capital of Al-Minūfīyah (Minūfīyah, Al-) muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Lower Egypt. It lies 37 miles (60 km) northwest of Cairo in the southern Nile River delta. Its centre, 10 miles (16 km) east of the Rosetta Branch of the Nile, is situated on the west side of the Shibīn Canal, which flows north from Al-Khayrīyah Dam to irrigate a rich alluvial region growing cotton, flax, and cereals. Shibīn al-Kawm's manufactures include textiles and cigarettes. It is the site of the Higher Institute of Agriculture and of the Shibīn al-Kawm Institute, an affiliate of Cairo's Al-Azhar University. The town is linked to Ṭanṭā, Minūf, and Talā by the Cairo-Ṭanṭā Railway. Pop. (1996) 159,909.