Alexandria is the second-largest city in Egypt and a major economic center. With a population of 5,200,000, Alexandria is the largest city on the Mediterranean, the sixth-largest city in the Arab world and the ninth-largest in Africa. The city extends about 40 km at the northern coast of Egypt along the Mediterranean Sea. Alexandria is a popular tourist destination, and also an important industrial center because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. One of Egypt’s largest cities, Alexandria is also its principal seaport and a major industrial centre. Alexandria was founded in c.?331 BC by Alexander the Great, king of Macedon and leader of the Greek League of Corinth, during his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. An Egyptian village named Rhacotis existed at the location and grew into the Egyptian quarter of Alexandria.

Alexandria Alexandria is the second-largest city in Egypt

Alexandria grew rapidly to become an important center of Hellenistic civilization and remained the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt and Roman and Byzantine Egypt for almost 1,000 years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, when a new capital was founded at Fustat . Hellenistic Alexandria was best known for the Lighthouse of Alexandria , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; its Great Library ; and the Necropolis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. The city was a major center of early Christianity and was the center of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, which was one of the major centers of Christianity in the Eastern Roman Empire. In the modern world, the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria both lay claim to this ancient heritage. Following the Arab conquest of Egypt in AD 641, the city was plundered and lost its significance before re-emerging in the modern era. From the late 18th century, Alexandria became a major center of the international shipping industry and one of the most important trading centers in the world, both because it profited from the easy overland connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and the lucrative trade in Egyptian cotton.
 

• Although it was discovered by chance in 1997, the Gabbari necropolis is one of the largest in the world and dates back to 3 B.C.
• Although the ancient Great Library of Alexandria was destroyed, a new library called the Biblioteca
• Alexandrina was completed in 2002 with a reading room that can accommodate 2,500 readers and eight million books
• Alexandria has the oldest tram system in Africa dating back to 1860, making it one of the oldest in the world as well
• Eratosthenes first calculated the circumference of the earth in Alexandria by measuring how far camels traveled through the desert. Alexandria was also home to other famous mathematicians such as Euclid
• Alexandria is the largest port in the country and has a total of four harbors. The Western Harbor alone handles 60-70% of the entire country’s imports and exports
   

The Alexandria City Council is composed of a Mayor and six Council members who are elected at-large for three-year terms. The Mayor, who is chosen on a separate ballot, presides over meetings of the Council and serves as the ceremonial head of government.The City of Alexandria has a strong commitment to citizen participation as evidenced by the number of citizen boards and commissions established by City Council. These bodies compose a formal system through which citizens can advise City Council on all major issues affecting the City. Alexandria voters elect a Mayor and City Council and three local officers, as well as state and federal representatives.

The liquidation of municipal autonomy was the prelude to an increasingly centralized control of urban administration through the governorate. Since the revolution led by Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1952, the president of the republic has appointed the governor, who is assisted by an elected local council; the governorate is responsible to the Ministry of Local Affairs.

In terms of city services, Alexandria is generally on a par with other urban governorates of Egypt, providing electricity and pure drinking water to all but a small percentage of homes. However, pollution of the beaches is a continuing health hazard. The city has been blamed for pumping vast quantities of sewage into the Mediterranean, although efforts have been made to control the release of untreated effluent.

Alexandrians receive medical services at a number of private and public clinics and hospitals

Alexandria’s industrial and commercial activities—manufacturing, shipping, warehousing, banking, food processing, and the production of petrochemicals and cement—indicate the importance of the city’s output for the national economy. Alexandria and its environs account for roughly two-fifths of Egypt’s industrial production. Most industrial development has taken place in the western approaches to the city, around the more modern Western Harbour and along its southern flank; industry is the city’s chief employment sector.

The area around the port known as M?n?? al-Ba?al contains warehouses and was once home to the Cotton Exchange. Farther to the west is Al-Maks, with its salt and tanning industries, an oil refinery, a cement works, and, farther on, the limestone quarries. Other industrial development has taken place still farther west in Al-Dukhaylah. To the south lies the area of Al-?Amiriyyah, the site of two more refineries, including the Middle East Oil Refinery , which was designed to meet stringent environmental standards. Lighter industry is concentrated on the banks of the Al-Ma?m?diyyah Canal.

