Name | Tanta |
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Native name | () |
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Nickname | El Badawy City |
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Pushpin map | Egypt |
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Pushpin label position | bottom |
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Pushpin mapsize | 300 |
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Pushpin map caption | Location in Egypt |
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Coordinates display | inline,title |
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Coordinates region | EG |
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Subdivision type | Country |
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Subdivision name | |
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Subdivision type1 | Governorate |
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Subdivision name1 | Gharbia Governorate |
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Leader title1 | |
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Established title | |
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Unit pref | Imperial |
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Area total km2 | |
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Area land km2 | |
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Population as of | 2005 |
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Population total | 1,100,000 |
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Population blank1 title | Ethnicities |
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Timezone | EST |
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Utc offset | +2 |
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Timezone dst | +3 |
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Elevation footnotes | |
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Postal code type | |
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Tanta-Gharbia Governorate () is
Egypt's 5th largest City, with an estimated 429,000 inhabitants (2008). Tanta is located 94 km (59 miles) north of
Cairo and 130 km (81 miles) southeast of
Alexandria. It is the capital of the
Gharbiya governorate and a centre for the
cotton-ginning industry and the main railroad hub of the
Nile Delta. Tanta is known for its sweets, eaten during the
mulid () festivals. The main streets are Al- Bahr(algeish) Street, Al-Galaa Street, Al-Nahaas Street , Hassan Radwan Street , and Saeed Street.
Tanta has cotton ginning factories and textile industries, and is also a university town, with an institute attached to the El-Azhar University in Cairo and a medical school associated with Alexandria University, 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).Ahmed Dawod
Climate
Famous people born in Tanta
Kamal Amin (1923 - 1979) (Arabic: كمال أمين ) Egyptian Artist.
Abdu Al-Hamouli (Arabic: عبده الحامولي) (1836 - 1901) The Greatest Arab-Egyptain Singer In The Second Half Of 1800's.
Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary (Arabic: محمود خليل الحصري) (1917 - 1980) a renowned reciter of the Qur'ân.
Mohamed Fawzi (Arabic: محمد فوزي), (1918 - 1966) Egyptian composer & singer & actor.
Hoda Sultan (Arabic: هدى سلطان) (1925 - 2006) Egyptian singer & actress.
naema Akef (1939 - 1966) (Arabic: نعيمة عاكف) Egyptian bellydance & movie superstar.
Doria Shafiq (Arabic: درية شفيق) (1908 - 1975) was one of the women who led the women's liberation movement in Egypt in the early 1950s>
soheir al morshedy (Arabic: سهير المرشدي) (1946 - ) Egyptian actress.
Mustafa Kamil (Arabic: ) (1874 - 1908) Egyptian nationalist leader, orator, and editor.
Gamil shafik (Arabic: ) (1938 - ) Egyptian Artist.
Ahmed Hegazy (1936 - ) popularly known as "Hegazy" - caricature artist.
Saad El Shazly (1922 - ) An Egyptian military personality.
Nasr Abu Zayd "Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd" (1943 - 2010) Egyptian Qur'anic thinker & one of the leading liberal theologians in Islam.
Hosam Fawzy Inventor of the T-3 ring.
See also
Nile Delta - Information on the region.
University of Tanta.
http://www.coptictanta.com.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gharbia_Governorate.
Notes
References
Detailed map of Egyptian towns and temples: http://unimaps.com/egypt/index.html
External links
Tanta Website(arabic)
Photos of Tanta Mawlid
Category:Gharbia Governorate
Category:Governorate capitals in Egypt
Category:Populated places in Egypt
Category:Nile River Delta