Tanta
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Tanta طنطا |
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| Nickname(s): El Badawy City | |
 Tanta
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| Coordinates: 30°47′N 31°0′E / 30.783°N 31.000°ECoordinates: 30°47′N 31°0′E / 30.783°N 31.000°E | |
| Country |
 Egypt
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| Governorate | Gharbia |
| Elevation | 12 m (39 ft) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 421,076 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| Area code(s) | (+20) 40 |
Tanta (Egyptian Arabic: طنطا Ṭanṭa pronounced [ˈtˤɑntˤɑ], is a large city in Egypt. It is the country's fifth largest populated area, with 421,076 inhabitants as of 2006. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: 94 km (58 mi) north of Cairo and 130 km (81 mi) southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Governorate, it is a center for the cotton-ginning industry. One of the major railway lines goes through Tanta. Three annual festivals are held in Tanta in honor of Ahmad al-Badawi, a revered Sufi figure of the 13th century, who founded the Badawiyya Tariqa in Egypt and is buried in the main mosque of Tanta. Tanta is known for its sweetshops and roasted chickpeas.
With its large cotton plantations, in 1856, Tanta became a stop on the railway network, primarily for the benefit of exporting its cotton to European markets. Even by 1986 the area around Tanta was mostly open fields with scattered villages but by 2001, Tanta had grown into a large, busy city. Tanta is known for its sweets, eaten during the mulid (Arabic: المولد) festivals. The people of Tanta are called Tantawy and enjoy leisurely walks along the streets.
Tanta has cotton ginning factories and textile industries, and is also a university town with Tanta University since 1972.
This city comes to life in late October at the end of the cotton harvest. Three million people, from around the Delta and other parts of the Arab world, come for the Moulid of Sayid Ahmed el-Badawi, which is a colorful, religious, eight-day celebration. The moulid is centered around the mosque and tomb of Sayid Ahmad al-Badawi. He founded one of Egypt's largest Sufi orders called Ahmadiyyah or Badawiyya. He was born in Morocco, but emigrated to Arabia and was sent to Tanta in 1234 as a representative of the order from Iraq. He was given permission to start a new order in Tanta and it soon flourished into "one of Egypt's largest Sufi brotherhoods". During the festival many sugar-coated nuts called 'hubb el 'Aziz' ('seeds of the Beloved Prophet') are eaten. They have been considered a delicacy since the 1800s.
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Wikipedia