El Alamein العلمين al-ʿAlamayn | |
|---|---|
 Marina's Porto Resort  The German Memorial .jpg) Alamein Port .jpg) Alamein Church  Alamein Military Museum  Marina Alamein Arch Site Tomb | |
  El Alamein Location in Egypt | |
| Coordinates:30°50′N28°57′E / 30.833°N 28.950°E /30.833; 28.950 | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Governorate | Matrouh |
| Area | |
• Total | 342.0 km2 (132.0 sq mi) |
| Population (2023) | |
• Total | 12,580 |
| • Density | 36.78/km2 (95.27/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| [1] | |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 7,397 | — |
| 2017 | 10,013 | +35.4% |
El Alamein (Arabic:العلمين,romanized: al-ʿAlamayn,lit. 'the two flags',IPA:[elʕælæˈmeːn]ⓘ) is an Egyptian city in the northernMatrouh Governorate. Located on theMediterranean Sea, it lies 106 kilometres (66 mi) west ofAlexandria and 300 kilometres (186 mi) northwest ofCairo. The town is located on the site of the ancient cityAntiphrai (Greek:Ἀντίφραι). The city is divided into three main areas: El Alamein,Sidi Abdel Rahman, and Tel El Eis village.[2]
The city's economy is mainly based on its natural resources ofpetroleum, which is explored by several Egyptian companies, and the tourist areas where a number of luxury hotels and tourist resorts are located, such as the tourist town ofMarina.[3][4]
There are Italian and German military cemeteries on Tel el-Eisa Hill outside the town. The German cemetery is anossuary, built in the style of a medieval fortress.
The cemetery of theItalian War Memorial at El Alamein contains 5,200 graves.
There is a Greek cemetery at El Alamein.
The CommonwealthAlamein Memorial and attached war cemetery, built and maintained by theCommonwealth War Graves Commission, has graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the Allied side. Buried here are 6,425 identified Commonwealth service personnel, 815 unidentified ones, and 102 of other nationalities.[5] These include fourVictoria Cross recipients:[6]
Others buried here include:
This has monuments commemorating Greek, New Zealand, Australian,South African,Indian andCanadian forces. The cemetery entrance is through theAlamein Memorial and there is also a separate Alamein Cremation Memorial to 603 Commonwealth service personnel who died in Egypt and Libya and were cremated in line with their religion.[9]
The names of 213 Canadian airmen appear on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.[10]
The cemetery was designed byHubert Worthington.[11]
Many Egyptians, particularly the upper and middle class travel to El Alamein during summer to flee the summer heat in other cities and towns.
El Alamein has ahot desert climate,Köppen climate classificationBWh, common with most of the Middle East and North Africa. However, like the rest of thenorthern coast of Egypt, its climate is slightly less hot, compared to the rest of Egypt, because of the prevailingMediterranean Sea winds.
| Climate data for El Alamein | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.8 (64.0) | 18.7 (65.7) | 20.3 (68.5) | 23.5 (74.3) | 25.7 (78.3) | 28.8 (83.8) | 29.5 (85.1) | 30.5 (86.9) | 28.7 (83.7) | 27.5 (81.5) | 23.6 (74.5) | 19.7 (67.5) | 24.5 (76.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.4 (54.3) | 13.3 (55.9) | 14.9 (58.8) | 17.7 (63.9) | 20.5 (68.9) | 23.8 (74.8) | 25.2 (77.4) | 25.7 (78.3) | 24.4 (75.9) | 22.1 (71.8) | 18.3 (64.9) | 14.4 (57.9) | 19.4 (66.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7 (45) | 7.9 (46.2) | 9.5 (49.1) | 12 (54) | 15.4 (59.7) | 18.8 (65.8) | 20.9 (69.6) | 21 (70) | 20.1 (68.2) | 16.7 (62.1) | 13 (55) | 9.2 (48.6) | 14.3 (57.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 29 (1.1) | 17 (0.7) | 8 (0.3) | 2 (0.1) | 1 (0.0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 5 (0.2) | 21 (0.8) | 24 (0.9) | 107 (4.1) |
| Source: climate-data.org[12] | |||||||||||||
Two importantWorld War II battles were fought in the area:
Media related toEl Alamein at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
