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Tanta
Sign in to saveTanta is a city in Egypt. It had a population of 530,000 in 2024, making it the seventh most populous city in Egypt. The city is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Governorate, Tanta is a center for the cotton-ginning industry.
OverviewAI-generated
Tanta is a city in Egypt, located within the Nile Delta and Lower Egypt. It serves as the capital of the Gharbia Governorate and is situated at an elevation of 18 meters above sea level. The city is in the Africa/Cairo time zone, which corresponds to UTC+02:00 and UTC+03:00. Its official name is طنطا, with an IPA transcription of tˤntˤaː.
The population of Tanta is recorded as 603,120, while another source lists it as 576,648. The city is the owner of the Ahmad Al-Badawi Mosque and Tanta University. It has a local dialing code of 040 and a postal code of 31511. People from Tanta are referred to by the demonyms طنطاوي, طنطاوية, طنطاويون, and طنطاويات.
Synthesized by Vinony from 52 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Open Meteo, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
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Place details
- Locality
- طنطا
- Region
- الغربية
- Country
- مصر
- Population
- 576,648
- Timezone
- Africa/Cairo
via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames
Key facts
- Settlement.name
- Tanta
- Settlement.settlement_type
- City
- Settlement.nickname
- Madinat Al-Saïd Al-Badawi
- Settlement.pushpin_map
- Egypt
- Settlement.pushpin_label_position
- left
- Settlement.pushpin_relief
- yes
- Settlement.pushpin_map_caption
- Location of Tanta within Egypt
- Settlement.subdivision_type
- Country
- Settlement.subdivision_type1
- Governorate
- Settlement.subdivision_name1
- Gharbia
- Settlement.leader_title
- Governor
- Settlement.leader_title1
- Governor
- Settlement.unit_pref
- Metric
- Settlement.area_total_km2
- 19.5
- Settlement.elevation_m
- 12
- Settlement.population_total
- 530,000
- Settlement.population_as_of
- 2024
- Settlement.population_density_km2
- auto
via Wikipedia infobox
Travel guide
Understand
The city is one of the oldest cultural and religious settlements in Egypt, and also home to a large and prestigious university, Tanta University.
Understand
Tanta is famous for the mosque and festivals of Sayed Ahmad al-Badawi, and also for the delicious sweets made in that area.
Get around
The easiest way to get around is by taxi. Another option is to take one of the public minibuses.
See
The Ahmad Al-Badawi mosque and Al Azher schools were founded hundreds of years back. The sayed al-Badawi mosque is spectacular and can get very very crowded during the festival seasons. Gold and crystal chandeliers, impressive tile work, painted wood, and stained glass decorate this holy place in Tanta's downtown. You can certainly walk there from the train station, it's probably less than 1 km. There are custodians at the mosque to hold onto your bag or backpack while you are making the prayers or touring the mosque.
Buy
traditional sweets canes and wicker work peasant vests, underwear, and crocheted caps
Eat
Near the Mosque of Sayed al-Badawi, on one of the streets to the right side if you're facing the mosque, is a fuul and ta'amiya restaurant called Abu Sina. It's packed with locals eating the delicious fuul. For LE 10 LE, you get two plates of fuul, gargeer, babghanoush, tahini, ta'miyas, salad, tomatoes, potato salad, pickles, and one can of pop. Plus it was absolutely delicious!
You can also buy some delicious sweets from hallawyat masr or if you want to get some other eastern sweets go to adly sweets.
Drink
Rural conservatism is apparently on the decline, as one sees women and men in coffee shops, including near the main mosque. Enjoy a drink of karkadee or yansoon, in addition to the traditional tea or coffee.
Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)
~32 min read
Encyclopedic overview
33 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Geography
- Old Core
- Area Expansion
- Divisions
- Demographics
- Population
- Religion
- Economy
- Industry
- Tourism
- Culture
- Tanta Museum
- Tanta Cultural Center
- Infrastructure
- Education
- Universities
- Health
- Sports
- Drinking Water
- Landmarks
- Ahmad al-Badawi Mosque
- Other Mosques
- Sabils
- Palaces
- Transportation
- Climate
- Notable people
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
Tanta is a city in Egypt. It had a population of 530,000 in 2024, making it the seventh most populous city in Egypt. The city is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Governorate, Tanta is a center for the cotton-ginning industry.
A key city in Egypt, Tanta is both a major commercial hub and a significant cultural center. One of the major railway lines in Egypt passes through Tanta, enhancing its connectivity and importance. It is also famed for its sweet shops and snack industry, particularly for its roasted chickpeas and confections like Hab El-Aziz. In addition to food production, the city is known for its oil, soap, flax, and textile industries. It hosts both Tanta University and a branch of Al-Azhar University, the only two universities in the governorate, offering diverse academic disciplines. The city also includes the historic Ahmadi Mosque, a long-standing center for Islamic scholarship.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Tanta” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Gallery (34)
On the map
3 mapped locations