Siwa
Arabic: wāha sīwah

Slideshow Siwa Travel information from LookLex / Egypt Siwa, the sweetest oasis Ruins of Shali The oasis Gebel al-Mawta Alexander's oracle Temple of Amon Cleopatra's Pool Tourist Festival Alexander's Tomb Bir Wahed

Oasis in western Egypt with 15,000 inhabitants, in the interior of the country, near the border to Libya, at an depression of 18 metres below sea level.
The oasis is 82 km long and has a width varying between 2 and 20 km. The economic base of the oasis is agriculture of which dates and olives are the principal produce. There are 300,000 date palms and 70,000 olive trees. The agriculture is fed by natural springs as well as a couple of artificial ones. In the recent decades, Siwa has suffered more and more from increasing salification of the soil. The people are Berbers, and have their own language. To Siwa, there are 3 larger salt lakes, Birket Maraqi, Birket Siwa, and Birket Zaytun. The main settlement is Shali, situated at the centre of the oasis. Tourism has gradually given employment for some, but the number of visitors remains small, yet transparent in the oasis.

History
7th century BCE: Temple of Amon is constructed.
331 BCE: Siwa is visited by Alexander the Great, who comes to visit the famous Oracle of Temple of Amon, seeking confirmation that he is the son of the god Zeus, as well as upholding the image of him also being the son of the god Amon.
1203: The town of Shali is founded.
1792: After 2,000 years of relative isolation, the first European visitor comes to Siwa.
19th century: Siwa becomes part of modern Egypt.
1986. A road between Marsa Matruh at the coast and Siwa is opened.