Aswan

For other uses, see Aswan (disambiguation).
This article is about Aswan. Not to be confused with biblical city of Sin.
Aswan
أسوان (Arabic)
Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ (Coptic)
City
From top left:
Aerial view of the city, Philae temple complex, Aswan High Dam, view of the city from the Nile, El Khattaya bridge, a resort in the city, Monastery of St. Simeon
Aswan is located in Egypt
Aswan
Aswan
Location within Egypt
Coordinates: 24°05′20″N 32°53′59″E / 24.08889°N 32.89972°E / 24.08889; 32.89972
Country Egypt
GovernorateAswan
Area
[1]
 • Total
375 km2 (145 sq mi)
Elevation
194 m (636 ft)
Population
 (2021)[1]
 • Total
379,774
 • Density1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EST)
Area code(+20) 97
Official nameNubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae
TypeCultural
Criteriai, iii, vi
Designated1979 (3rd session)
Reference no.89
RegionEgyptian Governorates, Northern Africa, African Union

Aswan (/æsˈwɑːn, ɑːs-/, also US: /ˈæswɑːn, ˈɑːs-, ˈæz-/;[2][3][4][5] Arabic: أسوان, romanized: ʾAswān [ʔɑsˈwɑːn]; Coptic: Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ Souan [swɑn]) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate.

Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city has expanded and includes the formerly separate community on the island of Elephantine.

Aswan includes five monuments within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae; these are the Old and Middle Kingdom tombs of Qubbet el-Hawa, the town of Elephantine, the stone quarries and Unfinished Obelisk, the Monastery of St. Simeon and the Fatimid Cemetery.[6] The city's Nubian Museum is an important archaeological center, containing finds from the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia before the Aswan Dam flooded all of Lower Nubia.

The city is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of craft and folk art.[7] Aswan joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2017.

  1. ^ a b "Egypt: Governorates, Major Cities & Towns - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Aswan". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  3. ^ "Aswan". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  4. ^ "Aswan" Archived 2019-04-03 at the Wayback Machine (US) and "Aswan". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-08-13.
  5. ^ "Aswân". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  6. ^ "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  7. ^ Smith, Melanie K. (2016). Issues in cultural tourism studies. Routledge. ISBN 9781138785694. OCLC 932058870.