Located on the banks of the Suez Canal where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea, the city of Port Said and its twin, Port Fuad, on the eastern side of the canal, make up the only metropolitan region in the world besides Istanbul to straddle two continents.

Connecting the Mediterranean and Red seas, the Suez Canal flows 193 kilometers (120 miles) through the Isthmus of Suez and across the Bitter Lakes. Built under the guidance of French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, the canal took 10 years to construct and opened in 1869.