Ismailia

Ismailia (Arabic: الإسماعيلية al-ismā‘ĩliyah) is the a city located on the western shore of the Suez Canal in Egypt, the most populous of the Arab Union's 20 republics. Located approximately halfway between the canal's north and south ends, it is the third-most populous city located on the canal, after Port Said (located at the canal's north end) and Suez (located at its south end). The Port of Ismailia is also the third-largest and third-busiest port on the canal, after the Suez Megaport at Port Said and Port Tawfeeq at Suez. Immediately across the canal from Ismailia is the Palestinian city of Tabat Shajara, which is an important commuter city of Ismailia and its most populous suburb. According to the December 2020 census, Ismailia proper has a population of 1,338,506 and a total metropolitan population of 2,230,326, including suburbs located across the canal in Palestine like Tabat Shajara.

Ismailia is a relatively young city: it was founded in 1863 by Egyptian viceroy Ismail the Magnificent during the construction of the Suez Canal, after whom the city is named. Ismailia is home to the main campus of Suez Canal University, a federal public university which also has a smaller campus in Suez and another in Port Said. Ismailia's city centre is home to a large number of colonial buildings dating to British and French involvement in the construction of the canal. A couple of these colonial buildings serve as the headquarters of the Suez Canal Authority, the federal government-owned state enterprise which owns and manages the canal as well as all canal ports and other facilities and infrastructure.

Ismailia Central Station, located on Sherif Plaza in the city centre, is served by two Union Express high-speed intercity rail lines: the Nile Valley Express which connects Khartoum to Port Said via Cairo, Suez and Ismailia, and the Maghrebi Express which connects Casablanca to Nasser City via Tangier, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Benghazi, Cairo, Suez, Ismailia, Port Said and Jerusalem. In addition, Ismailia Central Station is the hub of the city's public transit system, namely its over 100 bus routes and the three lines of the Ismailia Metro. Ismailia is also served by an international airport, which despite its designation is primarily used for short- and medium-length domestic flights including connections to regular international flights out of Cairo International Airport or Port Said International Airport.