Port Said

Port Said, port city located in northeastern Egypt, at the northern end of the Suez Canal. It also constitutes the bulk of the urban muḥāfaẓah (governorate) of Būr Saʿīd. Situated largely on reclaimed land, the city was founded in 1859 on a low sandy strip separating the Mediterranean from Lake Manzala (Buḥayrat al-Manzilah). Mud and sand dredged from the harbour and huge artificial stones capable of resisting saltwater action were added to the strip; its breakwaters were completed in 1868, a year before the canal was completed. The city was named after the khedive Muḥammad Saʿīd (reigned 1854–63), who selected the site of the town. Consisting initially of a grid-pattern European quarter and a native Egyptian sector, the town early established its cosmopolitan character. The outer harbour, 570 acres (231 hectares) in area, was carefully designed so that its two protecting moles, or breakwaters, prevent coastal currents from silting up the canal. The main channel is 2.5 miles (4 km) long, flanked by open basins. To house workmen of the several huge dry docks built between 1903 and 1909, a new quarter, now named Būr Fuʾād (Port Fuad), was built opposite the city proper on the eastern shore between the canal and the eastern extension of Lake Manzala.

By the late 19th century Port Said was the world’s largest coal-bunkering station, catering almost exclusively to the Suez Canal traffic. After the standard-gauge railway from Cairo via Ismailia was completed (1904), it became Egypt’s chief port after Alexandria; in addition to canal traffic, it handled cotton and rice exports from the eastern delta. A frozen-seafood plant for the export trade has been added to the port’s fishing facilities. The city still retains the main workshops of the canal administration. During the Suez Crisis (1956), which followed Egyptian nationalization of the canal, Port Said was severely damaged by the air attacks (October 31) and landings (November 5) of French and British forces. The colossal bronze statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the canal, which stood at the base of the western mole, was removed in 1956 after angry crowds perceived in it a symbol of European intervention in Egypt’s internal affairs. Britain and France were compelled to withdraw under strong United Nations pressure, and the canal was reopened; the damages of the brief campaign were repaired, and the city’s trade resumed. In the Six-Day War of June 1967, Israeli forces occupied the eastern bank of the canal, which then remained closed until 1975.

With the promulgation of Pres. Anwar Sadat’s “Open Door” (infitāḥ) policy of 1975, the city was restored, new housing was built for the returning refugees of the wars with Israel, and a tax-free industrial zone was opened. The city’s industries produce textiles, clothing, glass, china, automobile batteries and tires, watches, and cosmetics. It has several gas-fired electrical generating plants, as well as computer, construction, and publishing industries. There are also port and shipyard facilities, and in 1980 a bypass north of the city on the Suez Canal opened. Port Said is served by a railroad linking it to the other canal cities and by the main railway system via Ismailia. Area governorate, 28 square miles (72 square km). Pop. (2017) governorate, 749,371.