Egypt’s Suez Canal is a major waterway.

Before the building of the Suez Canal in Egypt, European ships were forced to circumnavigate Southern Africa to access the Orient.

Once the Canal was completed, ships were able to reduce the distance between Europe and Asia by half.

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Location:

The Suez Canal is about 2 – 3 hours drive from Cairo and is situated near the city of Ismailia, Egypt.

Furthermore, it has a connection to the Red Sea in the south and is about 2 hours and 30 minutes away from the Egyptian resort of Port El Sokhna.

History:

The Suez Canal, which stretches over 167 kilometers (140 miles) and was completed in 1869, was not a novel idea.

The concept of building a canal across the desert had previously come to the pharaoh Necho II in the 7th century BC, but an oracle forbade him from carrying out the project.

Approximately a century later, the Persians created a minor canal, which has since vanished into obscurity through time.
In 1859, Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps oversaw the construction of the Suez Canal, which was completed in 1869.

It took ten years and 25,000 employees to complete, and it is still considered to be one of the world’s greatest engineering marvels.

As a result of the West’s failure to assist France during the Algerian War of 1956, President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, which Israel responded to by attacking the region.

The canal towns sustained further devastation during the Arab-Israeli wars (1948-1973) when the canal was stopped and the land was leveled (it has yet to recover).

Ever since it was inaugurated in 1975, the canal has ranked as Egypt’s second most important source of income, after only tourism.

Recent developments include the following:

The Suez Canal Corridor Area Project, which was inaugurated on August 5, 2014, by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to promote international commerce on a vast scale, was officially started.

To strengthen the importance of the Suez Canal area and to promote the three canal towns of Suez, Ismael, and Port Said, the following goals have been established:

Construction of a new city to be named Ismailiyah City, which will include an industrial zone and fish farms, as well as the completion of the technology valley, the construction of seven new tunnels between Sinai and Ismailia and Port Said, and the beginning of excavation for a new canal parallel to the Suez Canal, which will increase capacity by allowing ships to sail into both directions at the same time.

According to the Egyptian Dream, this will strengthen Egypt’s position as a major international commercial center in the years to come.

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