Natrun (Scetes).
Location of Beheira Governorate
Beheira Governorate is a coastal Egyptian town located in the northern part of the Nile Delta; its capital is Damanhur.
Overview
Beheira consists of 13 centres and 14 cities and contains essential industries such as cotton, chemicals, carpets, electricity, and fishing.
The province has many archaeological sites, including Abu El Matamir, Abu Hummus, Damanhour, Rosetta (Rashid), and Kafr El Dawwar. Archaeologists discovered Coins, lamps, animal bones, and pottery from the Roman and later Eastern Roman (Byzantine) eras at Kom El Giza and Kom El Hamam.
In 2017, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi appointed the first female governor in the country’s history, Nadia Ahmed Abdou, to Beheira Governorate.
The rate of poverty in this town is more than 60%. However, some social safety networks have recently provided financial assistance and job opportunities. Egypt’s Ministry of Finance has coordinated the funding with international organisations’ aid.
Municipal divisions
The governorate comprises the following municipal divisions for administrative purposes, with a total estimated population as of July 2017 of 6,200,137. There is a markaz and a kism with the same name.
Population
According to population estimates, in 2015, most residents in the province lived in rural areas, with an urbanisation rate of only 19.5%. Out of an estimated 5,804,262 people residing in the governorate, 4,674,346 lived in rural areas compared to 1,129,916 in urban areas.
Cities and towns in Beheira Governorate
- Abu Hummus
- Abu El Matamir
- Damanhur
- Edku
- El Delengat
- El Mahmoudiyah
- And, El Rahmaniya
- Itay El Barud
- Hosh Issa
- Kafr El Dawwar
- Koum Hamada
- Rosetta
- Shubrakhit
- Wadi El Natrun
- Besides, El Nubaria
Damanhur
Damanhur is the capital of El Beheira Governorate and locates on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about 160 km away from Cairo on El Mahmoudeya Canal.
It is a city of an incredible history dating back to the Pharaonic era when it was called Time-en-Hor or “Village of Horus, from” which the current name is derived. During the Roman Era, it was the capital of the 15th Nome of Lower Egypt and was known as Hermopolis Mikra. Nowadays, it is regarded as one of the major trade centres in the governorate and Egypt, especially for the rice and cotton trade.
The primary economic resources of the city are driven by administrative services, agriculture, and textile and fruit packing industries. It has no monuments, yet it is visited by tourists usually at the time of Moulid Sheikh Abu El Rish or Saint Abu El Rish festival and other local festivals that foreigners prefer attending for enjoying direct interaction with native Egyptians.
Idco City
Idco is one of the coastal cities overlooking Idco Lake in El Beheira Governorate, bordered by Rasheed and Damanhur from the East, Abu Hommos city from the south and Kafr El Dawar in the west. It comprises many smaller towns and villages and many agricultural lands. In addition to agriculture, the city has many other sources of income, including textile factories and petroleum companies. The government provides the town’s inhabitants with a full range of facilities and services, including education, health care, transportation, water supply and sanitation services.
El Delengat
El Delengat is one of the centers of El Beheira Governorate in Egypt. It locates 22 km south of Damanhur and a few meters south of Kom Hamada City. It comprises several more miniature cities and villages such as Teba, Kom Zumran, El Wafaeya and others. The primary sources of income for this centre are agriculture and industry. The majority of the inhabitants are nomads and Farmers.
El-Mahmoudiya City
El-Mahmoudiya is a city on the bank of the River in El Behera governorate, bordered by Idco from the north, Damanhour from the south, and Abu Hommos from the west. It covers about 180 km and comprises some more miniature cities and villages. The government provides the town with all necessary services and facilities for the almost farmers. The primary economic resources of which are driven by agriculture and commerce. Many cemeteries and archaeological sites of minor importance exist near the city, such as Sidi Uqaba, Kom El-Ghuraf, Kom El-Wast, and Kom El-Ahmar.
El Rahmania City
El Rahmania is one of the cities within El Baheira Governorate on the Rasheed branch of the Nile, bounded by Abu Hommos and Damanhur from the East, Shobrakhet from the south, and El Mahmoudiya from the north. It covers about 120 km, and most of its land is agricultural. The primary economic resources of the city are derived from agriculture, and it is famous for the crops wheat, rice, cotton and other crops.
Itai El Baroud City
Itai El Barud, one of the localities of El Beheira Governorate, locates about 140 km away from Cairo and about 84 km away from Alexandria and is bounded by Kafr El Zayat city from the north Damanhur from the south. It comprises some smaller towns and villages, and the principal activity of its inhabitants is farming.
