city, in the central Nile River delta of Lower Egypt, eastern Al-Gharbīyah (Gharbīyah, Al-) muḥāfaẓah (governorate). It lies just west of the Damietta Branch of the Nile. Because the names of a large number of Egyptian places were compounded with maḥallah (Arabic: “encampment”), exact references to the town by early Arab writers are uncertain. Al-Maḥallah al-Kubrā, however, was apparently an important commercial centre after the 10th century AD. In 1836 it lost its position as capital of Al-Gharbīyah (Gharbīyah, Al-) province to Ṭanṭā but continued as the seat of a smaller administrative unit.

In 1927 the Miṣr textile group established a large, modern cotton textile plant at the city, superseding domestic handloom weaving. It has since become a major centre of Egypt's textile industry. In addition to cotton products, the factory complex produces woolens, rayons, knitwear, blankets, and hosiery. It is associated with a model workers' community composed of housing estates with recreational and welfare facilities. Other mills in the city refine rice and flour. Industries in the city have been converted to natural gas brought by pipeline from the Abū Madi field in Ad-Daqahlīyah muḥāfaẓah. The main railway from Cairo (75 miles 【120 km】 south-southeast) to Damietta links Al-Maḥallah al-Kubrā with Ṭanṭā, 19 miles (31 km) southwest. Pop. (1996) 395,402.