El Alamein

This article is about the city. For other uses, see El Alamein (disambiguation).

El Alamein العلمين el-ʿAlamayn
City
[mapframe not available on SimWiki] Interactive map of El Alamein
Coordinates: 30°50′N 28°57′E
Country	Egypt
Governorate	Matrouh
Area
• Total	342.0 km2 (132.0 sq mi)
Population  (2023)
• Total	12,580
• Density	36.78/km2 (95.27/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
2007	7,397	—
2017	10,013	+35.4%

El Alamein is an Egyptian city in the northern Matrouh Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it lies 106 kilometres (66 mi) west of Alexandria and 300 kilometres (186 mi) northwest of Cairo. The city is divided into three main areas: El Alamein, Cidi, and Tal El Eis village.

The city's economy is mainly based on its natural resources of petroleum, which is explored by several Egyptian companies, and the tourist areas where many luxury hotels and tourist resorts are located, such as the tourist town of Marina.

Tourism

Many Egyptians, particularly the upper and middle class travel in huge masses to El Alamein and North Coast every summer to flee the summer heat in other cities and towns.

Climate

El Alamein has a hot desert climate, Köppen climate classification BWh, common with most of the Middle East and North Africa. However, like the rest of the northern coast of Egypt, its climate is slightly less hot, compared to the rest of Egypt, because of the prevailing Mediterranean Sea winds.

Climate data for El Alamein
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	17.8 (64.0)	18.7 (65.7)	20.3 (68.5)	23.5 (74.3)	25.7 (78.3)	28.8 (83.8)	29.5 (85.1)	30.5 (86.9)	28.7 (83.7)	27.5 (81.5)	23.6 (74.5)	19.7 (67.5)	24.5 (76.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	12.4 (54.3)	13.3 (55.9)	14.9 (58.8)	17.7 (63.9)	20.5 (68.9)	23.8 (74.8)	25.2 (77.4)	25.7 (78.3)	24.4 (75.9)	22.1 (71.8)	18.3 (64.9)	14.4 (57.9)	19.4 (66.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	7 (45)	7.9 (46.2)	9.5 (49.1)	12 (54)	15.4 (59.7)	18.8 (65.8)	20.9 (69.6)	21 (70)	20.1 (68.2)	16.7 (62.1)	13 (55)	9.2 (48.6)	14.3 (57.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	29 (1.1)	17 (0.7)	8 (0.3)	2 (0.1)	1 (0.0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	5 (0.2)	21 (0.8)	24 (0.9)	107 (4.1)
Source: climate-data.org

World War II

Two important World War II battles were fought in the area:

• At the First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942), the advance of Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies, stopping the Italian and German forces that were trying to outflank the Allies' position.
• At the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 4 November 1942), Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them all the way back to Tunisia. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister at the time, said of this victory: "Now this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." After the war, he wrote: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat."

Military cemeteries

There are Italian and German military cemeteries on Tel el-Eisa Hill outside the town. The German cemetery is an ossuary, built in the style of a medieval fortress. The cemetery of the Italian War Memorial at El Alamein contains 5,200 graves.

There is also a Greek cemetery at El Alamein.

The Commonwealth Alamein Memorial and attached war cemetery, built and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, has graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the Allied side.

See also

• El Alamein Fountain (war memorial commemorating the battle, in Sydney, Australia)
• El Alamein International Airport
• Enham Alamein (village in Hampshire in England, renamed after the battle)
• Marina El Alamein (tourist resort)
• New Alamein

External links

• Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. "Geographical information on Al 'Alamayn, Egypt". Retrieved 29 March 2008.
• Matteo Ferrari. "El Alamein photos: Commonwealth war cemetery, Italian and German memorial, El Alamein war museum, Egypt". Retrieved 4 September 2011.