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Cairo

May 09, 2023

This article is about the Egyptian capital. For other uses, see Cairo (disambiguation).

Cairo (/ˈkaɪroʊ/ KY-roh; Arabic: القاهرة, romanized: al-Qāhirah, pronounced [ælqɑ(ː)ˈheɾɑ]) is the capital of Egypt and the city-state Cairo Governorate, and is the country's largest city, home to 10 million people.[6] It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.9 million,[3] is the 12th-largest in the world by population. Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt, as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area. Located near the Nile Delta,[7][8] the city first developed as Fustat, a settlement founded after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640 next to an existing ancient Roman fortress, Babylon. Under the Fatimid dynasty a new city, al-Qāhirah, was founded nearby in 969. It later superseded Fustat as the main urban centre during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods (12th–16th centuries).[9] Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life, and is titled "the city of a thousand minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture. Cairo's historic center was awarded World Heritage Site status in 1979.[10] Cairo is considered a World City with a "Beta +" classification according to GaWC.[11]

Cairo
القاهرة
Capital city
The Nile and surrounding buildings at night
Ibn Tulun Mosque
Muizz Street
Talaat Harb Square
Baron Empain Palace
Cairo Citadel
Cairo Opera House
Flag
Emblem
Nickname: 
City of a Thousand Minarets
Cairo
Location of Cairo within Egypt
Cairo
Cairo (Arab world)
Cairo
Cairo (Africa)
Coordinates: 30°2′40″N 31°14′9″E / 30.04444°N 31.23583°E / 30.04444; 31.23583Coordinates: 30°2′40″N 31°14′9″E / 30.04444°N 31.23583°E / 30.04444; 31.23583
CountryEgypt
GovernorateCairo
First major foundation641–642 AD (Fustat)
Last major foundation969 AD (Cairo)
Government
 • GovernorKhaled Abdel Aal[2]
Area
[a][3]
 • Metro
2,734 km2 (1,056 sq mi)
Elevation
23 m (75 ft)
Population
 (2018)
 • Capital city10,100,166 [1]
 • Metro
[4]
22,200,000
 • Demonym
Cairene
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00
5 digit postal code system
11511 to 11938[5]
Area code(+20) 2
Websitecairo.gov.eg
Official nameHistoric Cairo
TypeCultural
Criteriai, v, vi
Designated1979
Reference no.89

Today, Cairo has the oldest and largest cinema and music industry in the Arab world, as well as the world's second-oldest institution of higher learning, Al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city; the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.

With a population of over 10 million[12] spread over 453 km2 (175 sq mi), Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt. An additional 9.5 million inhabitants live close to the city. Cairo, like many other megacities, suffers from high levels of pollution and traffic. The Cairo Metro, opened in 1987, is the oldest metro system in Africa,[13] and ranks amongst the fifteen busiest in the world,[14] with over 1 billion[15] annual passenger rides. The economy of Cairo was ranked first in the Middle East in 2005,[16] and 43rd globally on Foreign Policy's 2010 Global Cities Index.[17]

Etymology

Egyptians often refer to Cairo as Maṣr (IPA: [mɑsˤɾ]; مَصر), the Egyptian Arabic name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the city's importance for the country.[18][19] Its official name al-Qāhirah  (القاهرة) means 'the Vanquisher' or 'the Conqueror', supposedly due to the fact that the planet Mars, an-Najm al-Qāhir (النجم القاهر, 'the Conquering Star'), was rising at the time when the city was founded,[20] possibly also in reference to the much awaited arrival of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mu'izz who reached Cairo in 973 from Mahdia, the old Fatimid capital. The location of the ancient city of Heliopolis is the suburb of Ain Shams (Arabic: عين شمس, 'Eye of the Sun').

There are a few Coptic names of the city. Tikešrōmi (Coptic: Ϯⲕⲉϣⲣⲱⲙⲓ Late Coptic: [di.kɑʃˈɾoːmi]) is attested in the 1211 text The Martyrdom of John of Phanijoit and is either a calque meaning 'man breaker' (Ϯ-, 'the', ⲕⲁϣ-, 'to break', and ⲣⲱⲙⲓ, 'man'), akin to Arabic al-Qāhirah, or a derivation from Arabic قَصْر الرُوم (qaṣr ar-rūm, "the Roman castle"), another name of Babylon Fortress in Old Cairo.[21] The form Khairon (Coptic: ⲭⲁⲓⲣⲟⲛ) is attested in the modern Coptic text Ⲡⲓⲫⲓⲣⲓ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ ⲙ̀ⲙⲏⲓ Ⲃⲉⲣⲏⲛⲁ (The Tale of Saint Verina).[22][better source needed] Lioui (Ⲗⲓⲟⲩⲓ Late Coptic: [lɪˈjuːj]) or Elioui (Ⲉⲗⲓⲟⲩⲓ Late Coptic: [ælˈjuːj]) is another name which is descended from the Greek name of Heliopolis (Ήλιούπολις).[21] Some argue that Mistram (Ⲙⲓⲥⲧⲣⲁⲙ Late Coptic: [ˈmɪs.təɾɑm]) or Nistram (Ⲛⲓⲥⲧⲣⲁⲙ Late Coptic: [ˈnɪs.təɾɑm]) is another Coptic name for Cairo, although others think that it's rather a name of an Abbasid capital Al-Askar.[23] Ⲕⲁϩⲓⲣⲏ (Kahi•ree) is a popular modern rendering of an Arabic name (others being Ⲕⲁⲓⲣⲟⲛ [Kairon] and Ⲕⲁϩⲓⲣⲁ [Kahira]) which is modern folk etymology meaning 'land of sun'. Some argue that it was a name of an Egyptian settlement upon which Cairo was built, but it is rather doubtful as this name is not attested in any Hieroglyphic or Demotic source, although some researchers, like Paul Casanova, view it as a legitimate theory.[21] Cairo is also referred to as Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ (Late Coptic: [ˈkɪ.mi]) or Ⲅⲩⲡⲧⲟⲥ (Late Coptic: [ˈɡɪp.dos]), which means Egypt in Coptic, the same way it is referred to in Egyptian Arabic.[23]

Sometimes the city is informally referred to as Cairo by people from Alexandria (IPA: [ˈkæjɾo]; Egyptian Arabic: كايرو).[24]

History

See also: History of Egypt
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Cairo.

Ancient settlements

 
Remains of a circular Roman tower at Babylon Fortress (late 3rd century) in Old Cairo

The area around present-day Cairo had long been a focal point of Ancient Egypt due to its strategic location at the junction of the Nile Valley and the Nile Delta regions (roughly Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt), which also placed it at the crossing of major routes between North Africa and the Levant.[25][26] Memphis, the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom and a major city up until the Ptolemaic period, was located a short distance south of present-day Cairo.[27] Heliopolis, another important city and major religious center, was located in what are now the northeastern suburbs of Cairo.[27] It was largely destroyed by the Persian invasions in 525 BC and 343 BC and partly abandoned by the late first century BC.[25]

However, the origins of modern Cairo are generally traced back to a series of settlements in the first millennium AD. Around the turn of the fourth century,[28] as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance,[29] the Romans established a large fortress along the east bank of the Nile. The fortress, called Babylon, was built by the Roman emperor Diocletian (r. 285–305) at the entrance of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea that was created earlier by emperor Trajan (r. 98–115).[b][30] Further north of the fortress, near the present-day district of al-Azbakiya, was a port and fortified outpost known as Tendunyas (Coptic: ϯⲁⲛⲧⲱⲛⲓⲁⲥ)[31] or Umm Dunayn.[32][33][34] While no structures older than the 7th century have been preserved in the area aside from the Roman fortifications, historical evidence suggests that a sizeable city existed. The city was important enough that its bishop, Cyrus, participated in the Second Council of Ephesus in 449.[35]

The Byzantine-Sassanian War between 602 and 628 caused great hardship and likely caused much of the urban population to leave for the countryside, leaving the settlement partly deserted.[33] The site today remains at the nucleus of the Coptic Orthodox community, which separated from the Roman and Byzantine churches in the late 4th century. Cairo's oldest extant churches, such as the Church of Saint Barbara and the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (from the late 7th or early 8th century), are located inside the fortress walls in what is now known as Old Cairo or Coptic Cairo.[36]

Fustat and other early Islamic settlements

 
Excavated ruins of Fustat (2004 photo)

The Muslim conquest of Byzantine Egypt was led by Amr ibn al-As from 639 to 642. Babylon Fortress was besieged in September 640 and fell in April 641. In 641 or early 642, after the surrender of Alexandria (the Egyptian capital at the time), he founded a new settlement next to Babylon Fortress.[37][38] The city, known as Fustat (Arabic: الفسطاط, romanized: al-Fusṭāṭ, lit. 'the tent'), served as a garrison town and as the new administrative capital of Egypt. Historians such as Janet Abu-Lughod and André Raymond trace the genesis of present-day Cairo to the foundation of Fustat.[39][40] The choice of founding a new settlement at this inland location, instead of using the existing capital of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast, may have been due to the new conquerors' strategic priorities. One of the first projects of the new Muslim administration was to clear and re-open Trajan's ancient canal in order to ship grain more directly from Egypt to Medina, the capital of the caliphate in Arabia.[41][42][43][44] Ibn al-As also founded a mosque for the city at the same time, now known as the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As, the oldest mosque in Egypt and Africa (although the current structure dates from later expansions).[26][45][46][47]

In 750, following the overthrow of the Umayyad caliphate by the Abbasids, the new rulers created their own settlement to the northeast of Fustat which became the new provincial capital. This was known as al-Askar (Arabic: العسكر, lit. 'the camp') as it was laid out like a military camp. A governor's residence and a new mosque were also added, with the latter completed in 786.[48] In 861, on the orders of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil, a Nilometer was built on Roda Island near Fustat. Although it was repaired and given a new roof in later centuries, its basic structure is still preserved today, making it the oldest preserved Islamic-era structure in Cairo today.[49][50]

 
The Mosque of Ibn Tulun, built by Ahmad Ibn Tulun in 876–879 AD

In 868 a commander of Turkic origin named Bakbak was sent to Egypt by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'taz to restore order after a rebellion in the country. He was accompanied by his stepson, Ahmad ibn Tulun, who became effective governor of Egypt. Over time, Ibn Tulun gained an army and accumulated influence and wealth, allowing him to become the de facto independent ruler of both Egypt and Syria by 878.[51][52][53] In 870, he used his growing wealth to found a new administrative capital, al-Qata'i (Arabic: القطائـع, lit. 'the allotments'), to the northeast of Fustat and of al-Askar.[53][54] The new city included a palace known as the Dar al-Imara, a parade ground known as al-Maydan, a bimaristan (hospital), and an aqueduct to supply water. Between 876 and 879 Ibn Tulun built a great mosque, now known as the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, at the center of the city, next to the palace.[52][54] After his death in 884, Ibn Tulun was succeeded by his son and his descendants who continued a short-lived dynasty, the Tulunids. In 905, the Abbasids sent general Muhammad Sulayman al-Katib to re-assert direct control over the country. Tulunid rule was ended and al-Qatta'i was razed to the ground, except for the mosque which remains standing today.[55][56]

Foundation and expansion of Cairo

Further information: Egypt in the Middle Ages
 
A plan of Cairo before 1200 AD, as reconstructed by Stanley Lane-Poole (1906), showing the location of Fatimid structures, Saladin's Citadel, and earlier sites (Fustat not shown)

