Sallum
Sallum, also As Sallum or Sollum (Arabic: السلوم Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [essælˈluːm]) is a village in Egypt, near the Mediterranean Sea, east of the border with Libya, and around 145 km (90 mi) from Tobruk.
Sallum | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 | |
  Sallum Location in Egypt | |
| Coordinates: 31°30′13″N 25°06′54″E | |
| Country |  |
| Governorate | Matruh |
| Elevation | 3 ft (1 m) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 14,393 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EST) |
Sallum is mainly a Bedouin community. It has little if any tourist activity or organized historical curiosities. It is a regional trading center.
Sallum was the ancient Roman port of Baranis, and there are some Roman wells still remaining in the area. It rests on the Northern coast of Egypt, but the location along the border with Libya, about as far west as one may travel in Egypt, means that it is out of the way of almost everything, with few attractions other than a World War II Commonwealth war cemetery. There is a local post office and a National Bank of Egypt branch.
History
Sallum was known in antiquity as Catabathmus Maior, Plynos Limen and Tetrapyrgia.
Sallum was part of Ottoman Cyrenaica prior to 1911. That year, during the Italo-Turkish War, an Anglo-Egyptian force took over the city from its Ottoman garrison to prevent its falling into Italian hands. When the border between Italian Libya and Egypt was settled by treaty in 1925, Sallum was left on the Egyptian side.[1]
During the Senussi Campaign of the First World War, Sallum was captured by the Senussi in November 1915 with Ottoman and German assistance. It was re-occupied by the British in March 1916.[2] In December 1941, during Operation Crusader in World War II, Sallum was again the site of fighting between the British and the Germans.
On July 21, 1977, Libya attacked Sallum, starting the Libyan-Egyptian War.
Sallum was a destination point during the total solar eclipse on March 29, 2006, as expeditions traveled to the best observation point.[3]
Climate
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh), as the rest of Egypt, but typically as the northern coast of Egypt, has its temperatures moderated by blowing winds from the Mediterranean Sea.
| Climate data for Salum | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 30.3 (86.5) |
33.4 (92.1) |
37.4 (99.3) |
42.4 (108.3) |
44.2 (111.6) |
47.3 (117.1) |
41.7 (107.1) |
47.2 (117.0) |
43.0 (109.4) |
41.4 (106.5) |
36.6 (97.9) |
32.0 (89.6) |
47.3 (117.1) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 18.6 (65.5) |
19.6 (67.3) |
21.4 (70.5) |
24.2 (75.6) |
26.8 (80.2) |
30.0 (86.0) |
31.3 (88.3) |
31.1 (88.0) |
29.6 (85.3) |
27.4 (81.3) |
23.9 (75.0) |
20.2 (68.4) |
25.3 (77.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 13.8 (56.8) |
14.5 (58.1) |
16.1 (61.0) |
18.6 (65.5) |
21.2 (70.2) |
24.7 (76.5) |
26.2 (79.2) |
26.4 (79.5) |
25.0 (77.0) |
22.6 (72.7) |
18.9 (66.0) |
15.3 (59.5) |
20.3 (68.5) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 9.8 (49.6) |
10.3 (50.5) |
11.8 (53.2) |
14.1 (57.4) |
16.9 (62.4) |
20.3 (68.5) |
21.9 (71.4) |
22.3 (72.1) |
20.9 (69.6) |
18.5 (65.3) |
14.8 (58.6) |
11.3 (52.3) |
16.1 (61.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 3.7 (38.7) |
4.8 (40.6) |
6.1 (43.0) |
8.5 (47.3) |
9.9 (49.8) |
14.0 (57.2) |
18.0 (64.4) |
18.4 (65.1) |
15.4 (59.7) |
12.9 (55.2) |
7.3 (45.1) |
6.5 (43.7) |
3.7 (38.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 21 (0.8) |
15 (0.6) |
7 (0.3) |
6 (0.2) |
2 (0.1) |
1 (0.0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
13 (0.5) |
10 (0.4) |
17 (0.7) |
92 (3.6) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 9.1 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 59 | 58 | 59 | 58 | 60 | 59 | 62 | 65 | 64 | 62 | 59 | 59 | 60.3 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 217.0 | 211.9 | 279.0 | 297.0 | 306.9 | 369.0 | 393.7 | 378.2 | 327.0 | 300.7 | 219.0 | 210.8 | 3,510.2 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 7.0 | 7.5 | 9.0 | 9.9 | 9.9 | 12.3 | 12.7 | 12.2 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 9.6 |
| Source 1: NOAA[4] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Arab Meteorology Book (sun only)[5] | |||||||||||||
See also
- Halfaya Pass
- Military history of Italy during World War II
- Military history of Egypt during World War II
- Libyan–Egyptian War
Notes
- Anna Baldinetti, The Origins of the Libyan Nation: Colonial Legacy, Exile and the Emergence of a New Nation-State (Routledge, 2010), p. 2.
- John Slight (2014), "British Understandings of the Sanussiyya Sufi Order’s Jihad against Egypt, 1915–17", The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 103(2) pp. 233–242.
- "Valoria La Buena annular eclipse expedition" (report), Solar Physics Group, Astrophysics Lab, University of Rome, January 10, 2007, webpage (mostly Italiano): ICRA-solar: mentions Sidi Barrani observation area.
- "Salloum Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- "Appendix I: Meteorological Data" (PDF). Springer. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
External links
- Photograph of twilight Sidi Barrani solar eclipse (Oct. 2005, copyright 2005-2007 Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület): Hungarian-foto Sidi-twilight (540x345, 38 KB).
- Photograph of solar eclipse at Sidi Barrani (Oct. 2005, copyright 2005-2007 Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület): Hungarian-foto Sidi-eclipse (9 kb).
- Photograph of Sidi Barrani observers (Oct. 2005, copyright 2005-2007 Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület): Hungarian-foto Sidi-people (50 kb).
