ASWAN

also spelled Assuan, or Assouan, muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt, embracing the Nile floodplain and immediately adjacent territories. Its area is 262 square miles (679 square km). Long and narrow in shape, it is the most southerly Egyptian governorate along the Nile; its short southern boundary forms part of the international frontier with The Sudan. The sandstone, granite, and diorite hills flanking the Nile are dissected by ancient, long-dried-up streams. At the capital of Aswan and at Wadi Halfa, at the Sudanese frontier, the Nile flows through granite formations that, having eroded more slowly, have produced rapids and islands in the river, called cataracts. These presented obstacles to river traffic and were a factor in the location of the frontier at Aswan in pharaonic Egypt. Just above the city of Aswan is the old Aswan Dam. Some 4 miles (6 km) farther south is the Aswan High Dam, one of the world's great engineering works, completed in 1970. South of the High Dam for nearly 150 miles (240 km) to the Sudanese border is a hilly, inhospitable desert wilderness without roads or railroads, with the original river valley flooded by Lake Nasser. Since 1968, when the High Dam became operational, many formerly summer-irrigated lands have been converted to year-round irrigation in Aswan governorate. Sugarcane, lentils, corn (maize), and wheat are grown in the area north of Aswan city. Industry in the governorate is centred on the High Dam and in the towns of Kawm Umbu and Idfu, both of which have sugar refineries. Granite has long been quarried around Aswan city, and marble quarries opened in modern times. Tourism also is important, as the governorate is rich in well-preserved ancient monuments. In the 1960s a massive international scientific effort removed the Egyptian temples threatened by the rising waters of Lake Nasser to higher ground; the most complex efforts involved Abu Simbel and Philae. Pop. (1986 est.) 796,000. also spelled Assuan, or Assouan, Greek Syene, city, capital of Aswan muhafazah (governorate), Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile just below the First Cataract. It faces the island of Elephantine (modern Jazirat Aswan), on which stand the ruins of the ancient city of Yeb. Aswan was the southern frontier of pharaonic Egypt. Its local quarries supplied granite for many ancient Egyptian monuments and are still operated. On the Nile's eastern bank was the site of the ancient city of Swen (ancient Egyptian: the Mart), whence came the Greek Syene and the Arabic Aswan. Aswan later served as a frontier garrison post for the Romans, Turks, and British. Modern Aswan is an administrative centre, winter resort, and commercial centre, receiving trade from The Sudan. It is also an industrial centre, with a copper- and steel-producing complex, a chemicals plant producing fertilizer, a cement plant, a sugar refinery, and quarries producing granite and marble. The old Aswan Dam (completed in 1902) rises about 3 miles (5 km) south of the city; the Aswan High Dam (completed in 1970) is about 7 miles (11 km) south of the city. The Higher Industrial Institute is located in Aswan. A school for fisheries training opened in 1980. On Elephantine a museum contains antiquities from the governorate. There are many hotels in the city, which is the southern terminus of the CairoAswan railway. There is also an international airport. Pop. (1986 est.) 195,700.