Zaqāzīq, Az-

▪ Egypt

also spelled  Zagazig,  

      city and capital of Ash-Sharqīyah (Sharqīyah, Ash-) muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Egypt, on the Nile River delta north-northeast of Cairo. The city dates from the 1820s, when cotton cultivation spread to the eastern delta. Located at the junction of two irrigation canals (Turʿat as-Suways al-Ḥulwah [Sweetwater Canal] and Turʿat al-Muʿiz), Az-Zaqāzīq is about 1 mile (2 km) north of mounds marking the site of the 4th-dynasty city of Bubastis. An important road and railway junction, the city is a major cotton and grain market. Pop. (1996) 267,351.

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