In one such project implemented near Alexandria, the Egyptian government has aimed to encourage food production and divert job seekers from overcrowded urban areas by offering graduates of universities and other institutes of higher education parcels of reclaimed land, which they are able to purchase using long-term loans.

Europe’s increasing demand for cotton—introduced into Egypt in the 1820s—was by the 1840s contributing substantially to the city’s wealth. As a result, Alexandria became an increasingly important centre for banking and commerce. The Alexandria Stock Exchange, founded in 1883, was followed by the Cairo Stock Exchange in 1903; they eventually linked their operations and continued as the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges .
 

Alexandria is linked to other Egyptian cities by railway, road, and air service. It also is connected by canal with the Nile. Transport within the city is provided by tram service, as well as a system of taxis and buses. The main rail link to Cairo has been upgraded several times, and Alexandria is also the terminus for the rail line that runs to Al-Sall?m on the Libyan border. The Alexandria-Cairo desert highway is one of Egypt’s best roads; it has relieved pressure on the agricultural route through the delta region as well as encouraging desert development. Air transport services generally operate to Cairo, though a number of international carriers have begun service out of Alexandria as well. Severe limitations constricted the capacity for expansion of the old airport at Nuzhah, which was built on land reclaimed from Lake Mary??; as a result, an airport located some 30 miles southwest of the city at Burj al-?Arab was opened to receive international flights in 2000. Another international airport, funded by private investment and designed to attract European tourists to Egypt’s Mediterranean beaches, opened at Al-?Alamayn in 2005.More than half of Egypt’s foreign trade passes through the city’s two main commercial harbours, Alexandria and nearby Al-Dukhaylah. Much of the country’s oil, gas, and cotton are exported through these ports, as are traditional items such as fruits, vegetables, perfumes, and a variety of finished goods. By far the largest import is grain. Improvements have been implemented to relieve congestion, which can be severe. Egypt’s dependence on Alexandria’s ports has diminished somewhat with the opening of new container-handling facilities at Damietta and the development of ports along the coast of the Red Sea.

The city's principal airport is currently Borg El Arab Airport, which is located about 25 km away from the city center. Alexandria port consists of two harbours separated by a T-shaped peninsula. The East harbour is shallow and is not navigable by large vessels. The West harbour is used for commercial shipping. The harbour is formed by two converging breakwaters. Muhammad Ali of Egypt issued the order to restore and partly retrace the freshwater canal from the Nile upon his ascension to power. On its completion in 1820 it was named the Mahmoudiyah Canal. Under Muhammad Ali's rule, Alexandria shipyard was founded.

During World War I, the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that took part in the Gallipoli Campaign used the established port of Alexandria as its main base for troops and supplies bound for the landing at Cape Helles. By the late 20th century sea trade through the Port of Alexandria was exceeding its capacity. A new port was built at El-Dekheila during the 1980s with facilities for container shipping and infrastructure to serve the nearby steel factory. In addition to the Port of Dekheila and the Western Port of Alexandria, the city's ports include those at Abu Qir and Sidi Krer, as well as Alexandria's old Eastern Port which is no longer used for shipping freight.Egypt has a total of 15 commercial ports along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts. Alexandria Port, controlled by the Alexandria Port Authority, is the country's largest and it handles approximately 55% of Egypt's international trade. The network begins at the El Raml district in the west and ends in the Victoria district in the east. Most of the vehicles are blue in color. Some smaller yellow-colored vehicles have further routes beyond the two main endpoints. The tram routes have one of four numbers: 1, 2, 5, and 6. All four start at El Raml, but only two reach Victoria. There are two converging and diverging points. The first starts at Bolkly and ends at San Stefano. The other begins at Sporting and ends at Mostafa Kamel. Route 5 starts at San Stefano and takes the inner route to Bolkly. Route 6 starts at Sidi Gaber El Sheikh on the outer route between Sporting and Mustafa Kamel. Route 1 takes the inner route between San Stefano and Bolkly and the outer route between Sporting and Mustafa Kamel. Route 2 takes the route opposite to Route 1 in both these areas. The tram fares are 50 piastres , and 100 piastres for the middle car.