Port Fuad

Port Fouad (Egyptian Arabic: بور فؤاد‎‎ Borfoʾād or Porfoʾād, [boɾ.foˈʔæːd, poɾ.foˈʔæːd], the first syllable has its pronunciation from French) is a city in north-eastern Egypt under the jurisdiction of Port Said Governorate, located across the Suez Canal from Port Said. It forms the northwesternmost part of Sinai Peninsula and has a population of 560,000 (as of 2003). Port Fouad and Port Said are on opposite sides of the canal and face each other. Together they form a metropolitan area.

Map of Port Fuad, Port Fouad, Port Said Governorate, Egypt

Port Fouad was established in 1926, principally to relieve overcrowding in Port Said, and was named after King Fuad I (also transliterated as Fouad), the first holder of the title King of Egypt in the modern era (having previously held the title Sultan of Egypt).

The city is located on a triangular island which is bounded by the Mediterranean on the north, the Suez Canal on the west, and the relatively new junction between the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean on the east. The Suez Canal Authority forms the main employment of the city, and its employees comprise most of the population. It has one general hospital. Residents of Port Fouad travel to Port Said by ferry.

After the war of 1967 Port Fouad was the only piece of Sinai held by the Egyptians. The Israeli army tried to capture Port Fouad during the War of Attrition, but failed. After the October War, the Camp David Accord in 1978 Israel agreed to return Sinai to Egypt peacefully, and later the two countries signed a peace treaty. Today Port Fouad is a major Air Defence Position for Egypt. Despite its important location, as of 2006, Port Fouad was still considered a residential zone, with very few facilities and no major downtown or city center.