Sharm El Sheikh (, ) is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 73,000 . Sharm El Sheikh is the administrative hub of Egypt's South Sinai Governorate, which includes the smaller coastal towns of Dahab and Nuweiba as well as the mountainous interior, St. Catherine and Mount Sinai. The city and holiday resort is a significant centre for tourism in Egypt, while also attracting many international conferences and diplomatic meetings. Sharm El Sheikh is one of the Asian cities of Egypt.
Name
Sharm El Sheikh (Bay of the Senior) is known as the "City of Peace"; Egyptian Arabic: "Madinet EL-Salam", referring to the large number of International Peace Conferences that have been held there. Amongst Egyptians and also many visitors, the name of the city is commonly shortened to "Sharm" (), which is its common name in Egyptian Arabic. The name is also sometimes written as "Sharm el-Cheikh" or "Sharm el-Sheik" in English.
Geography and history
Sharm El Sheikh is on a promontory overlooking the Straits of Tiran at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba. Its strategic importance led to its transformation from a fishing village into a major port and naval base for the Egyptian Navy. It was conquered by Israel during the Suez Crisis of 1956 and returned to Egypt in 1957. A United Nations peacekeeping force was stationed there until 1967 when it was ordered to leave by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, a fact that precipitated the Six-Day War during which it was reoccupied by Israel. Sharm El Sheikh remained under Israeli control from 1967 until the Sinai Peninsula was returned back to Egypt in 1982, after the Egypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979 that was signed in Washington, D.C. Egypt's then-president Hosni Mubarak designated Sharm El Sheikh as The City of Peace in 1982 and the Egyptian government began a policy of encouraging the development of the city. Egyptian businessmen and investors, along with global investors contributed to building several mega projects, including mosques and churches. The city is now an international tourist destination, and environmental zoning laws limit the height of buildings to avoid obscuring the natural beauty of the surroundings.
A hierarchical planning approach was adopted for the Gulf of Aqaba, whereby the area's components were evaluated and subdivided into zones, cities and centers. In accordance with this approach, the Gulf of Aqaba zone was subdivided into four cities: Taba, Nuweiba, Dahab and Sharm El Sheikh. Sharm El Sheikh city has been subdivided into five homogeneous centers, namely Nabq, Ras Nusrani, Naama Bay, Umm Sid and Sharm El Maya.
Sharm El Sheikh city, with Naama Bay, Hay el Nour, Hadaba, Rowaysat, Montazah and form a metropolitan area.
The site off the shore gun emplacements at Ras Nasrani opposite Tiran Island is now a diving area.
In 2005, the resort was hit by the Sharm El Sheikh terrorist attacks, which were carried out by an extremist Islamist organisation targeting Egypt's tourist industry. Eighty-eight people were killed, the majority of them Egyptians, and over 200 were wounded by the attack, making it the second deadliest terrorist attack in the country's history.
The city has played host to a number of important Middle Eastern peace conferences, including the 4 September 1999 agreement to restore Palestinian self-rule over the Gaza Strip. A second summit was held at Sharm on 17 October 2000 following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, but it failed to end the violence. A summit was held in the city on 3 August 2005 on developments in the Arab world, such as the situation in the Arab–Israeli conflict. Again in 2007, an important ministerial meeting took place in Sharm, where dignitaries discussed Iraqi reconstruction. The World Economic Forum on the Middle East was hosted by Sharm el-Sheikh in 2006 and 2008.
Amidst the 2011 Egyptian protests, then-president Mubarak reportedly went to Sharm El Sheikh and resigned there on 11 February 2011.
In November 2022, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) was held in Sharm el-Sheikh. This conference led to the first loss and damage fund being created.
Climate
The city experiences a subtropical arid climate, classified by the Köppen–Geiger system as hot desert (BWh). Temperatures are just short of a tropical climate. Typical temperatures range from in January and in August. The temperature of the Red Sea in this region ranges from over the course of the year.
Marsa Alam, Kosseir and Sharm El Sheikh have the warmest winter night temperatures of cities and resorts in Egypt.