SHAMAL SINA'

formerly Sina' Ash-shamaliyah (Arabic: Northern Sinai), muhafazah (governorate), northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. The governorate has an area of 10,646 square miles (27,574 square km) and was created out of Sina' muhafazah in 1978 after the initial stages of Israel's withdrawal from the peninsula. The town of Al-'Arish is the capital of the muhafazah. The northern half of the Sinai Peninsula is dominated by the broad At-Tih Plateau, which extends from the governorate's southern boundary downward to the north until it meets the Mediterranean coastal plain. At the northern edge of the muhafazah, the Mediterranean coastal plain widens out westward toward the Suez Canal, where it gives way to large expanses of sand dunes. Wadi Al-'Arish, a seasonal stream 155 miles (250 km) long, lies in the northeastern section of the governorate and empties into the Mediterranean Sea near Al-'Arish. Along the northern coast lies the large and brackish Bardawil Lake (266 square miles [690 square km]); this lake is bounded on the north by a long, narrow sandbar pierced by two canals that link the lake with the sea. A large aquifer of groundwater, which is augmented by drainage from winter rainfall, underlies the muhafazah, and there are numerous wells and springs that tap this source. Agriculture has become important on the plain of Al-'Arish and along the coast, and reclamation and irrigation efforts have brought much of the arable land there under cultivation. Crops of barley, fruits, market vegetables, olives, and dates are grown. Another large reclamation effort has been undertaken along the southwestern edge of Bardawil Lake, where vegetables, fruit trees, and wood trees have been planted. The majority of the settled population of the muhafazah lives in the coastal region. The largest town of the governorate is Al-'Arish, which also serves as a port. Other towns are Bur Fu'ad, Al-Qantarah (both Suez Canal towns), Rummanah (on the coast road), and Nakhl. The Mediterranean coastal road in the governorate has been the main thoroughfare for military and commercial traffic between Egypt and Palestine since antiquity. Pop. (1990 est.) 196,000.