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Egypt Towns and Cities
Of the 10 million people in Egypt at the turn of the century,
approximately 2 million lived in towns and cities, and of those,
500,000 lived in cities with a population of more than 20,000.
The population of Alexandria grew as it became the financial and
commercial center of the cotton industry. New towns like Az
Zaqaziq and Port Said (Bur Said) on the Suez Canal were
established.
Most of the increase in Egypt's urban population was the
result of the migration of peasants from the countryside.
Although some became workers or petty traders, most joined the
ranks of the under- or unemployed. By the turn of the century, a
working class had emerged. It was composed mainly of transport
and building workers and of workers in the few industries that
had been established--sugar refineries, ginning mills, and
cigarette factories. However, a large proportion of the new urban
lower class consisted of a fluctuating mass of people without any
fixed employment.
The old lower class of the cities and towns, particularly the
artisans, suffered from the influx of cheaply made European
imports. Whereas some crafts, like basketry, pottery, and rug
weaving, survived, others such as textiles and glass blowing were
virtually eliminated. The urban guilds declined and eventually
disappeared because Europeans replaced Egyptians in production
and commerce.
The old, or traditional, middle class also declined in status
and wealth. This middle class included the ulama, religiously
educated elite who staffed the religious institutions and courts,
and the merchants. The ulama and the merchants were closely tied
to each other because of family and business connections.
Furthermore, these categories overlapped; the ulama were also
merchants and tax-farmers. The decline of the ulama began during
the reign of Muhammad Ali who considered the ulama an intolerable
alternative power center. He abolished tax farms, which were a
major source of ulama wealth, thus weakening their position.
The decline of the ulama and the merchants was accelerated by
the socioeconomic transformation of Egypt that led to the
emergence of secular education, to secularly trained civil
servants staffing the government bureaucracy, and to the
reorientation of Egyptian trade. Secular education and the
establishment of schools influenced by Western ideas and methods
occurred throughout the century but were particularly widespread
during the reign of
Khedive (see Glossary) Ismail. Secular
education became identified with entrance into government
employment. Moreover, once government employment was opened to
Egyptians, it became the goal of the educated because of the
power and social status it conferred. Between 1882 and 1907, the
number of persons employed in public administration grew by 83.7
percent. The rise of this new urban middle class, called the
effendiyah, parallelled the rise of the rural notables or
umada. In fact, during the nineteenth century, the
effendiyah tended to be first-generation urbanites from
rural notable families who took advantage of expanded education
and employment opportunities in the cities.
Whereas the Egyptian effendiyah and umada were
rising, the traditional merchant class declined because the
lucrative import-export trade was dominated by resident
foreigners, and Egyptian merchants were confined to internal
trade. During the nineteenth century, foreign trade was
completely reoriented. In the past, it had dealt mainly in
Sudanese, Arabian, and oriental goods. Cairo was one of the most
important centers of trade, and Egyptian, Syrian, and Turkish
merchants engaged in it. During the nineteenth century, Greeks
and other Europeans resident in Egypt monopolized the export of
cotton to Europe and the import of European industrial goods.
The change was reflected in the increase of foreigners in
Egypt--from between 8,000 and 10,000 in 1838 to 90,000 in 1881.
The majority was engaged in cotton production, import-export
trade, banking, and finance. The European community occupied a
privileged position as a result of the capitulations, the
treaties governing the status of foreigners within the Ottoman
Empire. These treaties put Europeans virtually beyond the reach
of Egyptian law until the establishment of the mixed courts (with
jurisdiction over Egyptians and foreigners) in 1876. Like the
artisans, Egyptian merchants suffered from a large variety of
oppressive taxes and duties from which foreign merchants were
exempt. With the support of their consuls, foreigners in Egypt
became an increasingly powerful pressure group committed to
defending its own interests.
Data as of December 1990
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