Mansura, al-

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MANSURA, AL-

Egyptian delta city.



Al-Mansura is located near Damietta, Egypt, in the delta. Founded by the Ayyubid dynasty as a fortified camp in 1219, it served as a buttress against Crusader expansion in 1221 and again in 1250, when the Mamluks scored a significant victory over Louis IX of France. It has been the administrative capital of Daqhaliyya province since 1526. Although predominantly Muslim, there have been some Copts in the city since the seventeenth century. Its population was estimated at 441,700 in 2004.

arthur goldschmidt

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