In 969, the Shi'a Isma'ili Fatimid empire conquered Egypt after ruling from Ifriqiya. The Fatimid general Jawhar Al Saqili founded a new fortified city northeast of Fustat and of former al-Qata'i. It took four years to build the city, initially known as al-Manṣūriyyah,[57] which was to serve as the new capital of the caliphate. During that time, the construction of the al-Azhar Mosque was commissioned by order of the caliph, which developed into the third-oldest university in the world. Cairo would eventually become a centre of learning, with the library of Cairo containing hundreds of thousands of books.[58] When Caliph al-Mu'izz li Din Allah arrived from the old Fatimid capital of Mahdia in Tunisia in 973, he gave the city its present name, Qāhirat al-Mu'izz ("The Vanquisher of al-Mu'izz"),[57] from which the name "Cairo" (al-Qāhira) originates. The caliphs lived in a vast and lavish palace complex that occupied the heart of the city. Cairo remained a relatively exclusive royal city for most of this era, but during the tenure of Badr al-Gamali as vizier (1073–1094) the restrictions were loosened for the first time and richer families from Fustat were allowed to move into the city.[59] Between 1087 and 1092 Badr al-Gamali also rebuilt the city walls in stone and constructed the city gates of Bab al-Futuh, Bab al-Nasr, and Bab Zuweila that still stand today.[60]

During the Fatimid period Fustat reached its apogee in size and prosperity, acting as a center of craftsmanship and international trade and as the area's main port on the Nile.[61] Historical sources report that multi-story communal residences existed in the city, particularly in its center, which were typically inhabited by middle and lower-class residents. Some of these were as high as seven stories and could house some 200 to 350 people.[62] They may have been similar to Roman insulae and may have been the prototypes for the rental apartment complexes which became common in the later Mamluk and Ottoman periods.[62]

However, in 1168 the Fatimid vizier Shawar set fire to unfortified Fustat to prevent its potential capture by Amalric, the Crusader king of Jerusalem. While the fire did not destroy the city and it continued to exist afterward, it did mark the beginning of its decline. Over the following centuries it was Cairo, the former palace-city, that became the new economic center and attracted migration from Fustat.[63][64]

 
The Cairo Citadel, seen above in the late 19th century, was begun by Saladin in 1176.

While the Crusaders did not capture the city in 1168, a continuing power struggle between Shawar, King Amalric, and the Zengid general Shirkuh led to the downfall of the Fatimid establishment.[65] In 1169, Shirkuh's nephew Saladin was appointed as the new vizier of Egypt by the Fatimids and two years later he seized power from the family of the last Fatimid caliph, al-'Āḍid.[66] As the first Sultan of Egypt, Saladin established the Ayyubid dynasty, based in Cairo, and aligned Egypt with the Sunni Abbasids, who were based in Baghdad.[67] In 1176, Saladin began construction on the Cairo Citadel, which was to serve as the seat of the Egyptian government until the mid-19th century. The construction of the Citadel definitively ended Fatimid-built Cairo's status as an exclusive palace-city and opened it up to common Egyptians and to foreign merchants, spurring its commercial development.[68] Along with the Citadel, Saladin also began the construction of a new 20-kilometre-long wall that would protect both Cairo and Fustat on their eastern side and connect them with the new Citadel. These construction projects continued beyond Saladin's lifetime and were completed under his Ayyubid successors.[69]

Apogee and decline under the Mamluks

 
Mausoleum-Madrasa-Hospital complex of Sultan Qalawun, built in 1284–1285 in the center of Cairo, over the remains of a Fatimid palace

In 1250, during the Seventh Crusade, the Ayyubid dynasty had a crisis with the death of al-Salih and power transitioned instead to the Mamluks, partly with the help of al-Salih's wife, Shajar ad-Durr, who ruled for a brief period around this time.[70][71] Mamluks were soldiers who were purchased as young slaves and raised to serve in the sultan's army. Between 1250 and 1517 the throne of the Mamluk Sultanate passed from one mamluk to another in a system of succession that was generally non-hereditary, but also frequently violent and chaotic.[72][73] The Mamluk Empire nonetheless became a major power in the region and was responsible for repelling the advance of the Mongols (most famously at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260) and for eliminating the last Crusader states in the Levant.[74]

Despite their military character, the Mamluks were also prolific builders and left a rich architectural legacy throughout Cairo.[75] Continuing a practice started by the Ayyubids, much of the land occupied by former Fatimid palaces was sold and replaced by newer buildings, becoming a prestigious site for the construction of Mamluk religious and funerary complexes.[76] Construction projects initiated by the Mamluks pushed the city outward while also bringing new infrastructure to the centre of the city.[77] Meanwhile, Cairo flourished as a centre of Islamic scholarship and a crossroads on the spice trade route among the civilisations in Afro-Eurasia.[78] Under the reign of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (1293–1341, with interregnums), Cairo reached its apogee in terms of population and wealth.[79] By 1340, Cairo had a population of close to half a million, making it the largest city west of China.[78]

Multi-story buildings occupied by rental apartments, known as a rab' (plural ribā' or urbu), became common in the Mamluk period and continued to be a feature of the city's housing during the later Ottoman period.[80][81] These apartments were often laid out as multi-story duplexes or triplexes. They were sometimes attached to caravanserais, where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were rented out to tenants. The oldest partially-preserved example of this type of structure is the Wikala of Amir Qawsun, built before 1341.[80][81] Residential buildings were in turn organized into close-knit neighbourhoods called a harat, which in many cases had gates that could be closed off at night or during disturbances.[81]

 
Funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay, built in 1470–1474 in the Northern Cemetery (seen in lithograph from 1848)

When the traveller Ibn Battuta first came to Cairo in 1326, he described it as the principal district of Egypt.[82] When he passed through the area again on his return journey in 1348 the Black Death was ravaging most major cities. He cited reports of thousands of deaths per day in Cairo.[83][84] Although Cairo avoided Europe's stagnation during the Late Middle Ages, it could not escape the Black Death, which struck the city more than fifty times between 1348 and 1517.[85] During its initial, and most deadly waves, approximately 200,000 people were killed by the plague,[86] and, by the 15th century, Cairo's population had been reduced to between 150,000 and 300,000.[87] The population decline was accompanied by a period of political instability between 1348 and 1412. It was nonetheless in this period that the largest Mamluk-era religious monument, the Madrasa-Mosque of Sultan Hasan, was built.[88] In the late 14th century the Burji Mamluks replaced the Bahri Mamluks as rulers of the Mamluk state, but the Mamluk system continued to decline.[89]

Though the plagues returned frequently throughout the 15th century, Cairo remained a major metropolis and its population recovered in part through rural migration.[89] More conscious efforts were conducted by rulers and city officials to redress the city's infrastructure and cleanliness. Its economy and politics also became more deeply connected with the wider Mediterranean.[89] Some Mamluk sultans in this period, such as Barbsay (r. 1422–1438) and Qaytbay (r. 1468–1496), had relatively long and successful reigns.[90] After al-Nasir Muhammad, Qaytbay was one of the most prolific patrons of art and architecture of the Mamluk era. He built or restored numerous monuments in Cairo, in addition to commissioning projects beyond Egypt.[91][92] The crisis of Mamluk power and of Cairo's economic role deepened after Qaytbay. The city's status was diminished after Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route around the Cape of Good Hope between 1497 and 1499, thereby allowing spice traders to avoid Cairo.[78]

Ottoman rule

Further information: History of Ottoman Egypt
See also: Muhammad Ali's seizure of power
 
Map of Cairo in 1809, from the Description de l'Égypte

Cairo's political influence diminished significantly after the Ottomans defeated Sultan al-Ghuri in the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516 and conquered Egypt in 1517. Ruling from Constantinople, Sultan Selim I relegated Egypt to a province, with Cairo as its capital.[93] For this reason, the history of Cairo during Ottoman times is often described as inconsequential, especially in comparison to other time periods.[78][94][95]

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Cairo still remained an important economic and cultural centre. Although no longer on the spice route, the city facilitated the transportation of Yemeni coffee and Indian textiles, primarily to Anatolia, North Africa, and the Balkans. Cairene merchants were instrumental in bringing goods to the barren Hejaz, especially during the annual hajj to Mecca.[94][96] It was during this same period that al-Azhar University reached the predominance among Islamic schools that it continues to hold today;[97][98] pilgrims on their way to hajj often attested to the superiority of the institution, which had become associated with Egypt's body of Islamic scholars.[99] The first printing press of the Middle East, printing in Hebrew, was established in Cairo c. 1557 by a scion of the Soncino family of printers, Italian Jews of Ashkenazi origin who operated a press in Constantinople. The existence of the press is known solely from two fragments discovered in the Cairo Genizah.[100]

 
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933). On the Way Between Old and New Cairo, Citadel Mosque of Mohammed Ali, and Tombs of the Mamelukes, 1872. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum.

Under the Ottomans, Cairo expanded south and west from its nucleus around the Citadel.[101] The city was the second-largest in the empire, behind Constantinople, and, although migration was not the primary source of Cairo's growth, twenty percent of its population at the end of the 18th century consisted of religious minorities and foreigners from around the Mediterranean.[102] Still, when Napoleon arrived in Cairo in 1798, the city's population was less than 300,000, forty percent lower than it was at the height of Mamluk—and Cairene—influence in the mid-14th century.[78][102]

The French occupation was short-lived as British and Ottoman forces, including a sizeable Albanian contingent, recaptured the country in 1801. Cairo itself was besieged by a British and Ottoman force culminating with the French surrender on 22 June 1801.[103] The British vacated Egypt two years later, leaving the Ottomans, the Albanians, and the long-weakened Mamluks jostling for control of the country.[104][105] Continued civil war allowed an Albanian named Muhammad Ali Pasha to ascend to the role of commander and eventually, with the approval of the religious establishment, viceroy of Egypt in 1805.[106]

Modern era

Further information: History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty and History of modern Egypt
Historical population
YearPop.±%
19502,493,514—    
19603,680,160+47.6%
19705,584,507+51.7%
19807,348,778+31.6%
19909,892,143+34.6%
200013,625,565+37.7%
201016,899,015+24.0%
201920,484,965+21.2%
For Cairo agglomeration:[107]
 
Aerial view in 1904 from a balloon of the central-eastern edge of Cairo, showing the early development of Gezira/Zamalek Island (center left), and Downtown (lower right), as well as Bulaq (upper right).
 
A panoramic view of Cairo, 1950s

Until his death in 1848, Muhammad Ali Pasha instituted a number of social and economic reforms that earned him the title of founder of modern Egypt.[108][109] However, while Muhammad Ali initiated the construction of public buildings in the city,[110] those reforms had minimal effect on Cairo's landscape.[111] Bigger changes came to Cairo under Isma'il Pasha (r. 1863–1879), who continued the modernisation processes started by his grandfather.[112] Drawing inspiration from Paris, Isma'il envisioned a city of maidans and wide avenues; due to financial constraints, only some of them, in the area now composing Downtown Cairo, came to fruition.[113] Isma'il also sought to modernize the city, which was merging with neighbouring settlements, by establishing a public works ministry, bringing gas and lighting to the city, and opening a theatre and opera house.[114][115]

The immense debt resulting from Isma'il's projects provided a pretext for increasing European control, which culminated with the British invasion in 1882.[78] The city's economic centre quickly moved west toward the Nile, away from the historic Islamic Cairo section and toward the contemporary, European-style areas built by Isma'il.[116][117] Europeans accounted for five percent of Cairo's population at the end of the 19th century, by which point they held most top governmental positions.[118]

In 1906 the Heliopolis Oasis Company headed by the Belgian industrialist Édouard Empain and his Egyptian counterpart Boghos Nubar, built a suburb called Heliopolis (city of the sun in Greek) ten kilometers from the center of Cairo.[119][120] In 1905–1907 the northern part of the Gezira island was developed by the Baehler Company into Zamalek, which would later become Cairo's upscale "chic" neighbourhood.[121] In 1906 construction began on Garden City, a neighbourhood of urban villas with gardens and curved streets.[121]

The British occupation was intended to be temporary, but it lasted well into the 20th century. Nationalists staged large-scale demonstrations in Cairo in 1919,[78] five years after Egypt had been declared a British protectorate.[122] Nevertheless, this led to Egypt's independence in 1922.

