Tanta (Egyptian Arabic:طنطاṬanṭa pronounced[ˈtˤɑntˤɑ],Coptic:ⲧⲁⲛⲧⲁⲑⲟ) is a city inEgypt. Tanta had a population of 658,798 in 2018, making it the fifth most populous city in Egypt.^[2] Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: 94 km (58 mi) north ofCairo and 130 km (81 mi) southeast ofAlexandria. The capital ofGharbia Governorate,^[3] it is a center for thecotton-ginning industry.^[4]

Tanta طنطا
City
Counter-clockwise from top: Sabil Ali-Bek,Ahmad Al-Badawi Mosque, Sheikha Sabah Mosque dome, Tanta Overview
Nickname:  Madinat Al-Saïd Al-Badawi
Tanta Location of Tanta within Egypt
Coordinates:30°47′N31°0′E / 30.783°N 31.000°E /30.783; 31.000
Country	Egypt
Governorate	Gharbia
Area [1]
• Total	19.5 km2 (7.5 sq mi)
Elevation [1]	12 m (39 ft)
Population  (2023)[1]
• Total	597,694
• Density	31,000/km2 (79,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3:00 (EEDT)
Postal code	31511
Area code	(+20) 40

One of the major railway lines goes through Tanta.^[5][6] Annual festivals are held in Tanta for one week beginning on 11 October celebrating the birthday ofAhmad al-Badawi, a reveredSufi figure of the 13th century, who founded theBadawiyyaTariqa in Egypt and is buried inAhmad Al-Badawi Mosque, the mainmosque of Tanta. Tanta is known for itssweet shops and roasted chickpeas.^[7]

The older name of the city isTandata (Egyptian Arabic:طندتا) which comes from its Coptic nameⲧⲁⲛⲧⲁⲑⲟ^[8] (late Coptic:[dɑnˈdɑto]).

With its large cotton plantations, in 1856, Tanta became a stop on the railway network, primarily for the benefit of exporting its cotton to European markets.^[9] The area around Tanta was mostly fields but Tanta had grown into a large crowded city.^[10]

This city is a center of celebration in late October at the end of the cotton harvest. Three million people,^[3] from around the Delta and other parts of the Arab world, come for theMoulid of Sayid Ahmed el-Badawi,^[11] which is a colorful,^[12] religious, eight-day celebration. The moulid is centered around the mosque and tomb ofSayid Ahmad al-Badawi,^[13] who founded one of Egypt's largest Sufi orders known as Ahmadiyyah orBadawiyya.^[14] He was born in Morocco, but emigrated to Arabia, and later was sent to Tanta in AD 1234 as a representative of the order from Iraq. He was granted permission to start a new order in Tanta and it soon flourished into one of Egypt's largest Sufi brotherhoods.^[11]

Tanta is famous for its sweet candy made of gelatin, coconut, sesame, peanuts, and chickpeas. Large quantities are sold during themulid (Arabic:المولد) festivals when many Egyptians visit the city.^[15] The sweets have been considered a delicacy since the 1800s.^[16]

Tanta has many cotton processing factories and textile industries,^[11] and is also a university town withTanta University since 1972.^[17]

The people of Tanta are called by Egyptian slangTantawi.^[18][19]

• Ahmad al-Badawi Mosque
• Tanta Stadium
• Tanta University
• Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, which is over 200 years old^[20]
• Saint George Cathedral
• Saint Peter Catholic Basilica
• The Museum of Tanta contains items from ancient nearby sites ofSais,Naucratis, andButo, such as pottery and statues.^[21][22]
• El Mahallah is a large industrial town near Tanta, famous for its textiles.^[11]

•  
  Tanta's city center, Elgeish street.
•  
  Tanta Station at Night
•  
  Ahmad al-Badawi Mosque
•  
  Saint George Cathedral
•  
  palace in Tanta which was used as a primary school named flowers school
•  
  Tanta Montaza park
•  
  Tanta Museum
•  
  Tanta University

As all of Egypt, has ahot desert climate (BWh), according toKöppen-Geiger climate classification system.

• Adel Esmat, Novelist
• Magda al-Sabahi or Magda Sabbahi = Magda (1931–2020)actress
• Huda Sultan (1925–2006) singer andactress
• Kamal Amin (1923–1979), artist^[24]
• Mahmoud Zulfikar (1914–1970), Film director
• Khairy Beshara, film director
• Abdu al-Hamuli (Arabic:عبده الحامولى‎) (1836–1901), singer
• Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary, (1917–1980) reciter of the Qur'an^[25]
• Mohamed Fawzi (1918–1966), composer, singer, and actor^[26]
• Naima Akef (1929–1966), actress and circus player
• Doria Shafik (1908–1975), leader of the Women's Liberation Movement in the early 1950s^[27]
• Ahmed Hijazi (1936–2011), known as "Hegazy", a caricature artist^[28]
• Nasr Abu Zayd (1943–2010), thinker and liberal theologian^[29]
• Ahmed Khaled Tawfik (1962–2018), author^[30]
• Amina Rizk (1910–2003), actress
• El-Sayed Nosseir (1905–1977), Olympic Gold medal winner in weightlifting^[31]
• Hilana Sedarous (1904-1998), first female Egyptian doctor and first female Egyptian gynaecologist
• Maximos V Hakim (1908-2001), Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch^[32]
• Nabil Farouk (1956-2020), novelist^[33][34]

• List of cities and towns in Egypt
• Nile Delta
• Egyptian festivals

• Egypt: Handbook for Travellers : Part First, Lower Egypt, with the Fayum and the Peninsula of Sinai by Karl Baedeker (1885)
• Families as We are: Conversations from Around the World by Perdita Huston, 2001
• The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information by Hugh Chisholm, 1910
• The Coptic Diocese of Tanta