Name of City/municipality: Ras Gharib
Population: 42619 (2019)
Area: 10464 Km2
Ras Gharib is the second largest city in Red Sea Governorate. It is located 150 Km to the north of Hurghada on the Red Sea coast. It is bordered on the north by Suez Governorate, on the south by Gabal El-Zait region, on the east by Suez Gulf and on the west by the Governorates of Al-Menia and Beni Suef.
Name of Mayor: H.E. General Amr Mohamed Hanafy Mahmoud
Contact: redseatameer@gmail.com
Website: http://www.redsea.gov.eg/IntoPage.aspx
Main features:
Ras Gharib is one of the leading centres of petroleum production in Egypt, having housed the main operations for first the Anglo-Egyptian Oil Company (a branch of Royal Dutch Shell) and then the Egyptian national petroleum company. For a time it was the capital of the Red Sea Governorate.
Main economic activities:
The agricultural sector is minor in Ras Gharib. Yet, there are plantations in the city’s Dara Valley. A major thing to mention is that Ras Gharib is characterized by the production of approximately 60% of the Arab Republic of Egypt oil production, with 78 oil companies in the city and a large number of quarries in it. The second important sector is tourism, where beautiful beaches and sea as well as some historical sites constitutes the main attractions that generates the revenues for the local economy.
Conditions and environmental challenges:
The majority of the citizens lives in the urban centre, and only a small portion lives in rural areas. The Bedouin communities in Ras Gharib constitute an important part of the population and are mostly unsettled, live in the desert, away from the city and the villages.
The type of work carried out by the majority of the work force can be divided into three basic categories: government/public sector, oil companies’ crews and wageworkers and tourism. The main climatic problems that hit the city is the water scarcity, droughts and extreme heat.