Abu El-Matamir
Abu El Matamir is a city in El Beheira governorate, with a population of both Bedouins and farmers. It lies in the south of Alexandria and Lake Mariut, extending to the Western Desert. The city’s importance comes from the existence of some essential Pharaonic Necropolises in it or next to it. Among the ancient cemeteries discovered in the town’s vicinity are: Tell Makboura, Tell El Jil, Kom El Adda, Tell Truhgi, Abu Gudour. All these cemeteries lie beneath modern villages. Interestingly, archaeologists managed to find some remains of pottery or some blocks dating back to the Ptolemaic Era.
Kafr El Dawar
Kafr El Dawar is an important industrial city in the El Beheira governorate that comprises many smaller towns and villages. It is well-known for electricity generation and textile and fruit packing industries.
Kafr El Dawar is a city of great history because its lands witnessed a famous battle in Egyptian history, the Kafr El-Dawar battle between the Egyptian army headed by Ahmed Orabi and the British army during the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War. The fight ended with Orabi meeting with victory over the British, who had to retire their troops from Alexandria. Changing their strategy, the English later attacked Egypt from the East, in the Suez Canal area, and succeeded in beating Orabi’s army in El Tell El Kebir. In the vicinity of the city.
Many ancient cemeteries like Kom El-Hag, Kom Ishu, Kom El-Farag, Kom El-Mahar, Sidi Ghazi, Kom Defshu, Kom El-Terfayeh, Kom El-Dahab, Kom Mazen, Kom El-Qadi, Tell El-Kanaies, Kom El-Giza, Kom El-Hamam and Tell Sherif Khalaf. Archaeologists could find only pottery and some rocks from the Ptolemaic Era in the previously mentioned areas.
Rosetta (Rasheed)
Rosetta or Rashid is a port city in El Beheira Governorate on the Mediterranean Coast in Egypt. Distinctively, Rasheed is famous for the abundance of Islamic monuments in it to the extent that the antiquities ministry planned to make an open museum for Islamic art.
Rosetta occupied the position of Alexandria, being the major port of Egypt after the Ottoman conquest in the 16th century. Notwithstanding, it began to decline against Alexandria in the second half of the 19th century. In 1799, a French soldier found the famous Rosetta Stone that later helped Champollion resolve the ideograms of the Ancient Egyptian language. In 1807, the army of Mohamed Ali and the people of Rosetta defeated the English army that tried to occupy Egypt. Within its limits, the city comprises 22 monumental residences, 12 mosques, mills, castles and public baths dating back to the Ottoman Era. Near Rosetta, some cemeteries and archaeological sites date back to the Greco-Roman Period, such as Tarbiyat El-Add, Tarbiyat El-Alayem, Abu Mandour and Tell Dibi.
Kom Hamada
Kom Hamada is a canter in El Beheira Governorate that encloses many smaller cities and villages such as Kom Hamada City. It is famous for its full range of fertile agricultural land covering about 1230 km and its crops of fruit and vegetables.
Shobrakhit
Shubrakhit is one of the centres of El Beheira Governorate on the Rashid branch of the Nile. El Rahmaneya borders it to the north, Itai El Baroud to the south, Damanhur to the west and Rasheed to the east. Shubrakhit comprises many smaller cities and has a great history since its land witnessed the battle between Egyptians and Napoleon troops. Also, it is famous for being the birthplace of many well-known figures in Egypt, including El Sheikh Mohamed Abdo and the singer Mohamed Abd El Motaleb and many other notable figures.
Abu Hommos
Abu Hommos is a city in El Beheira Governorate bordered by Kafr El Dawar from the west and Hosh Eissa, El Mahmoudeya and Damanhour from the East, Abu El Matamir from the south, and Edko and Rasheed from the north.
The city name originates from a fisherman who had been dwelling in a bit of cottage around this area in the past. The governmental administration divided it recently into two territories which are Abo Hommos and Kafr El Dawar, and it covers about 530 km. In the city’s vicinity, there are a significant number of ancient cemeteries and archaeological sites. These sites include Sidi Youssuf, Kom Hassan, Kom Khaleesh, Kom El Qanater, Kom El Boos, Kom Debaa El Bahri, Kom Debaa El Qebli, Kom Tagala, Kom Hashiem, Kom Aziza, Abureh, Tell Bisintawy, Tell Nakhlah, Ganadi, Kom Barsiq, Kom Saida, Tell el Qarawi, Geradat, Balbaah, and Kom Sebah.
In all these areas, one can only find remains of pottery and some rocks from the Greco-Roman Era. The government provides the inhabitants of the city with all the facilities and services of education, health care services, wired and wireless telecom services, and so to attract more people for living in such coastal places and reduce the crowd of Cairo.
