Suez<\/a> across the Gulf of Suez. Israel lies at Taba, and Saudi Arabia and Jordan lie across the Gulf of Aqaba. Rain falls only in winter, sometimes as flash floods down the wadis.<\/p>\nDemographics<\/h2>\n
The population rose from 102,018 at the 2017 census to 115,611 by January 2023. Density is 3.5 people per km\u00b2. Roughly half the residents live in El Tor and Sharm El Sheikh. The indigenous population is Bedouin: the Muzeina around Dahab and Nuweiba, the Jabaliya around Saint Catherine, the Tarabin near Nuweiba and Taba, and the Aleiqat and Sawalha on the western coast. Resort workers from the Nile Valley and Delta make up much of the rest, and the count rises and falls with the tourism season.<\/p>\n
Economy and Local Life<\/h2>\n
Diving and beach tourism is the main employer, centred on Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba. Sharm hosted COP27 in November 2022 and handles most international arrivals. Religious tourism brings visitors to Saint Catherine’s Monastery and the Mount Sinai summit climb. Oil is produced at Abu Rudeis and Ras Sudr, and manganese is mined at Umm Bogma above Abu Zenima. Bedouin families keep goats and camels, grow almonds, olives and apricots in the walled mountain gardens above Saint Catherine, and fish both gulfs. Nuweiba port ships passengers and freight to Jordan.<\/p>\n
History<\/h2>\n
The mountains were mined for turquoise and copper from the Old Kingdom, at Serabit el-Khadim and Wadi Maghara. Saint Catherine’s Monastery was built between 548 and 565 under Justinian and has stayed in use ever since, the oldest working Christian monastery in the world. El Tor served as the quarantine station for pilgrims returning from Mecca in the nineteenth century. Israel held the area from 1967 and withdrew in stages under the 1979 treaty, ending in April 1982. Taba was returned separately in 1989 after international arbitration. Sharm El Sheikh grew from a naval post into a resort city through the 1990s.<\/p>\n
Getting There<\/h2>\n
Sharm El Sheikh International Airport takes direct flights from Europe, Russia and the Gulf, and is the usual way in. By road, Sharm is about 500 km from Cairo, roughly seven hours through the Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel and down the Gulf of Suez coast. Ras Sedr is the nearest kism to Cairo at about 200 km. Buses serve Sharm, Dahab, Nuweiba and Saint Catherine daily from Cairo. Ferries cross from Nuweiba to Aqaba, and the Taba crossing links to Eilat.<\/p>\n
FAQ<\/h2>\nWhat is the capital of South Sinai Governorate?<\/h3>\n
El Tor, on the Gulf of Suez. Its kism held 45,449 people in January 2023, the largest in the governorate.<\/p>\n
How many towns are in South Sinai?<\/h3>\n
Nine kisms, built around eight towns: El Tor, Sharm El Sheikh, Ras Sedr, Abu Rudeis, Abu Zenima, Nuweiba, Saint Catherine, Dahab and Taba. Between them lie Bedouin villages and mountain gardens rather than farming villages.<\/p>\n
What is the population of South Sinai Governorate?<\/h3>\n
115,611 as of the CAPMAS estimate for January 2023, the smallest of Egypt’s 27 governorates. The 2017 census counted 102,018.<\/p>\n
What is the telephone code for Sharm El Sheikh?<\/h3>\n
069, used across South Sinai. Dial 0069 within Egypt or +20 69 from abroad.<\/p>\n
Where is Mount Sinai?<\/h3>\n
In the Saint Catherine kism, in the centre of the governorate. The summit is 2,285 m, and Saint Catherine’s Monastery sits at its foot at about 1,570 m.<\/p>\n
How far is Sharm El Sheikh from Cairo?<\/h3>\n
About 500 km by road, roughly seven hours. Flights take one hour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Sinai Governorate (Arabic: \u062c\u0646\u0648\u0628 \u0633\u064a\u0646\u0627\u0621) covers the mountainous southern half of the Sinai Peninsula, between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. Its capital is El Tor, and its best-known towns are Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab and Saint Catherine. CAPMAS estimated 115,611 residents in January 2023 across 33,140 km\u00b2, making it the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"South Sinai Governorate: Towns, Villages & Population","_seopress_titles_desc":"South Sinai Governorate, Egypt: capital El Tor, 115,611 people (Jan 2023), 9 kisms. Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Saint Catherine and every mapped village.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-egypt","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/egypt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}