1924 Cairo Quran

The King Fuad I Edition of the Qur'an[123] was first published on 10 July 1924 in Cairo under the patronage of King Fuad.[124][125] The goal of the government of the newly formed Kingdom of Egypt was not to delegitimize the other variant Quranic texts ("qira'at"), but to eliminate errors found in Qur'anic texts used in state schools. A committee of teachers chose to preserve a single one of the canonical qira'at "readings", namely that of the "Ḥafṣ" version,[126] an 8th-century Kufic recitation. This edition has become the standard for modern printings of the Quran[127][128] for much of the Islamic world.[129] The publication has been called a "terrific success", and the edition has been described as one "now widely seen as the official text of the Qur'an", so popular among both Sunni and Shi'a that the common belief among less well-informed Muslims is "that the Qur'an has a single, unambiguous reading". Minor amendments were made later in 1924 and in 1936 - the "Faruq edition" in honour of then ruler, King Faruq.[130]

British occupation until 1956

 
Everyday life in Cairo, 1950s

British troops remained in the country until 1956. During this time, urban Cairo, spurred by new bridges and transport links, continued to expand to include the upscale neighbourhoods of Garden City, Zamalek, and Heliopolis.[131] Between 1882 and 1937, the population of Cairo more than tripled—from 347,000 to 1.3 million[132]—and its area increased from 10 to 163 km2 (4 to 63 sq mi).[133]

The city was devastated during the 1952 riots known as the Cairo Fire or Black Saturday, which saw the destruction of nearly 700 shops, movie theatres, casinos and hotels in downtown Cairo.[134] The British departed Cairo following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, but the city's rapid growth showed no signs of abating. Seeking to accommodate the increasing population, President Gamal Abdel Nasser redeveloped Tahrir Square and the Nile Corniche, and improved the city's network of bridges and highways.[135] Meanwhile, additional controls of the Nile fostered development within Gezira Island and along the city's waterfront. The metropolis began to encroach on the fertile Nile Delta, prompting the government to build desert satellite towns and devise incentives for city-dwellers to move to them.[136]

After 1956

In the second half of the 20th century Cairo continue to grow enormously in both population and area. Between 1947 and 2006 the population of Greater Cairo went from 2,986,280 to 16,292,269.[137] The population explosion also drove the rise of "informal" housing ('ashwa'iyyat), meaning housing that was built without any official planning or control.[138] The exact form of this type of housing varies considerably but usually has a much higher population density than formal housing. By 2009, over 63% of the population of Greater Cairo lived in informal neighbourhoods, even though these occupied only 17% of the total area of Greater Cairo.[139] According to economist David Sims, informal housing has the benefits of providing affordable accommodation and vibrant communities to huge numbers of Cairo's working classes, but it also suffers from government neglect, a relative lack of services, and overcrowding.[140]

The "formal" city was also expanded. The most notable example was the creation of Madinat Nasr, a huge government-sponsored expansion of the city to the east which officially began in 1959 but was primarily developed in the mid-1970s.[141] Starting in 1977 the Egyptian government established the New Urban Communities Authority to initiate and direct the development of new planned cities on the outskirts of Cairo, generally established on desert land.[142][143][144] These new satellite cities were intended to provide housing, investment, and employment opportunities for the region's growing population as well as to pre-empt the further growth of informal neighbourhoods.[142] As of 2014, about 10% of the population of Greater Cairo lived in the new cities.[142]

Concurrently, Cairo established itself as a political and economic hub for North Africa and the Arab world, with many multinational businesses and organisations, including the Arab League, operating out of the city. In 1979 the historic districts of Cairo were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[10]

In 1992, Cairo was hit by an earthquake causing 545 deaths, injuring 6,512 and leaving around 50,000 people homeless.[145]

2011 Egyptian revolution

Main article: Egyptian revolution of 2011
 
A protester holding an Egyptian flag during the protests that started on 25 January 2011

Cairo's Tahrir Square was the focal point of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution against former president Hosni Mubarak.[146] Over 2 million protesters were at Cairo's Tahrir square. More than 50,000 protesters first occupied the square on 25 January, during which the area's wireless services were reported to be impaired.[147] In the following days Tahrir Square continued to be the primary destination for protests in Cairo[148] as it took place following a popular uprising that began on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 and continued until June 2013. The uprising was mainly a campaign of non-violent civil resistance, which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience, and labour strikes. Millions of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Despite being predominantly peaceful in nature, the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters, with at least 846 people killed and 6,000 injured. The uprising took place in Cairo, Alexandria, and in other cities in Egypt, following the Tunisian revolution that resulted in the overthrow of the long-time Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.[149] On 11 February, following weeks of determined popular protest and pressure, Hosni Mubarak resigned from office.

Post-revolutionary Cairo

Under the rule of President el-Sisi, in March 2015 plans were announced for another yet-unnamed planned city to be built further east of the existing satellite city of New Cairo, intended to serve as the new capital of Egypt.[150]

Geography

 
The river Nile flows through Cairo, here contrasting ancient customs of daily life with the modern city of today.
 
Aerial view looking south, with the Zamalek and Gezira districts on Gezira Island, surrounded by the Nile
 
Cairo seen from Spot Satellite

Cairo is located in northern Egypt, known as Lower Egypt, 165 km (100 mi) south of the Mediterranean Sea and 120 km (75 mi) west of the Gulf of Suez and Suez Canal.[151] The city lies along the Nile River, immediately south of the point where the river leaves its desert-bound valley and branches into the low-lying Nile Delta region. Although the Cairo metropolis extends away from the Nile in all directions, the city of Cairo resides only on the east bank of the river and two islands within it on a total area of 453 km2 (175 sq mi).[152][153] Geologically, Cairo lies on alluvium and sand dunes which date from the quaternary period.[154][155]

Until the mid-19th century, when the river was tamed by dams, levees, and other controls, the Nile in the vicinity of Cairo was highly susceptible to changes in course and surface level. Over the years, the Nile gradually shifted westward, providing the site between the eastern edge of the river and the Mokattam highlands on which the city now stands. The land on which Cairo was established in 969 (present-day Islamic Cairo) was located underwater just over three hundred years earlier, when Fustat was first built.[156]

Low periods of the Nile during the 11th century continued to add to the landscape of Cairo; a new island, known as Geziret al-Fil, first appeared in 1174, but eventually became connected to the mainland. Today, the site of Geziret al-Fil is occupied by the Shubra district. The low periods created another island at the turn of the 14th century that now composes Zamalek and Gezira. Land reclamation efforts by the Mamluks and Ottomans further contributed to expansion on the east bank of the river.[157]

Because of the Nile's movement, the newer parts of the city—Garden City, Downtown Cairo, and Zamalek—are located closest to the riverbank.[158] The areas, which are home to most of Cairo's embassies, are surrounded on the north, east, and south by the older parts of the city. Old Cairo, located south of the centre, holds the remnants of Fustat and the heart of Egypt's Coptic Christian community, Coptic Cairo. The Boulaq district, which lies in the northern part of the city, was born out of a major 16th-century port and is now a major industrial centre. The Citadel is located east of the city centre around Islamic Cairo, which dates back to the Fatimid era and the foundation of Cairo. While western Cairo is dominated by wide boulevards, open spaces, and modern architecture of European influence, the eastern half, having grown haphazardly over the centuries, is dominated by small lanes, crowded tenements, and Islamic architecture.

Northern and extreme eastern parts of Cairo, which include satellite towns, are among the most recent additions to the city, as they developed in the late-20th and early-21st centuries to accommodate the city's rapid growth. The western bank of the Nile is commonly included within the urban area of Cairo, but it composes the city of Giza and the Giza Governorate. Giza city has also undergone significant expansion over recent years, and today has a population of 2.7 million.[153] The Cairo Governorate was just north of the Helwan Governorate from 2008 when some Cairo's southern districts, including Maadi and New Cairo, were split off and annexed into the new governorate,[159] to 2011 when the Helwan Governorate was reincorporated into the Cairo Governorate.

 
A panorama of the Nile in central Cairo showing the west side of Gezira Island, located in the middle of the Nile, with the Cairo Tower in the middle, the 6th October Bridge on the far left and El Galaa Bridge on the far right

According to the World Health Organization, the level of air pollution in Cairo is nearly 12 times higher than the recommended safety level.[160]

Climate

 
Cairo weather observations by French savants

In Cairo, and along the Nile River Valley, the climate is a hot desert climate (BWh according to the Köppen climate classification system[161]). Wind storms can be frequent, bringing Saharan dust into the city, from March to May and the air often becomes uncomfortably dry. High temperatures in winter range from 14 to 22 °C (57 to 72 °F), while night-time lows drop to below 11 °C (52 °F), often to 5 °C (41 °F). In summer, the highs rarely surpass 40 °C (104 °F), and lows drop to about 20 °C (68 °F). Rainfall is sparse and only happens in the colder months, but sudden showers can cause severe flooding. The summer months have high humidity due to its coastal location. Snowfall is extremely rare; a small amount of graupel, widely believed to be snow, fell on Cairo's easternmost suburbs on 13 December 2013, the first time Cairo's area received this kind of precipitation in many decades.[162] Dew points in the hottest months range from 13.9 °C (57 °F) in June to 18.3 °C (65 °F) in August.[163]

Climate data for Cairo
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 31.0
(87.8) 		34.2
(93.6) 		37.9
(100.2) 		43.2
(109.8) 		47.8
(118.0) 		46.4
(115.5) 		42.6
(108.7) 		43.4
(110.1) 		43.7
(110.7) 		41.0
(105.8) 		37.4
(99.3) 		30.2
(86.4) 		47.8
(118.0)
Average high °C (°F) 18.9
(66.0) 		20.4
(68.7) 		23.5
(74.3) 		28.3
(82.9) 		32.0
(89.6) 		33.9
(93.0) 		34.7
(94.5) 		34.2
(93.6) 		32.6
(90.7) 		29.2
(84.6) 		24.8
(76.6) 		20.3
(68.5) 		27.7
(81.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 14.0
(57.2) 		15.1
(59.2) 		17.6
(63.7) 		21.5
(70.7) 		24.9
(76.8) 		27.0
(80.6) 		28.4
(83.1) 		28.2
(82.8) 		26.6
(79.9) 		23.3
(73.9) 		19.5
(67.1) 		15.4
(59.7) 		21.8
(71.2)
Average low °C (°F) 9.0
(48.2) 		9.7
(49.5) 		11.6
(52.9) 		14.6
(58.3) 		17.7
(63.9) 		20.1
(68.2) 		22.0
(71.6) 		22.1
(71.8) 		20.5
(68.9) 		17.4
(63.3) 		14.1
(57.4) 		10.4
(50.7) 		15.8
(60.4)
Record low °C (°F) 1.2
(34.2) 		3.6
(38.5) 		5.0
(41.0) 		7.6
(45.7) 		12.3
(54.1) 		16.0
(60.8) 		18.2
(64.8) 		19
(66) 		14.5
(58.1) 		12.3
(54.1) 		5.2
(41.4) 		3.0
(37.4) 		1.2
(34.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 5.0
(0.20) 		3.8
(0.15) 		3.8
(0.15) 		1.1
(0.04) 		0.5
(0.02) 		0.1
(0.00) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.7
(0.03) 		3.8
(0.15) 		5.9
(0.23) 		24.7
(0.97)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 mm) 3.5 2.7 1.9 0.9 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 1.3 2.8 14.2
Average relative humidity (%) 59 54 53 47 46 49 58 61 60 60 61 61 56
Mean monthly sunshine hours 213 234 269 291 324 357 363 351 311 292 248 198 3,451
Percent possible sunshine 66 75 73 75 77 85 84 86 84 82 78 62 77
Average ultraviolet index 4 5 7 9 10 11.5 11.5 11 9 7 5 3 7.8
Source 1: World Meteorological Organization (UN) (1971–2000),[164] and NOAA for mean, record high and low and humidity[163]
Source 2: Danish Meteorological Institute for sunshine (1931–1960)[165] and Weather2Travel (ultraviolet)[166]

