Hurghada


Hurghada is a city in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. It is one of the country's main tourist centres located on the Red Sea coast.

Overview

The city was founded in the early 20th century, and until recently it was a small fishing village. But since the 1980s, it has been continually enlarged by Egyptian and foreign investors to become the leading coastal resort on the Red Sea. Holiday resorts and hotels provide aquatic sport facilities for windsurfers, kitesurfers, yachtsmen, scuba divers and snorkelers. Hurghada is known for its watersports activities, nightlife and warm weather. Daily temperature hovers round most of the year, during July and August temperatures reach over. Many Europeans head to Hurghada for their regular Holidays, especially during the Winter season and spend their Christmas and New Year holidays in the city. Tourism from Russia dropped drastically after the Metrojet Flight 9268 plane crash in November 2015.
Hurghada stretches for about along the seashore, and it does not reach far into the surrounding desert. The resort is a destination for Egyptian tourists from Cairo, the Delta and Upper Egypt, as well as package holiday tourists from Europe. Today Hurghada counts 248,000 inhabitants and is divided into:
Along the El Mamsha you find many of Hurghada's new hotels, restaurants, and shops. Most of the newest and biggest hotel resorts located in the area between Mamsha to Sahl Hasheesh. After Sahl Hasheesh you find Makadi Bay with its hotels. Dahar is the oldest part of the town, where the town's traditional bazaar, the post office and the long-distance bus stations, Go Bus and Upper Egypt Bus are situated. The busiest area is its "city center" Sakala, which is spread along Sheraton Road. There are some hotels, shops and restaurants along Sheraton Road.
The city is served by the Hurghada International Airport with scheduled passenger traffic connecting to Cairo and directly with several cities in Europe. A new terminal was opened in 2015 to accommodate rising traffic.

History

The village, which later evolved into what is now the city of Hurghada, was settled in 1905. It acquired its name from a plant which has grown naturally since ancient times. By then it was only a fishing village. Oil was discovered in the area in 1913, but actual production and export only began in 1921 under British oil magnates. During the reign of King Farouk a recreational center was built in the city, but after President Nasser's nationalization of Egypt's industries it was turned over to the armed forces.
During the War of Attrition between Israel and Egypt, Shadwan island east of the city in the Red Sea, was fortified and held by Egyptian troops and used as a radar post. On 22 January 1970, it was the site of Operation Rhodes, a heliborne assault by Israeli troops which occupied the island for 36 hours.
During the October War of 1973, Hurghada harbor was target for. Israeli forces also occupied Shadwan Island with over 32 casualties to the Egyptian army, and only 7 to the Israeli army.
On September 27, 1994 drive-by shooters killed two Egyptians and a German tourist; another German man was wounded in the attack and died of his injuries after returning to Germany.
The 2016 Hurghada attack was caused by two terrorists inspired by IS. Three tourists were wounded. On 14 July 2017, in the 2017 Hurghada attack a man proclaiming, that he wanted to kill only non-Egyptians, attacked and stabbed five German, one Czech and one Armenian tourists, all women, killing two German women. The Czech tourist later died on July 27 in the hospital. The attack occurred at two separate resort hotels.

Tourism

Although a town in its own right, Hurghada's current major industry is foreign and domestic tourism, owing to its dramatic landscape, year-round dry and temperate climate and long stretches of natural beaches. Its waters are clear and calm for most of the year and have become popular for various water-sports, particularly recreational scuba diving and snorkelling.
Dive sites around Abu Ramada Island, Fanadir, Giftun Kebir, and Giftun Soraya are popular. Tourists also visit shipwrecks such as the El Mina or the Rosalie Moller. The beach at Hurghada is not secluded; out to Sigala the beach is then followed by coastal holiday villages and then desert.
In a 2016 attack and again in a 2017 attack foreign tourists at Hurghada's beach resorts were targeted by terrorist attacks.

