Hurghada

The city's name is derived from the Arabic name of the Nitraria plant (Arabic: غردق, romanized: ghardaq). The English Hurghada comes from gharqad (Arabic: غرقد), a variant of the same name. The tree is mentioned in a hadith, where it is called the "tree of the Jews".

The Egyptian Red Sea coast has been inhabited since antiquity, with the area of Hurghada being occupied since the 4th century, when the ancient settlement of Abu Sha’ar (Arabic: ابو شعر), located 20 km north of the modern city, was established. Originally founded as a Roman military fort for Ala Nova Maximiana unit between 309-311, it was transformed into a Christian community around 400. The Christians repurposed the fort into a church, leaving behind inscriptions, graffiti, and artifacts such as a 5th-century papyrus and a tapestry with a cross. The settlement declined after either the Sasanian or Arab conquest of Egypt. The modern city Hurghada was established in 1905 as a fishing village by Ababda fishermen along a natural harbor. Oil was discovered in the area in 1913 by Anglo-Egyptian Oilfields Ltd. …

Hurghada has a subtropical-desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWh), with mild-warm winters and hot to very hot summers. Temperatures in the period December–January–February are warm, but in the evenings temperature may drop from an average 20 Celsius degrees to 10. November, March and April are comfortably warm. May and October are hot and the period from June to September is very hot. The average annual temperature of the sea is 24 °C (75 °F), ranging from 21 °C (70 °F) in February and March to 28 °C (82 °F) in August. Along the Red Sea coast, Hurghada has cooler temperatures in summer.

Hurghada's major industry is foreign and domestic tourism due to its year-round hot and dry climate and long beaches. Its waters are clear and calm for most of the year, making Hurghada a popular destination for underwater diving and snorkelling. Al Mina Mosque with two 40-metre-high minarets is the largest mosque in the Red Sea Governorate. Hurghada Museum is the first antiquities museum in the Red Sea Governorate, containing 2000 artifacts that tell the history of Egypt. Hurghada Grand Aquarium opened in 2015, it is the largest aquarium in Egypt and the second largest in Africa (after uShaka Marine World). There are diving sites around Giftun Islands, Abu Ramada Island and Fanadir where tourists can see shipwrecks such as the El Mina or the Rosalie Moller. Beyond the town the coast road passes through other holiday resorts and villages. …

The city is served by the Hurghada International Airport with scheduled passenger traffic connecting to Cairo and directly to several cities in Europe. It is Egypt's second-busiest airport.

In June 2015 MK in Egypt publisher Yulia Shevel stated that there were about 20,000 Russians in Hurghada, giving it Egypt's largest Russian population, though only about 3,000 were officially documented. Russian women staying in Hurghada often marry Egyptian men through an urfi (non-shariah) process. The city is also nicknamed Krasnomorsk by Russians, a name modelled on the Red Sea (Krasnoye More in Russian) and Russian city names like Krasnogorsk. Hurghada has 4 schools for Russian children: Constellation (Созвездие), Our Traditions (Наши Традиции), Dina (Дина) and The World of Knowledge (Мир знаний) (the Russian School Hurghada), as well as the newsletter MK in Egypt. In 2017, a Russian Consulate opened in Hurghada.