Metropolitan area and districts

See also: Greater Cairo and Cairo Governorate
 
Cairo city administrative boundary and districts in English

The city of Cairo forms part of Greater Cairo, the largest metropolitan area in Africa.[167] While it has no administrative body, the Ministry of Planning considers it as an economic region consisting of Cairo Governorate, Giza Governorate, and Qalyubia Governorate.[168] As a contiguous metropolitan area, various studies have considered Greater Cairo be composed of the administrative cities that are Cairo, Giza and Shubra al-Kheima, in addition to the satellite cities/new towns surrounding them.[169]

Cairo is a city-state where the governor is also the head of the city. Cairo City itself differs from other Egyptian cities in that it has an extra administrative division between the city and district levels, and that is areas, which are headed by deputy governors. Cairo consists of 4 areas (manatiq, singl. mantiqa) divided into 38 districts (ahya', singl. hayy) and 46 qisms (police wards, 1-2 per district):[170]

The Northern Area is divided into 8 Districts:[171]

  • Al-Zawiya al-Hamra
  • Al-Sharabia
  • Al-Amiriyya
 
Map of Northern Area, Cairo (En)

The Eastern Area divided into 9 Districts and three new cities:[172]

 
Cairo Eastern Area map

The Western Area divided into 9 Districts:[173]

 
Cairo Western Area map

The Southern Area divided into 12 Districts:[174]

 
Cairo Southern Area map

Satellite cities

See also: Greater Cairo

Since 1977 a number of new towns have been planned and built by the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) in the Eastern Desert around Cairo, ostensibly to accommodate additional population growth and development of the city and stem the development of self-built informal areas, especially over agricultural land. As of 2022 four new towns have been built and have residential populations: 15th of May City, Badr City, Shorouk City, and New Cairo. In addition, two more are under construction: the New Administrative Capital.[175][176][177] And Capital Gardens, where land was allocated in 2021, and which will house most of the civil servants employed in the new capital.[178]

Planned new capital

Main article: New Administrative Capital

In March 2015, plans were announced for a new city to be built east of Cairo, in an undeveloped area of the Cairo Governorate,[179] which would serve as the New Administrative Capital of Egypt.

Demographics

According to the 2017 census, Cairo had a population of 9,539,673 people, distributed across 46 qisms (police wards):[180] [181]

Qism Code 2017 Total Population Male Female
Tibbîn, al- 010100 72040 36349 35691
Ḥulwân 010200 521239 265347 255892
Ma`ṣara, al- 010300 270032 137501 132531
15 May (Mâyû) 010400 93574 49437 44137
Ṭura 010500 230438 168152 62286
Ma`âdî, al- 010600 88575 43972 44603
Basâtîn, al- 010700 495443 260756 234687
Dâr al-Salâm 010800 525638 273603 252035
Miṣr al-qadîma 010900 250313 129582 120731
Sayyida Zaynab, al- 011000 136278 68571 67707
Khalîfa, al- 011100 105235 54150 51085
Mukaṭṭam 011200 224138 116011 108127
Minsha’at Nâṣir 011300 258372 133864 124508
Darb al-Aḥmar, al- 011400 58489 30307 28182
Mûskî, al- 011500 16662 8216 8446
`Abdîn 011600 40321 19352 20969
Qaṣr al-Nîl 011700 10563 4951 5612
Zamâlik, al- 011800 14946 7396 7550
Bûlâq 011900 48147 24105 24042
Azbâkiyya, al- 012000 19763 9766 9997
Bâb al-Sha`riyya 012100 46673 24261 22412
Jamâliyya, al- 012200 36368 18487 17881
Ẓâhir, al- 012300 71870 35956 35914
Wâylî, al- 012400 79292 39407 39885
Ḥadâ’iq al-Qubba 012500 316072 161269 154803
Sharâbiyya, al- 012600 187201 94942 92259
Shubrâ 012700 76695 38347 38348
Rawd al-Faraj 012800 145632 72859 72773
Sâḥil, al- 012900 316421 162063 154358
Zâwiya al-Ḥamrâ', al- 013000 318170 162304 155866
Amîriyya, al- 013100 152554 77355 75199
Zaytûn, al- 013200 174176 87235 86941
Maṭariyya, al- 013300 602485 312407 290078
`Ayn Shams (Ain Shams) 013400 614391 315394 298997
Marj, al- 013500 798646 412476 386170
Salâm 1, al- 013600 480721 249639 231082
Salâm 2, al- 013700 153772 80492 73280
Nuzha, al- 013800 231241 117910 113331
Miṣr al-jadîda 013900 134116 68327 65789
Madînat Naṣr 1 014000 634818 332117 302701
Madînat Naṣr 2 014100 72182 38374 33808
Qâhira al-Jadîda 1, al- 014200 135834 70765 65069
Qâhira al-jadîda 2, al- 014300 90668 46102 44566
Qâhira al-jadîda 3, al- 014400 70885 37340 33545
Shurûq, al- 014500 87285 45960 41325
Madînat Badr 014600 31299 17449 13850

Infrastructure

Health

See also: List of hospitals in Egypt

Cairo, as well as neighbouring Giza, has been established as Egypt's main centre for medical treatment, and despite some exceptions, has the most advanced level of medical care in the country. Cairo's hospitals include the JCI-accredited As-Salaam International Hospital—Corniche El Nile, Maadi (Egypt's largest private hospital with 350 beds), Ain Shams University Hospital, Dar Al Fouad, Nile Badrawi Hospital, 57357 Hospital, as well as Qasr El Eyni Hospital.

Education

Greater Cairo has long been the hub of education and educational services for Egypt and the region.

Today, Greater Cairo is the centre for many government offices governing the Egyptian educational system, has the largest number of educational schools, and higher education institutes among other cities and governorates of Egypt.

Some of the International Schools found in Cairo:

Further information: List of schools in Egypt
 
Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University
 
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University
 
Cairo University is the largest university in Egypt, and is located in Giza.
 
Library building at the new campus of the American University of Cairo in New Cairo

Universities in Greater Cairo:

University Date of Foundation
Al Azhar University 970–972
Cairo University 1908
American University in Cairo 1919
Ain Shams University 1950
Arab Academy for Science & Technology and Maritime Transport 1972
Helwan University 1975
Sadat Academy for Management Sciences 1981
Higher Technological Institute 1989
Modern Academy In Maadi 1993
Malvern College Egypt 2006
Misr International University 1996
Misr University for Science and Technology 1996
Modern Sciences and Arts University 1996
Université Française d'Égypte 2002
German University in Cairo 2003
Arab Open University 2003
Canadian International College 2004
British University in Egypt 2005
Ahram Canadian University 2005
Nile University 2006
Future University in Egypt 2006
Egyptian Russian University 2006
Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development 2009
New Giza University 2016

Transport

Main article: Transport in Cairo
 
Cairo Metro, LRT, BRT and monorail expansion plans
 
The interior of Ramses Station
 
6th October Bridge in Cairo

Cairo has an extensive road network, rail system, subway system and maritime services. Road transport is facilitated by personal vehicles, taxi cabs, privately owned public buses and Cairo microbuses. Cairo, specifically Ramses Station, is the centre of almost the entire Egyptian transportation network.[182]

The subway system, officially called "Metro (مترو)", is a fast and efficient way of getting around Cairo. Metro network covers Helwan and other suburbs. It can get very crowded during rush hour. Two train cars (the fourth and fifth ones) are reserved for women only, although women may ride in any car they want.

Trams in Greater Cairo and Cairo trolleybus were used as modes of transportation, but were closed in the 1970s everywhere except Heliopolis and Helwan. These were shut down in 2014, after the Egyptian Revolution.[183]

An extensive road network connects Cairo with other Egyptian cities and villages. There is a new Ring Road that surrounds the outskirts of the city, with exits that reach outer Cairo districts. There are flyovers and bridges, such as the 6th October Bridge that, when the traffic is not heavy, allow fast[182] means of transportation from one side of the city to the other.

Cairo traffic is known to be overwhelming and overcrowded.[184] Traffic moves at a relatively fluid pace. Drivers tend to be aggressive, but are more courteous at junctions, taking turns going, with police aiding in traffic control of some congested areas.[182]

In 2017, plans to construct two monorail systems were announced, one linking 6th of October to suburban Giza, a distance of 35 km (22 mi), and the other linking Nasr City to New Cairo, a distance of 52 km (32 mi).[185][186]

Other forms of transport

 
Façade of Terminal 3 at Cairo International Airport
 
Departures area of Cairo International Airport's Terminal 1

Sports

 
Cairo International Stadium with 75,100 seats

Football is the most popular sport in Egypt,[188] and Cairo has a number of sporting teams that compete in national and regional leagues, most notably Al Ahly and Zamalek SC, who are the CAF first and second African clubs of the 20th century. The annual match between Al Ahly and El Zamalek is one of the most watched sports events in Egypt as well as the African-Arab region. The teams form the major rivalry of Egyptian football and are the first and the second champions in Africa and the Arab world. They play their home games at Cairo International Stadium or Naser Stadium, which is the second largest stadium in Egypt, as well as the largest in Cairo and one of the largest stadiums in the world.

The Cairo International Stadium was built in 1960 and its multi-purpose sports complex that houses the main football stadium, an indoor stadium, several satellite fields that held several regional, continental, and global games, including the African Games, U17 Football World Championship and were one of the stadiums scheduled that hosted the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations which was played in January 2006. Egypt later won the competition and went on to win the next edition in Ghana (2008) making the Egyptian and Ghanaian national teams the only teams to win the African Nations Cup Back to back which resulted in Egypt winning the title for a record number of six times in the history of African Continental Competition. This was followed by a third consecutive win in Angola in 2010, making Egypt the only country with a record 3-consecutive and 7-total Continental Football Competition winner. This achievement also placed the Egyptian football team as the #9 best team in the world's FIFA rankings. As of 2021, Egypt's national team is ranked #46 in the world by FIFA.[189]

Cairo failed at the applicant stage when bidding for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which was hosted in Beijing, China.[190] However, Cairo did host the 2007 Pan Arab Games.[191]

There are several other sports teams in the city that participate in several sports including Gezira Sporting Club, el Shams Club, el Seid Club, Heliopolis Sporting Club, and several smaller clubs, but the biggest clubs in Egypt (not in the area but in sports) are Al Ahly and Zamalek. They have the two biggest football teams in Egypt. There are new sports clubs in the area of New Cairo (one hour far from Cairo's downtown), these are Al Zohour sporting club, Wadi Degla sporting club and Platinum Club.[192]

Most of the sports federations of the country are also located in the city suburbs, including the Egyptian Football Association.[193] The headquarters of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was previously located in Cairo, before relocating to its new headquarters in 6 October City, a small city away from Cairo's crowded districts.

In October 2008, the Egyptian Rugby Federation was officially formed and granted membership into the International Rugby Board.[194]

Egypt is internationally known for the excellence of its squash players who excel in professional and junior divisions.[195] Egypt has seven players in the top ten of the PSA men's world rankings, and three in the women's top ten. Mohamed El Shorbagy held the world number one position for more than a year before being overtaken by compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad, who is number two behind Gregory Gaultier of France. Ramy Ashour and Amr Shabana are regarded as two of the most talented squash players in history. Shabana won the World Open title four times and Ashour twice, although his recent form has been hampered by injury. Egypt's Nour El Sherbini has won the Women's World Championship twice and has been women's world number one for 16 consecutive months. On 30 April 2016, she became the youngest woman to win the Women's World Championship which was held in Malaysia. In April 2017 she retained her title by winning the Women's World Championship which was held in the Egyptian resort of El Gouna.

