Sharm el-Sheikh

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Image:SharmView.jpg Sharm el-Sheikh (شرم الشيخ, also transliterated as Sharm ash Shaykh), often known simply as "Sharm," is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in Janub Sina', Egypt, on the coastal strip between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai. The drive to Ismaïlia is about four hours; to Taba it's three.

Sharm el-Sheikh is the administrative hub of Egypt's Southern Sinai province which includes the smaller coastal towns of Dahab and Nuweiba as well as the mountainous interior, Saint Catherine's Monastery and Mount Sinai. Sharm el-Sheikh is know as The City of Peace in referral to the large number of international peace conferences that have been held there.

1 Geography and history
2 Economy and tourism
3 Transportation
4 See also
5 External links

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Geography and history

Image:Sharm el Sheikh map.png Sharm el-Sheikh is situated on a promontory overlooking the Strait of Tiran at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba. Its strategic importance led to its transformation from a fishing village into a major port and naval base for the Egyptian Navy. It was captured by Israel during the Sinai conflict of 1956 and restored to Egypt in 1957. A United Nations peacekeeping force was subsequently stationed there until the 1967 Six Day War when it was recaptured by Israel and renamed Mifratz Shlomo, Hebrew for "Gulf of Solomon". Sharm el-Sheikh remained under Israeli control until the Sinai peninsula was returned to Egypt in 1982.

Prior to 1967, Sharm el-Sheikh was little more than an occasional base of operations for local fishermen; the nearest permanent settlement was in Nabek, north of Ras el-Nasrani ("The Tiran Straits"). Commercial development of the area began during the Israeli occupation. The Israelis built the town of Ofira overlooking Sharm el-Maya Bay and opened the first tourist-oriented establishments in the area six kilometers north at Naama Bay. These included a marina hotel on the southern side of the bay, a nature field school on the northern side, diving clubs, and a now well-known promenade.

After the Sinai was restored to Egypt in 1982, the Egyptian government embarked on an initiative to encourage continued development of the city. Foreign investors - some of whom had discovered the potential of the locality during the Israeli occupation - contributed to a spate of building projects. Environmental zoning laws currently limit the height of buildings in Sharm el-Sheikh so as to avoid obscuring the natural beauty of the surroundings.

The city has played host to a number of important Middle Eastern peace conferences, including the September 4, 1999 agreement to restore Palestinian self-rule over the Gaza Strip. A second summit was held at Sharm on October 17, 2000 following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, but it failed to end the violence. A summit, was held on August 3, 2005 in this city on developments in the Arab world such as the situation in Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The city was struck by two major disasters in recent years. On January 3, 2004, Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashed into the Red Sea shortly after leaving Sharm el-Sheikh's airport. On July 23, 2005, a series of bombings killed more than 80 persons.

In 1978, a flash flood destroyed most of the shallow reefs in Naama Bay. Being that the bay was largely undeveloped at the time, there were very few casualties.

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Economy and tourism

Sharm el-Sheikh was formerly a port, but commercial shipping has been greatly reduced as the result of strict environmental laws introduced in the 1990s. Until 1982, there was only a military port in Sharm el-Sheikh, on the northern part of Marsa Bareka. The civilian port development started in the mid 1980s when the Sharem-al-Maya bay became the city's main yacht and service port.

Sharm el-Sheikh's major industry is foreign and domestic tourism, owing to its dramatic landscape, year-round dry and temperate climate and long stretches of natural beaches. Its waters are clear and calm for most of the year and have become popular for various watersports, particularly recreational scuba diving and snorkeling (which many consider to be among the best in the world). Major luxury hotels, such as The Ritz-Carlton, The Hyatt Regency and The Four Seasons, as well as franchises like Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe, can be found in Sharm el-Sheikh. Ras Mohammed, at the southern-most tip of the peninsula, has been designated a national park, serving to protect the area's wildlife as well as its natural landscape, shoreline and coral reef. 15 kilometers northeast, a number of international hotels and noted restaurants are clustered around Naama Bay, with golf courses and other leisure facilities further up the coast.

On Saturday 23rd July 2005, three terrorist suicide bomb attacks killed 64 people in the Naama Bay area. The targets, two hotels and 'Old Market' were significant tourist areas and it is feared that visitor numbers may fall following the attack.

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Transportation

Sharm's marina has been redeveloped for private yachts and sailboats, with a passenger terminal for cruise ships and scheduled ferry service to Hurghada and Aqaba.

In addition to scheduled flights to Cairo, Hurghada, Luxor and Alexandria, Sharm's airport is served by frequent charter flights to Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, among other destinations.

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