KAFR ASH-SHAYKH

also spelled Kafr El-sheikh muhafazah (governorate) in the central Nile Delta, Lower Egypt, with the Rosetta Branch of the river to the west and ad-Daqahliyah governorate to the east. It was created in 1949 out of al-Gharbiyah muhafazah, just south, and named Fu'adiyah muduiyah (province) after Fu'ad I, sultan (191722) and king (192236) of Egypt. After the Egyptian monarchy was overthrown in 1952, the area was renamed in 1955. Buhayrat al-Burullus, which is a large saltwater coastal lagoon about 35 miles (56 km) long and is separated from the sea by a narrow sandbar, is at the north. Fed by canals and minor branches of the Nile, the lagoon is bordered by extensive salt marshes from which large tracts have been reclaimed for rice cropping; the fishing village of Baltim is on the eastern shore. The muhafazah's area is 1,327 square miles (3,437 square km). The region's principal crops, which are irrigated by the Zifta barrage on the Damietta Branch of the Nile, are cotton, rice, corn (maize), and wheat. Sugar beets were introduced in the early 1980s, and fish farming was also begun. Important market towns having industries linked with agriculture (cotton ginning, rice milling, and sugar beet processing) are Disuq and Biyala. Other industries are carried on in the capital, Kafr ash-Shaykh (q.v.). The coastal lighthouse located north of the east end of the Burullus lagoon was erected by order of Khedive (viceroy) Isma'il Pasha (ruled 186379) as one of four associated with the construction of the Suez Canal. Pop. (1985 est.) 1,795,000. also spelled Kafr El-sheikh, town, capital of Kafr ash-Shaykh muhafazah (governorate) of the central Nile Delta, Lower Egypt, bordering the Mediterranean. The town is situated in a fertile plain about 25 miles (40 km) north-northwest of Tanta. Industries in the town include cotton-processing plants and factories producing cigarettes, rice strawboard, rice chaff oil, and chemical products. A former royal palace of King Farouk I (reigned 193652) is located there. The city has rail links to Rosetta and Cairo by a branch connecting the main rail system at al-Mahallah al-Kubra. Pop. (1985 est.) 98,800.