Cairo is the official end point of Cross Egypt Challenge where its route ends yearly in the most sacred place in Egypt, under the Great Pyramids of Giza with a huge trophy-giving ceremony.[196]

Culture

 
Cairo Opera House, at the National Cultural Center, Zamalek district
 
Khedivial Opera House, 1869

Cultural tourism in Egypt

Main article: Cultural tourism in Egypt

Cairo Opera House

Main article: Cairo Opera House

President Mubarak inaugurated the new Cairo Opera House of the Egyptian National Cultural Centres on 10 October 1988, 17 years after the Royal Opera House had been destroyed by fire. The National Cultural Centre was built with the help of JICA, the Japan International Co-operation Agency and stands as a prominent feature for the Japanese-Egyptian co-operation and the friendship between the two nations.

Khedivial Opera House

Main article: Khedivial Opera House

The Khedivial Opera House, or Royal Opera House, was the original opera house in Cairo. It was dedicated on 1 November 1869 and burned down on 28 October 1971. After the original opera house was destroyed, Cairo was without an opera house for nearly two decades until the opening of the new Cairo Opera House in 1988.

Cairo International Film Festival

Main article: Cairo International Film Festival

Cairo held its first international film festival 16 August 1976, when the first Cairo International Film Festival was launched by the Egyptian Association of Film Writers and Critics, headed by Kamal El-Mallakh. The Association ran the festival for seven years until 1983.

This achievement lead to the President of the Festival again contacting the FIAPF with the request that a competition should be included at the 1991 Festival. The request was granted.

In 1998, the Festival took place under the presidency of one of Egypt's leading actors, Hussein Fahmy, who was appointed by the Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, after the death of Saad El-Din Wahba. Four years later, the journalist and writer Cherif El-Shoubashy became president.

Cairo Geniza

Main article: Cairo Geniza
 
Solomon Schechter studying documents from the Cairo Geniza, c. 1895

The Cairo Geniza is an accumulation of almost 200,000 Jewish manuscripts that were found in the genizah of the Ben Ezra synagogue (built 882) of Fustat, Egypt (now Old Cairo), the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and a number of old documents that were bought in Cairo in the later 19th century. These documents were written from about 870 to 1880 AD and have been archived in various American and European libraries. The Taylor-Schechter collection in the University of Cambridge runs to 140,000 manuscripts; a further 40,000 manuscripts are housed at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Food

The majority of Cairenes make food for themselves and make use of local produce markets.[197] The restaurant scene includes Arab cuisine and Middle Eastern cuisine, including local staples such as koshary. The city's most exclusive restaurants are typically concentrated in Zamalek and around the luxury hotels lining the shore of the Nile near the Garden City district. Influence from modern western society is also evident, with American chains such as McDonald's, Arby's, Pizza Hut, Subway, and Kentucky Fried Chicken being easy to find in central areas.[197]

Places of worship

See also: List of mosques in Cairo

Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Muslim mosques.[198] There are also Christian churches and temples: Coptic Orthodox Church, Coptic Catholic Church (Catholic Church), Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile) (World Communion of Reformed Churches).

Economy

 
Statue of Talaat Pasha Harb, the father of the modern Egyptian economy, in Downtown Cairo
 
The NBE towers as viewed from the Nile
Informal economy in Cairo

Cairo's economy has traditionally been based on governmental institutions and services, with the modern productive sector expanding in the 20th century to include developments in textiles and food processing – specifically the production of sugar cane. As of 2005, Egypt has the largest non-oil based GDP in the Arab world. [199]

Cairo accounts for 11% of Egypt's population and 22% of its economy (PPP). The majority of the nation's commerce is generated there, or passes through the city. The great majority of publishing houses and media outlets and nearly all film studios are there, as are half of the nation's hospital beds and universities. This has fuelled rapid construction in the city, with one building in five being less than 15 years old.[199]

This growth until recently surged well ahead of city services. Homes, roads, electricity, telephone and sewer services were all in short supply. Analysts trying to grasp the magnitude of the change coined terms like "hyper-urbanization".[199]

Automobile manufacturers from Cairo

Cityscape and landmarks

Tahrir Square

Main article: Tahrir Square
 
View of Tahrir Square (in 2020)

Tahrir Square was founded during the mid 19th century with the establishment of modern downtown Cairo. It was first named Ismailia Square, after the 19th-century ruler Khedive Ismail, who commissioned the new downtown district's 'Paris on the Nile' design. After the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 the square became widely known as Tahrir (Liberation) Square, though it was not officially renamed as such until after the 1952 Revolution which eliminated the monarchy. Several notable buildings surround the square including, the American University in Cairo's downtown campus, the Mogamma governmental administrative Building, the headquarters of the Arab League, the Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel, and the Egyptian Museum. Being at the heart of Cairo, the square witnessed several major protests over the years. However, the most notable event in the square was being the focal point of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution against former president Hosni Mubarak.[207] In 2020 the government completed the erection of a new monument in the center of the square featuring an ancient obelisk from the reign of Ramses II, originally unearthed at Tanis (San al-Hagar) in 2019, and four ram-headed sphinx statues moved from Karnak.[208][209][210]

Egyptian Museum

 
Main entrance of the Egyptian Museum, located at Tahrir Square

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, is home to the most extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world. It has 136,000 items on display, with many more hundreds of thousands in its basement storerooms. Among the collections on display are the finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun.[211]

Grand Egyptian Museum

Main article: Grand Egyptian Museum

Much of the collection of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, including the Tutankhamun collection, are slated to be moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum, under construction in Giza and was due to open by the end of 2020.[212][213]

Cairo Tower

Main article: Cairo Tower
 
Cairo Tower at night

The Cairo Tower is a free-standing tower with a revolving restaurant at the top. It provides a bird's eye view of Cairo to the restaurant patrons. It stands in the Zamalek district on Gezira Island in the Nile River, in the city centre. At 187 m (614 ft), it is 44 m (144 ft) higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza, which stands some 15 km (9 mi) to the southwest.[214]

Old Cairo

Main article: Old Cairo

This area of Cairo is so-named as it contains the remains of the ancient Roman fortress of Babylon and also overlaps the original site of Fustat, the first Arab settlement in Egypt (7th century AD) and the predecessor of later Cairo. The area includes the Coptic Cairo, which holds a high concentration of old Christian churches such as the Hanging Church, the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, and other Christian or Coptic buildings, most of which are located over the site of the ancient Roman fortress. It is also the location of the Coptic Museum, which showcases the history of Coptic art from Greco-Roman to Islamic times, and of the Ben Ezra Synagogue, the oldest and best-known synagogue in Cairo, where the important collection of Geniza documents were discovered in the 19th century.[215] To the north of this Coptic enclave is the Amr ibn al-'As Mosque, the first mosque in Egypt and the most important religious centre of what was formerly Fustat, founded in 642 AD right after the Arab conquest but rebuilt many times since.[216]

Islamic Cairo

Main article: Islamic Cairo
 
Al-Azhar Mosque, view of Fatimid-era courtyard and Mamluk minarets
 
Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan and the al-Rifa'i Mosque, seen from the Citadel

Cairo holds one of the greatest concentrations of historical monuments of Islamic architecture in the world.[217] The areas around the old walled city and around the Citadel are characterized by hundreds of mosques, tombs, madrasas, mansions, caravanserais, and fortifications dating from the Islamic era and are often referred to as "Islamic Cairo", especially in English travel literature.[218] It is also the location of several important religious shrines such as the al-Hussein Mosque (whose shrine is believed to hold the head of Husayn ibn Ali), the Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i (founder of the Shafi'i madhhab, one of the primary schools of thought in Sunni Islamic jurisprudence), the Tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya, the Mosque of Sayyida Nafisa, and others.[219]

The first mosque in Egypt was the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in what was formerly Fustat, the first Arab-Muslim settlement in the area. However, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is the oldest mosque that still retains its original form and is a rare example of Abbasid architecture from the classical period of Islamic civilization. It was built in 876–879 AD in a style inspired by the Abbasid capital of Samarra in Iraq.[220] It is one of the largest mosques in Cairo and is often cited as one of the most beautiful.[221][222] Another Abbasid construction, the Nilometer on Roda Island, is the oldest original structure in Cairo, built in 862 AD. It was designed to measure the level of the Nile, which was important for agricultural and administrative purposes.[223]

The settlement that was formally named Cairo (Arabic: al-Qahira) was founded to the northeast of Fustat in 959 AD by the victorious Fatimid army. The Fatimids built it as a separate palatial city which contained their palaces and institutions of government. It was enclosed by a circuit of walls, which were rebuilt in stone in the late 11th century AD by the vizir Badr al-Gamali,[224] parts of which survive today at Bab Zuwayla in the south and Bab al-Futuh and Bab al-Nasr in the north. Among the extant monuments from the Fatimid era are the large Mosque of al-Hakim, the Aqmar Mosque, Juyushi Mosque, Lulua Mosque, and the Mosque of Al-Salih Tala'i.[225][219]

One of the most important and lasting institutions founded in the Fatimid period was the Mosque of al-Azhar, founded in 970 AD, which competes with the Qarawiyyin in Fes for the title of oldest university in the world.[226] Today, al-Azhar University is the foremost Center of Islamic learning in the world and one of Egypt's largest universities with campuses across the country.[226] The mosque itself retains significant Fatimid elements but has been added to and expanded in subsequent centuries, notably by the Mamluk sultans Qaytbay and al-Ghuri and by Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda in the 18th century.[227]

The most prominent architectural heritage of medieval Cairo, however, dates from the Mamluk period, from 1250 to 1517 AD. The Mamluk sultans and elites were eager patrons of religious and scholarly life, commonly building religious or funerary complexes whose functions could include a mosque, madrasa, khanqah (for Sufis), a sabil (water dispensary), and a mausoleum for themselves and their families.[75] Among the best-known examples of Mamluk monuments in Cairo are the huge Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan, the Mosque of Amir al-Maridani, the Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad (whose twin minarets were built above the gate of Bab Zuwayla), the Sultan Al-Ghuri complex, the funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay in the Northern Cemetery, and the trio of monuments in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area comprising the complex of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun, the Madrasa of al-Nasir Muhammad, and the Madrasa of Sultan Barquq. Some mosques include spolia (often columns or capitals) from earlier buildings built by the Romans, Byzantines, or Copts.[217]

The Mamluks, and the later Ottomans, also built wikalas or caravanserais to house merchants and goods due to the important role of trade and commerce in Cairo's economy.[228] Still intact today is the Wikala al-Ghuri, which today hosts regular performances by the Al-Tannoura Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe.[229] The Khan al-Khalili is a commercial hub which also integrated caravanserais (also known as khans).[230]

Citadel of Cairo

Main article: Cairo Citadel
 
The Citadel of Cairo, with the Mosque of Muhammad Ali

The Citadel is a fortified enclosure begun by Salah al-Din in 1176 AD on an outcrop of the Muqattam Hills as part of a large defensive system to protect both Cairo to the north and Fustat to the southwest.[228] It was the centre of Egyptian government and residence of its rulers until 1874, when Khedive Isma'il moved to 'Abdin Palace.[231] It is still occupied by the military today, but is now open as a tourist attraction comprising, notably, the National Military Museum, the 14th century Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad, and the 19th century Mosque of Muhammad Ali which commands a dominant position on Cairo's skyline.[232]

Khan el-Khalili

Main article: Khan el-Khalili
 
A medieval gateway in Khan al-Khalili

Khan el-Khalili is an ancient bazaar, or marketplace adjacent to the Al-Hussein Mosque. It dates back to 1385, when Amir Jarkas el-Khalili built a large caravanserai, or khan. (A caravanserai is a hotel for traders, and usually the focal point for any surrounding area.) This original caravanserai building was demolished by Sultan al-Ghuri, who rebuilt it as a new commercial complex in the early 16th century, forming the basis for the network of souqs existing today.[233] Many medieval elements remain today, including the ornate Mamluk-style gateways.[234] Today, the Khan el-Khalili is a major tourist attraction and popular stop for tour groups.[235]

