High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The history of Alexandria dates back to the city's founding, by Alexander the Great, in 331 BC. It was the seat of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, and quickly became one of the greatest cities of the Hellenistic world — second only to Rome in size and wealth. It fell to the Arabs in 641 AD, and a new capital of Egypt, Fustat, was founded on the Nile. After Alexandria's status as the country's capital ended, it fell into a long decline, which by the late Ottoman period, had seen it reduced to little more than a small fishing village. The city was revived in the early 19th century by Muhammad Ali, the viceroy of Egypt, as a part of his early industrialization program. The current city is Egypt's leading port, a commercial, tourism and transportation center, and the heart of a major industrial area where refined petroleum, asphalt, cotton textiles, processed food, paper, plastics and styrofoam are produced. Данное издание представляет собой...