al-Minya

al-Minya
Climate diagram
	Temperature in ° C , precipitation in mm
	Source: wetterkontor.de

28.086666666667 30.761388888889Coordinates: 28 ° 5 ' N , 30 ° 46' E

Al-Minya

Egypt

House facade with neoclassical style elements, probably from the 1920s. Palace Hotel in the city center on the south side of Midan at-Tahrir.

Al-Minya (also Minia or Minieh , Arabic المنيا al-Minyā , Egyptian-Arabic il-Minyā ) is the provincial capital of the governorate of al-Minyā in Middle Egypt . The city is located 250 km south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile and has about 220,000 inhabitants.

Cityscape

The square-plan inner city extends between a wide and well-tended Niluferstraße ( Corniche ) in the east and the railway line in the west, which runs along an irrigation canal. Across the canal, uniform residential and industrial areas stretch out. On the main axis between the train station and the Nile, Midan at-Tahrir is the city's central square. In the city center, on a smaller scale, but similar to Cairo , entire streets with representative buildings were laid out based on European models of the time from the end of the 19th century. Most of the surviving buildings date from the beginning of the 20th century and show a mix of neoclassical , art deco and pseudo-Islamic styles. Individual free-standing buildings with official functions around the central square have been restored in terms of monument preservation. South of Midan at-Tahrir, the old market district stretches out with narrow streets. Most of the residential buildings in this area that are worth preserving are in poor condition.

A large part of the population are Copts . A Coptic church, the al-Lamati mosque and the al-Umra mosque are located in the old town.

economy

Perfume and soap are made in Al-Minya . In the 19th century there was a cotton growing center here , organized by local Egyptian and Greek wholesalers. Cotton is still an export product, there are also flour mills and sugar refineries.

The airport is located near the western city limits; from the city center there is a bridge over the Nile. A town partnership with Hildesheim has existed since 1979 .

Political situation

The Islamist movement al-Jamāʿa al-islāmiyya , which emerged in the 1970s, formed student associations at the university founded in al-Minya at that time, as in other central and upper Egyptian cities. At the end of the decade they criticized the then President Anwar al-Sadat for his peace negotiations with Israel, to which Sadat reacted by restricting her political freedoms. Some of these Islamist groups became radicalized as a result, especially al-Minya and Asyut , 125 km south, became centers of the student rebellion. Between 1992 and 1997 there were several attacks by Islamist groups operating from al-Minya. Some student groups became youth organizations of the Muslim Brotherhood . In the 1980s and 1990s, al-Minya was practically inaccessible to tourists for security reasons, and in 2008 some tourists were still given police protection, although the political situation had been considered calm a few years earlier.

Al-Minya is also the hometown of Saad al-Katatni , head of the Muslim Brotherhood party represented in the Egyptian parliament . He gained popularity through social aid programs organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and was elected to parliament in 2005, where he represents a region that has received little attention from the political leaders of Lower Egypt.

On May 26, 2017, at least 29 people died in an attack by the terrorist organization Islamic State on a bus with Christian-Coptic inmates on the northern border of the governorate. The Copts were west of the Nile near the town of Maghagha between Al-Minya and Bani Suwaif on their way to the monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor .

Another attack by the terrorist organization Islamic State on a bus with Christian-Coptic inmates on November 2, 2018 killed at least seven people and injured 14, some seriously. The Copts were on their way to the monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor . According to a statement by the Egyptian government, 19 jihadists suspected of being involved in the attack were killed in the course of a chase in the desert of the Minja province in the following days.

Surroundings

7 kilometers south of the city on the eastern bank of the Nile is an extensive necropolis with dome graves for Muslims and Christians, which is called Zawiyyat al-Mayyitīn (Zawyet el-Maiyitin, "place of the dead") and is one of the largest cemeteries in the country. The base of a step pyramid from the 3rd dynasty has also been preserved near it.

The ancient Egyptian rock tombs of Beni Hasan are also located 20 kilometers south on the east bank .

sons and daughters of the town

Aghnatios Elias Yaacoub (1923–1994), Egyptian religious and Coptic Catholic Bishop of Luxor
Mahmoud Abul Leil Rashid (1935–2011), Egyptian lawyer and politician
Saad al-Katatni (* 1952), General Secretary of the Egyptian Party of the Muslim Brotherhood
Mervat Anim (born 1953), actress
Toma Adly Zaki (* 1966), Coptic Catholic Bishop

Climate table

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for al-Minya

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	20.4	22.4	25.8	31.2	35.4	36.9	36.6	35.9	34.0	31.3	25.9	21.4	O	29.8
Min. Temperature (° C)	3.9	5.2	8.2	12.6	16.4	19.3	20.4	20.3	18.4	15.5	10.2	5.8	O	13.1

Precipitation ( mm )	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Σ	1

Hours of sunshine ( h / d )	8.1	9.0	9.2	10.1	10.9	12.2	12.3	11.7	10.5	10.0	8.7	7.6	O	10

Humidity ( % )	63	56	52	43	37	40	46	51	53	55	61	67	O	52