Society

In the present day, Cairo is heavily urbanized and most Cairenes live in apartment buildings. Because of the influx of people into the city, lone standing houses are rare, and apartment buildings accommodate for the limited space and abundance of people. Single detached houses are usually owned by the wealthy.[236] Formal education is also seen as important, with twelve years of standard formal education. Cairenes can take a standardized test similar to the SAT to be accepted to an institution of higher learning, but most children do not finish school and opt to pick up a trade to enter the work force.[236] Egypt still struggles with poverty, with almost half the population living on $2 or less a day.[237]

Women's rights

Main article: Women in Egypt

The civil rights movement for women in Cairo – and by extent, Egypt – has been a struggle for years. Women are reported to face constant discrimination, sexual harassment, and abuse throughout Cairo. A 2013 UN study found that over 99% of Egyptian women reported experiencing sexual harassment at some point in their lives.[238] The problem has persisted in spite of new national laws since 2014 defining and criminalizing sexual harassment.[239] The situation is so severe that in 2017, Cairo was named by one poll as the most dangerous megacity for women in the world.[240] In 2020, the social media account "Assault Police" began to name and shame perpetrators of violence against women, in an effort to dissuade potential offenders.[241] The account was founded by student Nadeen Ashraf, who is credited for instigating an iteration of the #MeToo movement in Egypt.[242]

Pollution

 
Smog in Cairo
 
Traffic in Cairo

The air pollution in Cairo is a matter of serious concern. Greater Cairo's volatile aromatic hydrocarbon levels are higher than many other similar cities.[243] Air quality measurements in Cairo have also been recording dangerous levels of lead, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and suspended particulate matter concentrations due to decades of unregulated vehicle emissions, urban industrial operations, and chaff and trash burning. There are over 4,500,000 cars on the streets of Cairo, 60% of which are over 10 years old, and therefore lack modern emission cutting features. Cairo has a very poor dispersion factor because of its lack of rain and its layout of tall buildings and narrow streets, which create a bowl effect.[244]

In recent years, a black cloud (as Egyptians refer to it) of smog has appeared over Cairo every autumn due to temperature inversion. Smog causes serious respiratory diseases and eye irritations for the city's citizens. Tourists who are not familiar with such high levels of pollution must take extra care.[245]

Cairo also has many unregistered lead and copper smelters which heavily pollute the city. The results of this has been a permanent haze over the city with particulate matter in the air reaching over three times normal levels. It is estimated that 10,000 to 25,000 people a year in Cairo die due to air pollution-related diseases. Lead has been shown to cause harm to the central nervous system and neurotoxicity particularly in children.[246] In 1995, the first environmental acts were introduced and the situation has seen some improvement with 36 air monitoring stations and emissions tests on cars. Twenty thousand buses have also been commissioned to the city to improve congestion levels, which are very high.[247]

The city also suffers from a high level of land pollution. Cairo produces 10,000 tons of waste material each day, 4,000 tons of which is not collected or managed. This is a huge health hazard, and the Egyptian Government is looking for ways to combat this. The Cairo Cleaning and Beautification Agency was founded to collect and recycle the waste; they work with the Zabbaleen community that has been collecting and recycling Cairo's waste since the turn of the 20th century and live in an area known locally as Manshiyat naser.[248] Both are working together to pick up as much waste as possible within the city limits, though it remains a pressing problem.

Water pollution is also a serious problem in the city as the sewer system tends to fail and overflow. On occasion, sewage has escaped onto the streets to create a health hazard. This problem is hoped to be solved by a new sewer system funded by the European Union, which could cope with the demand of the city.[citation needed] The dangerously high levels of mercury in the city's water system has global health officials concerned over related health risks.[citation needed]

International relations

The Headquarters of the Arab League is located in Tahrir Square, near the downtown business district of Cairo.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Egypt

Cairo is twinned with:[249]

Notable people

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Cairo Metropolitan is enlarged to cover all the area within the Governorate limits. Government statistics consider that the whole governorate is urban and the whole governorate is treated like as the metropolitan-city of Cairo. Governorate Cairo is considered a city-proper and functions as a municipality. The city of Alexandria is on the same principle as the city of Cairo, being a governorate-city. Because of this, it is difficult to divide Cairo into urban, rural, subdivisions, or to eliminate certain parts of the metropolitan administrative territory on various theme (unofficial statistics and data).
  2. ^ The historical chronicler John of Nikiou attributed the construction of the fortress to Trajan, but more recent excavations date the fortress to the time of Diocletian. A succession of canals connecting the Nile Valley with the Red Sea were also previously dug around this region in different periods prior to Trajan. Trajan's canal fell out of use some time between the reign of Diocletian and the 7th century.

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Works cited

  • Abu-Lughod, Janet (July 1965). "Tale of Two Cities: The Origins of Modern Cairo". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 7 (4): 429–457. doi:10.1017/S0010417500003819. ISSN 0010-4175. S2CID 145607590.
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  • Battuta, Ibn (1829) [1355]. The Travels of Ibn Battuta. Translated by Lee, Samuel. Cosimo Classics (published 2009). ISBN 9781616402624.
  • Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (1992). Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-09626-4. from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  • Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (2007). Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture. The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9789774160776.
  • Böwering, Gerhard (2008). "Recent Research on the Construction of the Quran". In Reynolds, Gabriel Said (ed.). The Qur'an in its Historical Context. Routledge. pp. 1–26. ISBN 9780415491693.
  • Byrne, Joseph Patrick (2004). The Black Death (illustrated, annotated ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-32492-5.
  • Clot, André (1996). L'Égypte des Mamelouks: L'empire des esclaves, 1250–1517 (in French). Perrin. ISBN 2-262-01030-7. OCLC 911345545.
  • Collins, Robert O. (2002). The Nile (illustrated ed.). New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09764-1.
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  • Glassé, Cyril; Smith, Huston (2003). The New Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd revised ed.). Singapore: Tien Wah Press. ISBN 978-0-7591-0190-6.
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  • Hawass, Zahi A.; Brock, Lyla Pinch (2003). Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: Archaeology (2nd ed.). Cairo: American University in Cairo. ISBN 978-977-424-674-6.
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  • O'Neill, Zora; Benanav, Michael; Lee, Jessica; Sattin, Anthony (2012). Lonely Planet Egypt (11th ed.). Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74179-959-0.
  • Raymond, André (1993). Le Caire (in French). Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-02983-2. English translation: Raymond, André (2000). Cairo. Translated by Wood, Willard. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00316-3.
  • Reynolds, Gabriel Said (2008). "Introduction: Qur'anic Studies and its Controversies". In Reynolds, Gabriel Said (ed.). The Qur'an in its Historical Context. Routledge. pp. 1–26. ISBN 9780415491693.
  • Shillington, Kevin (2005). Encyclopedia of African History. New York: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-57958-453-5.
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  • Sicker, Martin (2001). The Islamic World in Decline: From the Treaty of Karlowitz to the Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire (illustrated ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-96891-5.
  • Sims, David (2012) [2010]. Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out of Control. American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9789774165535.
  • Swelim, Tarek (2015). Ibn Tulun: His Lost City and Great Mosque. American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9789774166914.
  • UN-Habitat (2011). Cairo - a City in Transition. UN-Habitat. ISBN 978-9-211-32353-5.
  • Williams, Caroline (2008). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (6th, Revised ed.). The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-977-416-205-3.
  • Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.
  • Winter, Michael (1992). Egyptian Society Under Ottoman Rule, 1517–1798. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-02403-7.
  • Winter, Michael (2004). Egyptian Society Under Ottoman Rule, 1517–1798. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-16923-0.

Further reading

See also: Bibliography of the history of Cairo
  • Alsayyad, Nezar (2011). Cairo. doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674060791. ISBN 9780674060791.
  • Beattie, Andrew (2005). Cairo: A Cultural History (illustrated ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517893-7.
  • Butler, Alfred J. (2008). The Arab Conquest of Egypt – And the Last Thirty Years of the Roman Dominion. Portland, OR: Butler Press. ISBN 978-1-4437-2783-9.
  • Artemis Cooper, Cairo in the War, 1939–1945, Hamish Hamilton, 1989 / Penguin Book, 1995. ISBN 0-14-024781-5 (Pbk)
  • Max Rodenbeck, Cairo– the City Victorious, Picador, 1998. ISBN 0-330-33709-2 (Hbk) ISBN 0-330-33710-6 (Pbk)
  • Wahba, Magdi (1990). Cairo Memories" in Studies in Arab History: The Antonius Lectures, 1978–87. Edited by Derek Hopwood. London: Macmillan Press.
  • . Islamica Magazine (15). 2006. Archived from the original on 2 April 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2006.
  • Peter Theroux, Cairo: Clamorous heart of Egypt National Geographic Magazine April 1993
  • Cynthia Myntti, Paris Along the Nile: Architecture in Cairo from the Belle Epoque, American University in Cairo Press, 2003.
  • , by Samir Raafat.
  • , one of city's major belle époque (1900–1950) architects.
  • Nagib Mahfooz novels, all tell great stories about Cairo's deep conflicts.
  • Lewicka, Paulina (2011). Food and Foodways of Medieval Cairenes. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004194724.i-626. ISBN 9789004206465.
  • Sanders, Paula (2008). Creating Medieval Cairo: Empire, Religion, and Architectural Preservation in Nineteenth-Century Egypt. Cairo: American University in Cairo. ISBN 978-977-416-095-0.
  • Jörg Armbruster, Suleman Taufiq (Eds.) مدينتي القاهرة (MYCAI – My Cairo Mein Kairo), text by different authors, photos by Barbara Armbruster and Hala Elkoussy, edition esefeld & traub, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-9809887-8-0.

External links

  • Cairo City Government
  • Coptic Churches of Cairo
  •   Geographic data related to Cairo at OpenStreetMap
  • Map of Cairo, 1914. Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel.
  • Maps of Cairo. Historic Cities Research Project.

Photos and videos

  • Cairo 360-degree full-screen images
  • Pictures of Cairo published under Creative Commons License
  • Call to Cairo Time-lapse film of Cairo cityscapes
  • – video by Global Post
  • Photos of Cairo / Travel

