Sheikh Zuweid الشيخ زويد ⲃⲁⲓⲧⲩⲗⲟⲩⲁ | |
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  Sheikh Zuweid Location in Egypt Show map of Sinai Sheikh Zuweid Sheikh Zuweid (Egypt) Show map of Egypt | |
| Coordinates:31°12′43″N34°6′38″E / 31.21194°N 34.11056°E /31.21194; 34.11056 | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Governorate | North Sinai |
| Area | |
• Total | 640.9 km2 (247.5 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 88 m (289 ft) |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 64,305 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Sheikh Zuweid (also spelledSheikh Zoweid,Shaykh Zuwayd, orSheikh Zouède;Arabic:الشيخ زويد Arabic pronunciation:[aʃˈʃeːxzeˈweːd,-zoˈwæjjed],Coptic:ⲃⲁⲓⲧⲩⲗⲟⲩⲁ,Greek:Bitulion) is aBedouin town in theNorth Sinai Governorate ofEgypt near the border with theGaza Strip. It is situated between the cities ofArish andRafah and is 334 kilometers (214 miles) northeast ofCairo. It had a population of around 60,000 as of 2015.[2]
A remarkablemosaic from Late Antiquity (between the mid-fourth and mid-fifth centuries) was found in Sheikh Zuweid in 1913, known from the archaeological literature as the Sheikh Zouède mosaic (leaning on the French spelling: Cheikh Zouède). It is currently preserved in a museum inIsmailia.[3][4][dubious –discuss] The 6th centuryMadaba Map shows a settlement called Betulion (Greek Β[ητ]υλιον) in this location, possibly theBethulia whereJudith beheaded Holofernes in biblical legend.[5]
The town is named after Sheikh Zuweid, a commander of theRashidun Islamic army who fought during theMuslim conquest of Egypt alongsideAmr ibn al-'As. He died at the site of the present town in 640.[6]
During the2011 Egyptian revolution, protests against the government ofHosni Mubarak were held in Sheikh Zuweid. On 27 January, one protester was killed by security forces attempting to disperse the demonstrations.[7] On 14 May 2011, an unknown group bombed theSufi shrine in Sheikh Zuweid.[6] As many as 300 ISIS affiliated militants using mortars and car bombs attacked fifteen Army checkpoints just north of the city on July 1, 2015. The attacks killed 30 Egyptian soldiers and were part of a larger group of coordinated attacks across the Sinai.[8]
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate ashot desert (BWh),[9] as the rest ofEgypt, but because it is close to the sea, its climate is highly moderated by prevailingMediterranean Sea winds, typical to thenorth coast of Egypt and the east Mediterranean coast.
| Climate data for Sheikh Zuweid | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.2 (63.0) | 18.0 (64.4) | 20.5 (68.9) | 23.1 (73.6) | 26.1 (79.0) | 28.4 (83.1) | 29.8 (85.6) | 30.7 (87.3) | 29.2 (84.6) | 27.6 (81.7) | 23.7 (74.7) | 19.2 (66.6) | 24.5 (76.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.7 (54.9) | 13.4 (56.1) | 15.6 (60.1) | 18.2 (64.8) | 21.1 (70.0) | 23.7 (74.7) | 25.3 (77.5) | 26.1 (79.0) | 24.7 (76.5) | 22.6 (72.7) | 18.7 (65.7) | 14.5 (58.1) | 19.7 (67.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) | 8.9 (48.0) | 10.7 (51.3) | 13.3 (55.9) | 16.1 (61.0) | 19.0 (66.2) | 20.9 (69.6) | 21.6 (70.9) | 20.3 (68.5) | 17.7 (63.9) | 13.7 (56.7) | 9.9 (49.8) | 15.0 (59.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 37 (1.5) | 29 (1.1) | 22 (0.9) | 6 (0.2) | 3 (0.1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 7 (0.3) | 31 (1.2) | 40 (1.6) | 175 (6.9) |
| Source:Climate-Data.org (altitude: 30m)[9] | |||||||||||||
Authority control databases: National |
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