Description
With a population of 4.1 million, this city of Alexandria was once among the greatest cities of the Mediterranean world and a centre of Hellenic scholarship and science, Alexandria was the capital of Egypt from its founding by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE until its surrender to the Arab forces led by Amr ibn al-Aṣ in 642 CE. One of Egypt largest cities, Alexandria is also its principal seaport and a major industrial centre. The city lies on the Mediterranean Sea at the western edge of the Nile River delta, northwest of Cairo in Lower Egypt.