May 09, 2023
cairo, this, article, about, egyptian, capital, other, uses, disambiguation, arabic, القاهرة, romanized, qāhirah, pronounced, ælqɑ, ˈheɾɑ, capital, egypt, city, state, governorate, country, largest, city, home, million, people, also, part, largest, urban, aggl. This article is about the Egyptian capital For other uses see Cairo disambiguation Cairo ˈ k aɪ r oʊ KY roh Arabic القاهرة romanized al Qahirah pronounced aelqɑ ː ˈheɾɑ is the capital of Egypt and the city state Cairo Governorate and is the country s largest city home to 10 million people 6 It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa the Arab world and the Middle East The Greater Cairo metropolitan area with a population of 21 9 million 3 is the 12th largest in the world by population Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area Located near the Nile Delta 7 8 the city first developed as Fustat a settlement founded after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640 next to an existing ancient Roman fortress Babylon Under the Fatimid dynasty a new city al Qahirah was founded nearby in 969 It later superseded Fustat as the main urban centre during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods 12th 16th centuries 9 Cairo has long been a centre of the region s political and cultural life and is titled the city of a thousand minarets for its preponderance of Islamic architecture Cairo s historic center was awarded World Heritage Site status in 1979 10 Cairo is considered a World City with a Beta classification according to GaWC 11 Cairo القاهرةCapital cityThe Nile and surrounding buildings at nightIbn Tulun MosqueMuizz StreetTalaat Harb SquareBaron Empain PalaceCairo CitadelCairo Opera HouseFlagEmblemNickname City of a Thousand MinaretsCairoLocation of Cairo within EgyptShow map of EgyptCairoCairo Arab world Show map of Arab worldCairoCairo Africa Show map of AfricaCoordinates 30 2 40 N 31 14 9 E 30 04444 N 31 23583 E 30 04444 31 23583 Coordinates 30 2 40 N 31 14 9 E 30 04444 N 31 23583 E 30 04444 31 23583CountryEgyptGovernorateCairoFirst major foundation641 642 AD Fustat Last major foundation969 AD Cairo Government GovernorKhaled Abdel Aal 2 Area a 3 Metro2 734 km2 1 056 sq mi Elevation23 m 75 ft Population 2018 Capital city10 100 166 1 Metro 4 22 200 000 DemonymCaireneTime zoneUTC 02 00 EST Summer DST UTC 03 005 digit postal code system11511 to 11938 5 Area code 20 2Websitecairo gov egUNESCO World Heritage SiteOfficial nameHistoric CairoTypeCulturalCriteriai v viDesignated1979Reference no 89Today Cairo has the oldest and largest cinema and music industry in the Arab world as well as the world s second oldest institution of higher learning Al Azhar University Many international media businesses and organizations have regional headquarters in the city the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence With a population of over 10 million 12 spread over 453 km2 175 sq mi Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt An additional 9 5 million inhabitants live close to the city Cairo like many other megacities suffers from high levels of pollution and traffic The Cairo Metro opened in 1987 is the oldest metro system in Africa 13 and ranks amongst the fifteen busiest in the world 14 with over 1 billion 15 annual passenger rides The economy of Cairo was ranked first in the Middle East in 2005 16 and 43rd globally on Foreign Policy s 2010 Global Cities Index 17 Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Ancient settlements 2 2 Fustat and other early Islamic settlements 2 3 Foundation and expansion of Cairo 2 4 Apogee and decline under the Mamluks 2 5 Ottoman rule 2 6 Modern era 2 6 1 1924 Cairo Quran 2 6 2 British occupation until 1956 2 6 3 After 1956 2 6 4 2011 Egyptian revolution 2 6 5 Post revolutionary Cairo 3 Geography 3 1 Climate 4 Metropolitan area and districts 4 1 Satellite cities 4 1 1 Planned new capital 5 Demographics 6 Infrastructure 6 1 Health 6 2 Education 7 Transport 7 1 Other forms of transport 8 Sports 9 Culture 9 1 Cultural tourism in Egypt 9 2 Cairo Opera House 9 3 Khedivial Opera House 9 4 Cairo International Film Festival 9 5 Cairo Geniza 9 6 Food 10 Places of worship 11 Economy 11 1 Automobile manufacturers from Cairo 12 Cityscape and landmarks 12 1 Tahrir Square 12 2 Egyptian Museum 12 2 1 Grand Egyptian Museum 12 3 Cairo Tower 12 4 Old Cairo 12 5 Islamic Cairo 12 6 Citadel of Cairo 12 7 Khan el Khalili 13 Society 13 1 Women s rights 14 Pollution 15 International relations 15 1 Twin towns sister cities 16 Notable people 17 See also 18 Explanatory notes 19 References 19 1 Citations 19 2 Works cited 20 Further reading 21 External links 21 1 Photos and videosEtymology EditEgyptians often refer to Cairo as Maṣr IPA mɑsˤɾ م صر the Egyptian Arabic name for Egypt itself emphasizing the city s importance for the country 18 19 Its official name al Qahirah القاهرة means the Vanquisher or the Conqueror supposedly due to the fact that the planet Mars an Najm al Qahir النجم القاهر the Conquering Star was rising at the time when the city was founded 20 possibly also in reference to the much awaited arrival of the Fatimid Caliph Al Mu izz who reached Cairo in 973 from Mahdia the old Fatimid capital The location of the ancient city of Heliopolis is the suburb of Ain Shams Arabic عين شمس Eye of the Sun There are a few Coptic names of the city Tikesrōmi Coptic Ϯⲕⲉϣⲣⲱⲙⲓ Late Coptic di kɑʃˈɾoːmi is attested in the 1211 text The Martyrdom of John of Phanijoit and is either a calque meaning man breaker Ϯ the ⲕⲁϣ to break and ⲣⲱⲙⲓ man akin to Arabic al Qahirah or a derivation from Arabic ق ص ر الر وم qaṣr ar rum the Roman castle another name of Babylon Fortress in Old Cairo 21 The form Khairon Coptic ⲭⲁⲓⲣⲟⲛ is attested in the modern Coptic text Ⲡⲓⲫⲓⲣⲓ ⲛ ⲧⲉ ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ ⲙ ⲙⲏⲓ Ⲃⲉⲣⲏⲛⲁ The Tale of Saint Verina 22 better source needed Lioui Ⲗⲓⲟⲩⲓ Late Coptic lɪˈjuːj or Elioui Ⲉⲗⲓⲟⲩⲓ Late Coptic aelˈjuːj is another name which is descended from the Greek name of Heliopolis Hlioypolis 21 Some argue that Mistram Ⲙⲓⲥⲧⲣⲁⲙ Late Coptic ˈmɪs teɾɑm or Nistram Ⲛⲓⲥⲧⲣⲁⲙ Late Coptic ˈnɪs teɾɑm is another Coptic name for Cairo although others think that it s rather a name of an Abbasid capital Al Askar 23 Ⲕⲁϩⲓⲣⲏ Kahi ree is a popular modern rendering of an Arabic name others being Ⲕⲁⲓⲣⲟⲛ Kairon and Ⲕⲁϩⲓⲣⲁ Kahira which is modern folk etymology meaning land of sun Some argue that it was a name of an Egyptian settlement upon which Cairo was built but it is rather doubtful as this name is not attested in any Hieroglyphic or Demotic source although some researchers like Paul Casanova view it as a legitimate theory 21 Cairo is also referred to as Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ Late Coptic ˈkɪ mi or Ⲅⲩⲡⲧⲟⲥ Late Coptic ˈɡɪp dos which means Egypt in Coptic the same way it is referred to in Egyptian Arabic 23 Sometimes the city is informally referred to as Cairo by people from Alexandria IPA ˈkaejɾo Egyptian Arabic كايرو 24 History EditSee also History of Egypt For a chronological guide see Timeline of Cairo Ancient settlements Edit Remains of a circular Roman tower at Babylon Fortress late 3rd century in Old Cairo The area around present day Cairo had long been a focal point of Ancient Egypt due to its strategic location at the junction of the Nile Valley and the Nile Delta regions roughly Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt which also placed it at the crossing of major routes between North Africa and the Levant 25 26 Memphis the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom and a major city up until the Ptolemaic period was located a short distance south of present day Cairo 27 Heliopolis another important city and major religious center was located in what are now the northeastern suburbs of Cairo 27 It was largely destroyed by the Persian invasions in 525 BC and 343 BC and partly abandoned by the late first century BC 25 However the origins of modern Cairo are generally traced back to a series of settlements in the first millennium AD Around the turn of the fourth century 28 as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance 29 the Romans established a large fortress along the east bank of the Nile The fortress called Babylon was built by the Roman emperor Diocletian r 285 305 at the entrance of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea that was created earlier by emperor Trajan r 98 115 b 30 Further north of the fortress near the present day district of al Azbakiya was a port and fortified outpost known as Tendunyas Coptic ϯⲁⲛⲧⲱⲛⲓⲁⲥ 31 or Umm Dunayn 32 33 34 While no structures older than the 7th century have been preserved in the area aside from the Roman fortifications historical evidence suggests that a sizeable city existed The city was important enough that its bishop Cyrus participated in the Second Council of Ephesus in 449 35 The Byzantine Sassanian War between 602 and 628 caused great hardship and likely caused much of the urban population to leave for the countryside leaving the settlement partly deserted 33 The site today remains at the nucleus of the Coptic Orthodox community which separated from the Roman and Byzantine churches in the late 4th century Cairo s oldest extant churches such as the Church of Saint Barbara and the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus from the late 7th or early 8th century are located inside the fortress walls in what is now known as Old Cairo or Coptic Cairo 36 Fustat and other early Islamic settlements Edit Excavated ruins of Fustat 2004 photo The Muslim conquest of Byzantine Egypt was led by Amr ibn al As from 639 to 642 Babylon Fortress was besieged in September 640 and fell in April 641 In 641 or early 642 after the surrender of Alexandria the Egyptian capital at the time he founded a new settlement next to Babylon Fortress 37 38 The city known as Fustat Arabic الفسطاط romanized al Fusṭaṭ lit the tent served as a garrison town and as the new administrative capital of Egypt Historians such as Janet Abu Lughod and Andre Raymond trace the genesis of present day Cairo to the foundation of Fustat 39 40 The choice of founding a new settlement at this inland location instead of using the existing capital of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast may have been due to the new conquerors strategic priorities One of the first projects of the new Muslim administration was to clear and re open Trajan s ancient canal in order to ship grain more directly from Egypt to Medina the capital of the caliphate in Arabia 41 42 43 44 Ibn al As also founded a mosque for the city at the same time now known as the Mosque of Amr Ibn al As the oldest mosque in Egypt and Africa although the current structure dates from later expansions 26 45 46 47 In 750 following the overthrow of the Umayyad caliphate by the Abbasids the new rulers created their own settlement to the northeast of Fustat which became the new provincial capital This was known as al Askar Arabic العسكر lit the camp as it was laid out like a military camp A governor s residence and a new mosque were also added with the latter completed in 786 48 In 861 on the orders of the Abbasid caliph al Mutawakkil a Nilometer was built on Roda Island near Fustat Although it was repaired and given a new roof in later centuries its basic structure is still preserved today making it the oldest preserved Islamic era structure in Cairo today 49 50 The Mosque of Ibn Tulun built by Ahmad Ibn Tulun in 876 879 AD In 868 a commander of Turkic origin named Bakbak was sent to Egypt by the Abbasid caliph al Mu taz to restore order after a rebellion in the country He was accompanied by his stepson Ahmad ibn Tulun who became effective governor of Egypt Over time Ibn Tulun gained an army and accumulated influence and wealth allowing him to become the de facto independent ruler of both Egypt and Syria by 878 51 52 53 In 870 he used his growing wealth to found a new administrative capital al Qata i Arabic القطائـع lit the allotments to the northeast of Fustat and of al Askar 53 54 The new city included a palace known as the Dar al Imara a parade ground known as al Maydan a bimaristan hospital and an aqueduct to supply water Between 876 and 879 Ibn Tulun built a great mosque now known as the Mosque of Ibn Tulun at the center of the city next to the palace 52 54 After his death in 884 Ibn Tulun was succeeded by his son and his descendants who continued a short lived dynasty the Tulunids In 905 the Abbasids sent general Muhammad Sulayman al Katib to re assert direct control over the country Tulunid rule was ended and al Qatta i was razed to the ground except for the mosque which remains standing today 55 56 Foundation and expansion of Cairo Edit Further information Egypt in the Middle Ages A plan of Cairo before 1200 AD as reconstructed by Stanley Lane Poole 1906 showing the location of Fatimid structures Saladin s Citadel and earlier sites Fustat not shown In 969 the Shi a Isma ili Fatimid empire conquered Egypt after ruling from Ifriqiya The Fatimid general Jawhar Al Saqili founded a new fortified city northeast of Fustat and of former al Qata i It took four years to build the city initially known as al Manṣuriyyah 57 which was to serve as the new capital of the caliphate During that time the construction of the al Azhar Mosque was commissioned by order of the caliph which developed into the third oldest university in the world Cairo would eventually become a centre of learning with the library of Cairo containing hundreds of thousands of books 58 When Caliph al Mu izz li Din Allah arrived from the old Fatimid capital of Mahdia in Tunisia in 973 he gave the city its present name Qahirat al Mu izz The Vanquisher of al Mu izz 57 from which the name Cairo al Qahira originates The caliphs lived in a vast and lavish palace complex that occupied the heart of the city Cairo remained a relatively exclusive royal city for most of this era but during the tenure of Badr al Gamali as vizier 1073 1094 the restrictions