Minya

Minya is the capital of Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt, on the western bank of the Nile about 245 kilometers south of Cairo, with a population of 298,021 as of 2023. The city has one of the highest concentrations of Coptic Christians in Egypt, at roughly half its population, and grew wealthy in the nineteenth century from cotton production under Khedive Ismail, who held large cotton and sugar cane plantations in the surrounding area. Today Minya hosts Minya University and the Suzanne Mubarak Center for Arts, though its rich archaeological heritage draws comparatively little tourism.