Demographics

Russian residents
Hurghada has 4 schools for Russian children, which are: Galaxy, Our Traditions, Dina and The World of Knowledge ; as well as the newsletter MK in Egypt. Much of the signage in the city, as of 2015, is in Russian. In June 2015 MK in Egypt publisher Yulia Shevel stated that there were about 20,000 Russians in Hurghada, giving it Egypt's largest Russian population, though only about 3,000 were officially documented. Russian women staying in Hurghada often marry Egyptian men through an 'urfi process.
In 2017 the Russian Consulate was open in Hurghada.

Climate

Hurghada has a subtropical-desert climate, with mild-warm winters and hot to very hot summers. Temperatures in the period December–January–February are warm, but in the evenings temperature may drop from an average 20 Celsius degrees to 10. November, March and April are comfortably warm. May and October are hot and the period from June to September is very hot. The average annual temperature of the sea is, ranging from in February and March to in August.
The highest temperature recorded occurred on June 12, 2013 and was, while the lowest record temperature was recorded on February 2, 1993 and was.
Climate Charts shows different averages and cooler day temperatures in summer.
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Resorts near Hurghada

Sahl Hasheesh

is a newly-developed resort located south of Hurghada on the Red Sea.

El Qoseir

is one of the Egyptian gateways, and one of the oldest cities on the western coast of the Red Sea. In the past it was known by various names, such as Thagho in the pharonic period, Leucos Limen in the Hellenistic and Ptolemaic period, and Portus Albus in the Roman period. In the Islamic period it was given the name El Qoseir, which means "a small palace or fortress".
Located between Hurghada and Marsa Alam, El Quseir used to be an important port. Many people traveled from there to the land of Punt to buy ivory, leather and incense. During the Ottoman and the Islamic periods, Egyptians and Muslims from North Africa traveled from El Quseir as pilgrims to Mecca. It was also the only port importing coffee from Yemen. During the French occupation of Egypt, El Qoseir was the arrival point for Arabs and Muslims from Hegaz coming to fight beside the Mamalic against the French army. The most important sites in El Qoseir are the fort and the water reservoir. The water reservoir was El Qoseir's only source of drinking water 100 years ago.
El Qoseir El Adima, the city's historic area, was once a Roman port and hundreds of amphora and old pottery artefacts have been found there. There are several 300-year-old buildings in the area, including an Ottoman fort and a number of historic mosques: El Farran, El Qenawi and El Senousi. The police station is also located at a historic site. The area contains bazaars, cafes, coffee shops and restaurants selling sea food.

Makadi Bay

A Tourist Resort located 30 km south of Hurghada dedicated only to hotels, shops and clubs. There are no settlements with locals. The place features good sandy beach.

Sharm El Naga

A village, around 40 km south of Hurghada. Its beach contains a beautiful reef cliff.

Soma Bay

Soma Bay A tourist resort situated 45 km south of Hurghada, with various hotels including Palm Royale Soma Bay, La Residence des Cascades, Robinson Club, Sheraton & Caribbean World Resort Soma Bay.

El Gouna

A privately owned luxury hotel town, about 25 km north of Hurghada. Quiet and clean, the town consists of several islands separated by channels and connected by bridges. Besides 14 hotels and 3 marinas, there are also 2200 private villas and apartments, while many more are under construction. It is promoted by some as Egypt's Venice. It is built on 10 km of beachfront and has unique and diverse architecture.
El Gouna provides diving and watersports centers, horse stables, go-karting, shopping arcades, bazaars, a wide selection of restaurants and bars, night clubs, an internet cafe, four bank branches, many automated teller machines, two pharmacies, the El Gouna international school, El Gouna national school, a nursery, a private hospital, three marinas, a library, an airport, one of several casinos on the Red Sea coast, a private radio station, a post office, a museum, real estate offices and an 18-hole golf course designed by Gene Bates with a unique aqua driving range.

El Mahmya

A tourist beachfront camp on the protected Giftun island, 45 minutes by boat from Hurghada.

Education

International schools include: