Ukrainians in Egypt

31.10.2017

Ukrainians in Egypt

The Arab Republic of Egypt is a state in northeastern Africa and the Sinai Peninsula in Asia. In the north, it is washed by the Mediterranean Sea, in the east by the Red Sea. Owns islands in the Suez Bay and the Red Sea. The area of ??the country is 997 690 square meters. km (29th place in the world), of which 59 202 square meters. km - in Asia. The population is 92 million people (15th in the world). The capital city is Cairo, the largest city in the Middle East and North Africa. Homeland of one of the ancient civilizations of the world.

geography

The state is located in the east of North Africa, occupies part of Asia (peninsula Sinai). The country's territory extends from the north to the south by 1240 km, and from west to east - by 1086 km. In the west it borders on Libya (common border - 1050 km); in the east - with Israel (110 km, along with the Gaza Strip of Palestine); in the south - with the Sudan (1150 km). In the north, it is washed by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea (shoreline is 995 km long), and in the east it is the Red Sea (1941 km). The important role of Egypt in geopolitics is associated with its strategic position, as it has the "political and economic bridge" (Suez Isthmus) between the countries of Africa and Asia and the navigable waterway (Suez Canal) connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea .

Due to the dry climate of Egypt (95% of the country is covered with deserts), the population is concentrated in the narrow valley of the Nile and its delta, and partly on the Red Sea, Sinai and around the Suez Canal. Approximately 95% of the population uses only about 5.5% of the total land area of ??this country.

History

The territory of Egypt - the cradle of ancient civilization. Egypt originated in the Nile region. At first, there were two of them - Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. In 3000 BC e. the king of Upper Egypt Mina united Egypt and formed a state with its capital in Memphis.

In 332 BC e. in Egypt joined the army of Alexander of Macedon - Egypt became part of his state. After dividing his empire between dyadhas, Egypt reached the commander Ptolemy Lago - the founder of the Greco-Macedonian dynasty of the Ptolemy Lagid (in 305-30 years BC). The capital city was Alexandria.

In the Ptolemies, Egypt became the main supplier of bread in the Hellenistic world. During this period, the fleet of Egypt prevailed in the Mediterranean Sea. Under the rule of Queen Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemaic dynasty, Egypt was drawn into a political struggle with Rome. After the defeat of the Egyptian fleet at the Cape of Shares in 31 BC. e. and the suicide of Cleopatra was transformed into a Roman province (30 BC).

After the collapse of the Roman Empire in 395 BC. e. Egypt became the province of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium). The descendants of ancient Egyptians - the Copts - took the monophysite branch of Christianity.

In 639-642, Egypt was conquered by the Arabs. And in 1250-1517, Egypt became the center of the Islamic state - the Mamluk sultanate. He was governed by dynasties that originated from professional soldiers - Mamlukes, former slaves from the Northern Black Sea and the Caucasus. Under the leadership of Mamluk Muslims of the Middle East were able to stop the Crusades from Western Europe and the Mongol invasion.

In 1517, the Ottoman Sultan Selim conquered Mamluq Egypt and annexed him to the Ottoman Empire. Egyptian Eyalet, which existed until 1867, was created on the territory of the country. In the years 1798-1801 he was under French occupation. The viceroy of Sultan Muhammad Ali defeated the army of Napoleon I and ruled independently as the hereditary Egyptian Khedive (master).

In 1859-1869, Frenchman Ferdinand de Lasses built the Suez Canal with the support of European capital. Struggle for influence in Egypt was won by Great Britain, which bought most shares of the Suez Canal Society. This allowed the British to establish full control over the Egyptian government. In 1882, Britain occupied the Egyptian Khidivat, and in 1914 it turned it into an Egyptian sultanate, the protectorate of the British Empire. Independence from the British Empire was obtained in 1936.

Tourism

In 1997, 4 million foreign tourists visited Egypt, giving a profit of $ 3.8 billion.

Egypt has become an important place for the peoples of the Middle East, Africa and Europe since ancient times. At the beginning of the nineteenth century. (with the invasion of Napoleon I in Egypt) interest in Egyptian has increased and this enthusiasm laid the foundation for the modern tourism industry in the country. Tourism continues to be an important pillar of the Egyptian economy and has therefore received widespread support from the government. Tourism is the main source of foreign currency in the Arab Republic of Egypt. So in 2007, the country visited 9 million 990 thousand travelers.

