Place:Marsa Matruh, Matruh, Egypt

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NameMarsa Matruh
Alt namesMarsá Maṭrūḥsource: NIMA, GEOnet Names Server (1996-1998)
Marsā Maṭrūḥsource: Getty Vocabulary Program
Matrūhsource: Canby, Historic Places (1984) II, 577; Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1984) p 741
Mersa Matruhsource: Rand McNally Atlas (1989) I-112; Times Atlas of World History (1993) p 350
Paraetoniumsource: Times Atlas of World History (1993) p 352
TypeCity
Coordinates31.333°N 27.217°E
Located inMatruh, Egypt
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Mersa Matruh, also transliterated as Marsa Matruh, is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highway from the Nile Delta to the Libyan border. The city is also accessible from the south via another highway running through the Western Desert towards Siwa Oasis and Bahariya Oasis.

In ancient Egypt and during the reign of Alexander the Great, the city was known as Amunia. In the Ptolemaic Kingdom and later during the Byzantine Empire, it was known as Paraitónion. During the Roman Empire, it was called Paraetonium in Latin, which became after the mid-7th Century Arab conquest of Egypt. As a British military base during World War II, several battles were fought around its environs as the German Afrika Korps attempted to capture the port. It fell to the Germans during the Battle of Mersa Matruh, but was recaptured following the Second Battle of El Alamein.

Mersa Matruh is served by Mersa Matruh International Airport. The city features soft white sand beaches and calm transparent waters; the bay is protected from the high seas by a series of rocks forming a natural breakwater, with a small opening to allow access for light vessels.

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