A port city of cosmopolitan in Egypt.

Port Said, port city located in northeastern Egypt, at the northern end of the Suez Canal. It also constitutes the bulk of the urban governorate of Būr Saʿīd. Situated largely on reclaimed land, the city was founded in 1859 on a low sandy strip separating the Mediterranean from Lake Manzala. Mud and sand dredged from the harbour and huge artificial stones capable of resisting saltwater action were added to the strip; its breakwaters were completed in 1868, a year before the canal was completed. The city was named after the khedive Muḥammad Saʿīd, who selected the site of the town. Consisting initially of a grid-pattern European quarter and a native Egyptian sector, the town early established its cosmopolitan character.

The city still retains the main workshops of the canal administration. During the Suez Crisis in 1956, which followed Egyptian nationalization of the canal, Port Said was severely damaged by the air attacks and landings of French and British forces. The colossal bronze statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the canal, which stood at the base of the western mole, was removed in 1956 after angry crowds perceived in it a symbol of European intervention in Egypt’s internal affairs. Britain and France were compelled to withdraw under strong United Nations pressure, and the canal was reopened. The damages of the brief campaign were repaired, and the city’s trade resumed. In the Six-Day War of June 1967, Israeli forces occupied the eastern bank of the canal, which then remained closed until 1975.

With the promulgation of Pres. Anwar Sadat’s “Open Door” policy of 1975, the city was restored, new housing was built for the returning refugees of the wars with Israel, and a tax-free industrial zone was opened.