Ismailia is one of the cities of the Suez Canal and is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The population of the city and its suburbs is about one and a half million people.
The city was built on the northwestern bank of Lake Timsah – which is part of the Suez Canal corridor – about halfway between Port Said in the north and Suez in the south, to be a center for the Suez Canal International Navigation Company during the reign of Khedive Ismail.