MATRUH

desert muhafazah (governorate) of Egypt that includes all of Egypt west of al-Jizah governorate and north of latitude 2620 N. Only one percent of its area is inhabited. It is mostly a plateau area of sedimentary rock such as limestone, averaging 700800 feet (215245 m) in elevation and nowhere surpassing 1,500 feet (460 m). Surface dissection results from wind erosion on the stone-covered wastes and sandy plains. Longitudinal belts of parallel sand dunes occur, rising to 200 feet (60 m) in the Great Sand Sea extending south from the Siwa Oasis. Light rain falls only along the coastal plain, but underground aquifers provide water for Siwa Oasis. The Qattara Depression reaches 435 feet (133 m) below sea level and occupies 7,000 square miles (18,000 square km), extending southward 35 miles (56 km) from the coast at al-'Alamayn. The governorate's natural resources include petroleum, with fields at al-'Alamayn, Abu al-Gharadiq, and in the Qattara Depression, and natural gas at Abu al-Gharadiq. The population is concentrated along the small coastal strip, where Roman ruins are located, and in Siwa Oasis. A railway connects the small ports of Marsa Matruh (q.v.), the capital of the governorate, and as-Sallum to Alexandria. Area 81,897 square miles (212,112 square km). Pop. (1990 est.) 182,000.