The tourist industry is developing in the country by seven-mile steps. Thus, for example, for the whole of 2000 there were 5 million 506 thousand foreign tourists, of which 3 million 800 thousand were from Europe, and the amount of proceeds to the state treasury was, on average, more than $ 4.3 billion. Every year tourists becomes more and more. The Government of the country encourages its citizens to develop this particular area of ??the economy (especially at the local level among the middle class of Egyptian society). In turn, the government is developing infrastructure in the country around lucrative tourist and historic zones, building modern highways, comfortable and fast trains and improving its railways and sea transport. Currently, there are already 9 modern airports in the country. And the huge number of hotels and quality services in the recreational areas - the key to the success of Egypt in the tourism industry. Many foreigners choose Egypt because of the low cost of tours.

Ukrainian community

According to researchers, the first Ukrainians who lived in Egypt and lived there for some time were pilgrims from the Grand Duchy of Kyiv and Galicia-Volyn principality who visited the sacred Christian cities of Egypt, primarily the monastery of St. Catherine on the Sinai Peninsula. With the rise of the Ottoman Empire, which since the beginning of the XVI century. belonged to Egypt, here came the groups of captives seized during the attacks on the land of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later the Commonwealth. However, it is practically impossible to trace the size and geographical distribution of Ukrainians.

Since the rise of the semi-independent Egypt under the command of Khediv, from time to time came travelers, in particular representatives of the nobility, intellectuals from Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire). Among them was a Ukrainian scientist and researcher Egor Kovalevsky, who during the years 1847-1848 carried out geographic and geological exploration, searching for deposits of gold. Poetess Lesja Ukrainka for some time lived and was treated in Egypt and devoted some poems to him.

A small migration to Egypt began already in the days of the Soviet Union, which was an ally of Egypt. Then the women who married Egyptian students moved to their husbands' home. Therefore, for a certain period of time, a kind of Ukrainian diaspora consisted of women, and by the 1960s, Ukrainian military and civilian specialists who lived there with their families.

However, the actual migration of Ukrainians to Egypt began with the collapse of the USSR and the rise of independent Ukraine. Most of those who moved there were decent job seekers and payers. A significant percentage was made by temporary workers, especially with the rise of the tourism industry in Egypt. Since the beginning of the 2000s, individual tourist trips to this country have become a seasonal wave.

According to estimates, in the territory of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 4000 Ukrainian citizens live, work, study. As of January 1, 2017, 85 citizens of Ukraine were in the consular register of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Arab Republic of Egypt. According to working information, in 2016, Egypt was visited by about 250,000 Ukrainian citizens, mostly tourists, which is the largest percentage of the countries of Eastern Europe. The Ukrainian diaspora is mainly located in Cairo, Alexandria and Hurghada.

The most active activity is the Ukrainian community of Cairo, whose activists are women, and one of the leaders is Natalia Valyaeva. Every year, on the initiative of activists of the Ukrainian community and with the assistance of the Embassy, ??events are held to mark the anniversary of Independence of Ukraine, various outstanding events in the history of Ukraine, the birthday of Taras Shevchenko, New Year's Eve, International Women's Day, Embroidery Day, etc. Also, during the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine, citizens of Ukraine are attracted to work in the polling station election commission. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, a presentation was created. The main purpose of the community is the establishment of the Ukrainian Cultural Center with the help of patrons, whose search is ongoing. With the onset of Russian aggression in the Crimea and the Donbas, the Ukrainian community of Cairo has established contacts with the charitable organization "Aid to the military Obukhivshchina", which provides a great help.

For a long time in Hurghada there was no own union as a result of the integration of Ukrainians into the Russian-speaking community of the city, which includes Belarusians. Only with the onset of Russian aggression in Crimea and Donbass, the initiative group managed to create a small organization in 2015.

In 2016, representatives of the Ukrainian community in Egypt, as well as Ukrainian companies operating in the Arab Republic and employees of the embassy in Cairo, took part in the celebration of the International Women's Day, the birthday of T. Shevchenko and Maslian.

In 2016, representatives of the Ukrainian community on the Egyptian television channel "Neil Cultural" took part in a program devoted to the culture of Ukraine.

R. Kukharenko, editor of the newspaper "Migration"