Alexandria is located on the Mediterranean Sea on one of the mouths of the Nile. It is a city of about 400,000 people, and is the second size in Egypt. What is the first? It has two harbors, an old and a new, on different sides of the city. The old harbor was famous in the time of the Caesars. At present is it used by fishing boats. The new harbor contains over 1,500 acres of water. Here more than 2,000 steamers call every year, and its annual commerce is valued $270,000,000. This makes it the twentieth port in the world in the value of goods handled. It exports cotton, sugar, rice, grains, etx. Largely due to its harbor, Alexandria is the trade center of Egypt. It is linked with other African cities by railways and telephones. At Alexandria are the offices of a large number of foreign firms doing business in Egypt. This

makes it much more like the cities of Europe than Cairo, for example. One the streets one hears Arabic, English, Italian, Greek, and French spoken. Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 341 B.C. How old is it? For centuries it was the greatest port in the world, and the center of learning. Here famous scholars came to teach, or to study in its great library. It was at the height of its glory about the time of Christ. It was then a city of half a million people. The picture shows one part of the business section of the city. In the background you can see the Mediterranean. Find the lighthouse. Observe the style of the buildings. How are they different from the city buildings you have seen? Could you tell from anything you see that is an Eastern city? What suggests the climate?