El Mahalla El Kubra (المحلة الكبرى,, ϯϣⲁⲓⲣⲓ, ) – commonly shortened to El Maḥalla – is the largest city of the Gharbia Governorate and in the Nile Delta, with a population of 535,278 as of 2012. It is a large industrial and agricultural city in Egypt, located in the middle of the Nile Delta on the western bank of the Damietta Branch tributary. The city is known for its textile industry, and hosts the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company which employs around 27,000 people.
El Mahalla El Kubra consists of two words: El Mahalla in Arabic means "district" or "encampment", El Kubra means "great". Hence the title collectively means "The Great Encampment". It's a rough translation of a Coptic Egyptian name ϯϣⲁⲓⲣⲓ "cohabitation" or "residence", but the second part of it – "El Kubra" may come from the Hellenistic name of the same settlement – "Theodosiou Nixis" (ⲑⲉⲟⲇⲱⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲛⲓⲝⲓⲥ, where ⲛⲓⲝⲓⲥ is most likely a Greek transcription of Coptic ⲛⲓϣϯ – "great").
