All three of the West's great religious traditions --Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- know Sinai as a holy land, a vast expanse traversed time and again by prophets, saints, pilgrims, and warriors. Sinai is most familiar to many as the "great and terrible wilderness" through which the Israelites wandered for forty years. However, it was also the path by which Amr swept down into Egypt in 640 AD, bringing Islam in his wake. Even after the Muslim conquest, the monks of St. Catherine Monastery (founded in 547 AD) continued to greet pilgrims to the site of the Burning Bush.

Egypt’s Western Desert is hard to describe in one go. It is huge. It is one of the most arid regions on earth, in fact, one of our last frontiers. German, English, and Italian tourists have been basking in its hot springs and exploring its ancient artefacts for centuries. It was primarily their explorers who opened it up to the world in the 19th century. Americans seem to think they had no part in its development, but a rag tag group of Marines and sailors crossed the Western Desert from Alexandria to Derna (in Libya) in 1805 in one of the most amazing military expeditions in history. We don’t talk about it much (which is too bad), but Derna was the first Marine battle on foreign soil and the sword worn by marines at full dress today commemorates "the shores of Tripoli.

Location: 144 Island along the main course of the Nile from Aswan to the Delta
Area: The total area of the River Nile isles is about 32500 feddans equaling 55 km2.

Situation: The River Nile extends about 6825 km from its sources to the pouring point. The Nile basin area is approximately 2.9 million square meters.

The River Nile isles in Egypt's various governorates are considered nature reserves. Studies show that the number of these isles is 144; along the main course from Aswan to the Delta with an area of about 32500 feddans.
At Rossetta branch there are 30 isles of 3400 feddans. At Damietta branch, there are 19 isles of an area of about 1250 feddans.
These isles spread over 16 governorates (Aswan- Qena- Sohag-Assuit- Menya- Beni Sewaif- Giza-Cairo- Qalyoubia- Monofia- Gharbia- Kafr-el-Sheikh- Dakahlia- Damietta)