Arish

Arish or el-Arīsh (العريش al-ʿArīš, ) is the capital and largest city (with 114,900 inhabitants ) of the Egyptian governorate of North Sinai, lying on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai peninsula, 344 km northeast of Cairo. Al `Arīsh is distinguished by its clear blue water, widespread fruitful palmy wood on its coast, and its soft white sand. It has a marina, and many luxury hotels. The city also has some of the faculties of Suez Canal University.

El Arish is by a big valley called the Wadi el Arish, which receives flash flood water from much of north and central Sinai. The Azzaraniq national park is at the eastern side of Arish.

History
The city grew around a Bedouin settlement near the ancient Ptolemaic Dynasty outpost of Rhinocolura. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims misidentified the site as the Sukkot of the Bible. Arīsh means "palm huts" in Arabic.

New fortifications were constructed at the original site by the Ottoman Empire in 1560. During the Napoleonic Wars, the French laid siege to the fort, which fell after 11 days on February 19, 1799. During World War I, the fort was destroyed by British bombers. It was later the location of the 45th Stationary Hospital which treated casualties of the Palestine campaign. The remains of those who died there were later moved to Kantara Cemetery.

Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, proposed Cyprus or Arish as a Jewish homeland since neither the Sultan nor the Kaiser supported settlement in Palestine. In 1903, Joseph Chamberlain, the British colonial secretary, agreed to consider Arish, and Herzl commissioned the lawyer David Lloyd George a charter draft, but his application was turned down.

On December 8, 1958, an air battle occurred between Egyptian and Israeli air forces over Al Arish.

El Arish was under military occupation by Israel from 1967 to 1979 and briefly in 1956. It was returned to Egypt in 1979 after the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. An increasingly popular tourist destination, El Arish is situated at 31.11667°N, 33.8°W.

Geography
El Arish is in the northern Sinai Peninsula and is about 50 km from the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip.

Transport
The city is served by El Arish International Airport. The construction of the northern coast highway in Egypt (North Sinai part) was expected to be finished by 2008 linking Qantara at Suez Canal (in the west) to Gaza strip border passing by Al Arish. The railway line from Cairo is also under re-construction and it recently reached the "Ser and Qawarir zone" west of Al 'Arish. This route was formerly part of the Palestine Railway built during World War I and World War II to connect Egypt with Turkey. The railway was cut during the formation of Israel. The North Sinai is a milestone for the Egyptian government planners to re-distribute the high-density population in the Delta, and it is expected that by accomplishing the transportation and irrigation projects, 3 million Egyptians will settle in North Sinai.

= Resources =