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Kafr ash-Shaykh
Arabic:
kafru sh-shaykh
Other spelling: Kafr el Sheikh
City in northern Egypt with 150,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate), on a fertile plain in the Nile Delta. It is the capital of the Kafr ash-Shaykh governorate with 2.6 million inhabitants (2005 estimate) and an area of 3,437 km².
Kafr ash-Shaykh is the administrative and trade centre of a rich agricultural region, producing mainly cotton, rice, maize, wheat and sugar beets. Among the industries are cotton-processing, cigarettes, rice strawboard, rice chaff oil and chemical products.
The city is linked to other urban centres by road and rail. Tanta is 46 km south, Mahalla al-Kubra 25 km southeast, Damanhur 55 km west.
The only landmark of Kafr ash-Shaykh is a former palace of King Faruk. A few kilometres south lies the scant ruins of Xois, ancient capital of the 6th nome.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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