Ras el-Hekma | |
Other Name: | Ras al-Hikma |
Native Name: | Arabic: راس الحكمة |
Settlement Type: | Village |
Pushpin Map: | Egypt |
Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
Pushpin Mapsize: | 300 |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Egypt |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Egypt |
Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
Subdivision Name1: | Matruh |
Unit Pref: | Imperial |
Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
Utc Offset: | +2 |
Timezone Dst: | +2 |
Coordinates: | 31.2167°N 78°W |
Ras el-Hekma (Arabic: راس الحكمة) is a village on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt.
Ras el-Hekma is located in the Egyptian Western Desert on a cape in the Mediterranean Sea, some 70 km east of Mersa Matruh and 200 km west of Alexandria. The area produces 17 percent of Egypt's olives and 26 percent of its figs.[1]
In 2024, Egypt's New Urban Communities Authority and the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), a sovereign wealth fund based in the United Arab Emirates, signed a deal for the ADQ to invest $35 billion in developing the area "New Ras el-Hekma".[2] The deal grants ADQ the right to develop 130 million square metres of land, and is the largest foreign investment deal in Egypt's history.[2] Questions have been raised regarding the project's impact on Egypt's large debt burden[3] and the forced relocation of current residents.[1]
It is planned to establish a city on an area of 55 thousand acres in the location of the village, where the Egyptian government hopes the city will become a new 'Sharm El Sheikh' on the Mediterranean Sea.
The new city is divided into 11 districts: Eastern Gate - Sun Gate - White Hill - Design District - Tribal City - Wisdom Island - Fig Valley - Old District - Turtle Beach - Gulf - Western Gate. It is planned to be built in the Bedouin architectural style.