Tanta is a city in Egypt. It had a population of 530,000 in 2024, making it the seventh most populous city in Egypt. The city is located between Cairo and Alexandria: 94 km (58 mi) north of Cairo and 130 km (81 mi) southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Governorate, Tanta is a center for the cotton-ginning industry.

A key city in Egypt, Tanta is both a major commercial hub and a significant cultural center. One of the major railway lines in Egypt passes through Tanta, enhancing its connectivity and importance. It is also famed for its sweet shops and snack industry, particularly for its roasted chickpeas and confections like Hab El-Aziz. In addition to food production, the city is known for its oil, soap, flax, and textile industries. It hosts both Tanta University and a branch of Al-Azhar University, the only two universities in the governorate, offering diverse academic disciplines. The city also includes the historic Ahmadi Mosque, a long-standing center for Islamic scholarship.

Historically, Tanta dates back to the Late Period of ancient Egypt and has gone by several names over time, such as Tanitad, Tantathna, and Tantata. It witnessed massive urban expansion, especially during the reign of Isma'il Pasha and later between the 1950s and 1970s, absorbing farmland and neighboring villages like Qaffaha, Sejer, and Satouta, and connecting with villages such as Sibrbay, Mahalla Marhom, Meet Habeesh El-Bahareya, and Kafr Essam.

The current name of the city, Tanta, is a modified form of its ancient Coptic name Tanitad (Tantant). Over time, the name underwent several transformations before reaching its present form. The geographer Ibn Hawqal (d. 380 AH) referred to it as "Tantata" in his book Ṣūrat al-ʾArḍ. Al-Idrisi (d. 560 AH) mentioned it as "Tantana" in his work Nuzhat al-Mushtāq fī Ikhtirāq al-Āfāq.

Al-As'ad ibn Mamati (d. 606 AH) recorded the name as "Tandata" in his book Qawānīn al-Dawāwīn. Ibn Jubayr (d. 614 AH) referred to it as "Tandata" in his travelogue Riḥlat Ibn Jubayr. Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 626 AH) cited the name as "Tantathna", and Ibn Duqmaq (d. 709 AH) used the form "Tandata".

Tanta is also known as the "City of Shaykh al-Arab" and the "City of al-Badawi".

Archaeological evidence indicates that the area of present‑day Tanta was inhabited as early as the reign of Egypt’s 26th Dynasty. A red granite block bearing the name of Pharaoh Ahmose II (570–526 BCE) was discovered near the Ahmad al‑Badawi Mosque, suggesting the settlement may have been known in antiquity as *Tanasu* or *Tanaso*. During the 4th century BCE, Greek sources referred to the town as “Tanitad,” and in the Roman period it was known as “Tantathna,” where it also maintained a local council of elders. The French Egyptologist Georges Daressy proposed that in the Greek period the settlement may have been called *Tawa*, *Tawwa*, or *Tafa* in Latin. In the Byzantine era, it appeared as *Tou* and was the seat of a significant bishopric.

During the Muslim conquest of Egypt, the settlement retained the name “Tanitad,” which later evolved into “Tantada.” It remained a small village until the 11th century CE, when it became the capital of the Tandtawi district under the Fatimid Caliph Al‑Mustansir Billah, who appointed a governor to administer it. Subsequently, the administrative structure changed, and Tantada became part of the larger Gharbia Governorate with its capital at Mahalla. Under the rule of Saladin, the village expanded to cover about 100 feddans.