Rosetta

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Rosetta
other_name =Rashid
native_name = رشيد
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image_caption = Nineteenth-century cannons in a mid-town square in Rosetta


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map_caption = Egypt: Site of Rashid (top center)


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Egypt
subdivision_type1 = governorate
subdivision_name1 = al-Buhayrah
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established_title = Founded
established_date = AD 800
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unit_pref = Imperial
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population_as_of =1996
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population_total =58432
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latd=31 |latm=24 |lats= |latNS=N
longd=30 |longm=25 |longs= |longEW=E
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Rosetta ( _ar. رشيد Rashid) is a port city on the Mediterranean coast in Egypt. It is located 65 km (40 miles) east of Alexandria, at coord|31|24|N|30|25|E|, in al-Buhayrah governorate. It was founded around AD 800.

With the decline of Alexandria following the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in the 16th century, Rashid boomed, only to wane in importance after Alexandria's revival. During the 19th century it was a popular British tourist destination, known for its charming Ottoman mansions, citrus groves and cleanliness.

The town of Rashid came to be known in the West as "Rosetta", the name by which it was referred to by the French during Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt. It is famous as the site where the Rosetta Stone was found by French soldiers in 1799.

History

It is the modern representative of the ancient Bolbitine, which lay a little farther north. In the Middle Ages Rosetta was a place of considerable commercial importance, and it continued to flourish until the construction of the Mahmudiyeh Canal and the improvement of the harbour at Alexandria diverted most of its trade to the latter city.

It also witnessed the defeat of the 1807 British Fraser campaign trying to occupy Egypt after the French army left Egypt.

Population

The population of Rashid has increased since the 1980s, as follows: in 1983 = 36,711 (approximate), in 1986 = 51,789, and in 1996 = 58,432.

Gallery

References

* "Rosetta," "Encyclopaedia Britannica", Chicago, 1983.

External links

* Thomas Brinkhoff: City Population, "http://www.citypopulation.de" [http://www.citypopulation.de/Egypt.html "Egypt statistics"]
*
* Detailed map of Egypt (with many ancient temples): [http://unimaps.com/egypt/index.html UniMaps-Egypt] .