Ras Gharib (Egyptian Arabic: راس غارب‎‎ Rās Ġāreb pronounced [ɾɑːs ˈɣæːɾeb]) is the northernmost of the markazes (municipalities) in the Red Sea Governorate, Egypt, situated on the African side of the Gulf of Suez. It has an area of 10,464.46 km². At the 2006 Egyptian national census, the population numbered 32,369.It is and one of the leading centers of petroleum production in Egypt, having housed the main operations for first the Anglo-Egyptian Oil Company (a branch of Royal Dutch Shell) and then the Egyptian national petroleum company. For a time it was the capital of the Red Sea Governorate.