were loosened for the first time and richer families from Fustat were allowed to move into the city 59 Between 1087 and 1092 Badr al Gamali also rebuilt the city walls in stone and constructed the city gates of Bab al Futuh Bab al Nasr and Bab Zuweila that still stand today 60 During the Fatimid period Fustat reached its apogee in size and prosperity acting as a center of craftsmanship and international trade and as the area s main port on the Nile 61 Historical sources report that multi story communal residences existed in the city particularly in its center which were typically inhabited by middle and lower class residents Some of these were as high as seven stories and could house some 200 to 350 people 62 They may have been similar to Roman insulae and may have been the prototypes for the rental apartment complexes which became common in the later Mamluk and Ottoman periods 62 However in 1168 the Fatimid vizier Shawar set fire to unfortified Fustat to prevent its potential capture by Amalric the Crusader king of Jerusalem While the fire did not destroy the city and it continued to exist afterward it did mark the beginning of its decline Over the following centuries it was Cairo the former palace city that became the new economic center and attracted migration from Fustat 63 64 The Cairo Citadel seen above in the late 19th century was begun by Saladin in 1176 While the Crusaders did not capture the city in 1168 a continuing power struggle between Shawar King Amalric and the Zengid general Shirkuh led to the downfall of the Fatimid establishment 65 In 1169 Shirkuh s nephew Saladin was appointed as the new vizier of Egypt by the Fatimids and two years later he seized power from the family of the last Fatimid caliph al Aḍid 66 As the first Sultan of Egypt Saladin established the Ayyubid dynasty based in Cairo and aligned Egypt with the Sunni Abbasids who were based in Baghdad 67 In 1176 Saladin began construction on the Cairo Citadel which was to serve as the seat of the Egyptian government until the mid 19th century The construction of the Citadel definitively ended Fatimid built Cairo s status as an exclusive palace city and opened it up to common Egyptians and to foreign merchants spurring its commercial development 68 Along with the Citadel Saladin also began the construction of a new 20 kilometre long wall that would protect both Cairo and Fustat on their eastern side and connect them with the new Citadel These construction projects continued beyond Saladin s lifetime and were completed under his Ayyubid successors 69 Apogee and decline under the Mamluks Edit Mausoleum Madrasa Hospital complex of Sultan Qalawun built in 1284 1285 in the center of Cairo over the remains of a Fatimid palace In 1250 during the Seventh Crusade the Ayyubid dynasty had a crisis with the death of al Salih and power transitioned instead to the Mamluks partly with the help of al Salih s wife Shajar ad Durr who ruled for a brief period around this time 70 71 Mamluks were soldiers who were purchased as young slaves and raised to serve in the sultan s army Between 1250 and 1517 the throne of the Mamluk Sultanate passed from one mamluk to another in a system of succession that was generally non hereditary but also frequently violent and chaotic 72 73 The Mamluk Empire nonetheless became a major power in the region and was responsible for repelling the advance of the Mongols most famously at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 and for eliminating the last Crusader states in the Levant 74 Despite their military character the Mamluks were also prolific builders and left a rich architectural legacy throughout Cairo 75 Continuing a practice started by the Ayyubids much of the land occupied by former Fatimid palaces was sold and replaced by newer buildings becoming a prestigious site for the construction of Mamluk religious and funerary complexes 76 Construction projects initiated by the Mamluks pushed the city outward while also bringing new infrastructure to the centre of the city 77 Meanwhile Cairo flourished as a centre of Islamic scholarship and a crossroads on the spice trade route among the civilisations in Afro Eurasia 78 Under the reign of the Mamluk sultan al Nasir Muhammad 1293 1341 with interregnums Cairo reached its apogee in terms of population and wealth 79 By 1340 Cairo had a population of close to half a million making it the largest city west of China 78 Multi story buildings occupied by rental apartments known as a rab plural riba or urbu became common in the Mamluk period and continued to be a feature of the city s housing during the later Ottoman period 80 81 These apartments were often laid out as multi story duplexes or triplexes They were sometimes attached to caravanserais where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were rented out to tenants The oldest partially preserved example of this type of structure is the Wikala of Amir Qawsun built before 1341 80 81 Residential buildings were in turn organized into close knit neighbourhoods called a harat which in many cases had gates that could be closed off at night or during disturbances 81 Funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay built in 1470 1474 in the Northern Cemetery seen in lithograph from 1848 When the traveller Ibn Battuta first came to Cairo in 1326 he described it as the principal district of Egypt 82 When he passed through the area again on his return journey in 1348 the Black Death was ravaging most major cities He cited reports of thousands of deaths per day in Cairo 83 84 Although Cairo avoided Europe s stagnation during the Late Middle Ages it could not escape the Black Death which struck the city more than fifty times between 1348 and 1517 85 During its initial and most deadly waves approximately 200 000 people were killed by the plague 86 and by the 15th century Cairo s population had been reduced to between 150 000 and 300 000 87 The population decline was accompanied by a period of political instability between 1348 and 1412 It was nonetheless in this period that the largest Mamluk era religious monument the Madrasa Mosque of Sultan Hasan was built 88 In the late 14th century the Burji Mamluks replaced the Bahri Mamluks as rulers of the Mamluk state but the Mamluk system continued to decline 89 Though the plagues returned frequently throughout the 15th century Cairo remained a major metropolis and its population recovered in part through rural migration 89 More conscious efforts were conducted by rulers and city officials to redress the city s infrastructure and cleanliness Its economy and politics also became more deeply connected with the wider Mediterranean 89 Some Mamluk sultans in this period such as Barbsay r 1422 1438 and Qaytbay r 1468 1496 had relatively long and successful reigns 90 After al Nasir Muhammad Qaytbay was one of the most prolific patrons of art and architecture of the Mamluk era He built or restored numerous monuments in Cairo in addition to commissioning projects beyond Egypt 91 92 The crisis of Mamluk power and of Cairo s economic role deepened after Qaytbay The city s status was diminished after Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route around the Cape of Good Hope between 1497 and 1499 thereby allowing spice traders to avoid Cairo 78 Ottoman rule Edit Further information History of Ottoman Egypt See also Muhammad Ali s seizure of power Map of Cairo in 1809 from the Description de l Egypte Cairo s political influence diminished significantly after the Ottomans defeated Sultan al Ghuri in the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516 and conquered Egypt in 1517 Ruling from Constantinople Sultan Selim I relegated Egypt to a province with Cairo as its capital 93 For this reason the history of Cairo during Ottoman times is often described as inconsequential especially in comparison to other time periods 78 94 95 During the 16th and 17th centuries Cairo still remained an important economic and cultural centre Although no longer on the spice route the city facilitated the transportation of Yemeni coffee and Indian textiles primarily to Anatolia North Africa and the Balkans Cairene merchants were instrumental in bringing goods to the barren Hejaz especially during the annual hajj to Mecca 94 96 It was during this same period that al Azhar University reached the predominance among Islamic schools that it continues to hold today 97 98 pilgrims on their way to hajj often attested to the superiority of the institution which had become associated with Egypt s body of Islamic scholars 99 The first printing press of the Middle East printing in Hebrew was established in Cairo c 1557 by a scion of the Soncino family of printers Italian Jews of Ashkenazi origin who operated a press in Constantinople The existence of the press is known solely from two fragments discovered in the Cairo Genizah 100 Louis Comfort Tiffany 1848 1933 On the Way Between Old and New Cairo Citadel Mosque of Mohammed Ali and Tombs of the Mamelukes 1872 Oil on canvas Brooklyn Museum Under the Ottomans Cairo expanded south and west from its nucleus around the Citadel 101 The city was the second largest in the empire behind Constantinople and although migration was not the primary source of Cairo s growth twenty percent of its population at the end of the 18th century consisted of religious minorities and foreigners from around the Mediterranean 102 Still when Napoleon arrived in Cairo in 1798 the city s population was less than 300 000 forty percent lower than it was at the height of Mamluk and Cairene influence in the mid 14th century 78 102 The French occupation was short lived as British and Ottoman forces including a sizeable Albanian contingent recaptured the country in 1801 Cairo itself was besieged by a British and Ottoman force culminating with the French surrender on 22 June 1801 103 The British vacated Egypt two years later leaving the Ottomans the Albanians and the long weakened Mamluks jostling for control of the country 104 105 Continued civil war allowed an Albanian named Muhammad Ali Pasha to ascend to the role of commander and eventually with the approval of the religious establishment viceroy of Egypt in 1805 106 Modern era Edit Further information History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty and History of modern Egypt Historical populationYearPop 19502 493 514 19603 680 160 47 6 19705 584 507 51 7 19807 348 778 31 6 19909 892 143 34 6 200013 625 565 37 7 201016 899 015 24 0 201920 484 965 21 2 For Cairo agglomeration 107 Qasr El Nil Bridge Aerial view in 1904 from a balloon of the central eastern edge of Cairo showing the early development of Gezira Zamalek Island center left and Downtown lower right as well as Bulaq upper right A panoramic view of Cairo 1950s Until his death in 1848 Muhammad Ali Pasha instituted a number of social and economic reforms that earned him the title of founder of modern Egypt 108 109 However while Muhammad Ali initiated the construction of public buildings in the city 110 those reforms had minimal effect on Cairo s landscape 111 Bigger changes came to Cairo under Isma il Pasha r 1863 1879 who continued the modernisation processes started by his grandfather 112 Drawing inspiration from Paris Isma il envisioned a city of maidans and wide avenues due to financial constraints only some of them in the area now composing Downtown Cairo came to fruition 113 Isma il also sought to modernize the city which was merging with neighbouring settlements by establishing a public works ministry bringing gas and lighting to the city and opening a theatre and opera house 114 115 The immense debt resulting from Isma il s projects provided a pretext for increasing European control which culminated with the British invasion in 1882 78 The city s economic centre quickly moved west toward the Nile away from the historic Islamic Cairo section and toward the contemporary European style areas built by Isma il 116 117 Europeans accounted for five percent of Cairo s population at the end of the 19th century by which point they held most top governmental positions 118 In 1906 the Heliopolis Oasis Company headed by the Belgian industrialist Edouard Empain and his Egyptian counterpart Boghos Nubar built a suburb called Heliopolis city of the sun in Greek ten kilometers from the center of Cairo 119 120 In 1905 1907 the northern part of the Gezira island was developed by the Baehler Company into Zamalek which would later become Cairo s upscale chic neighbourhood 121 In 1906 construction began on Garden City a neighbourhood of urban villas with gardens and curved streets 121 The British occupation was intended to be temporary but it lasted well into the 20th century Nationalists staged large scale demonstrations in Cairo in 1919 78 five years after Egypt had been declared a British protectorate 122 Nevertheless this led to Egypt s independence in 1922 1924 Cairo Quran Edit The King Fuad I Edition of the Qur an 123 was first published on 10 July 1924 in Cairo under the patronage of King Fuad 124 125 The goal of the government of the newly formed Kingdom of Egypt was not to delegitimize the other variant Quranic texts qira at but to eliminate errors found in Qur anic texts used in state schools A committee of teachers chose to preserve a single one of the canonical qira at readings namely that of the Ḥafṣ version 126 an 8th century Kufic recitation This edition has become the standard for modern printings of the Quran 127 128 for much of the Islamic world 129 The publication has been called a terrific success and the edition has been described as one now widely seen as the official text of the Qur an so popular among both Sunni and Shi a that the common belief among less well informed Muslims is that the Qur an has a single unambiguous reading Minor amendments were made later in 1924 and in 1936 the Faruq edition in honour of then ruler King Faruq 130 British occupation until 1956 Edit Everyday life in Cairo 1950s British troops remained in the country until 1956 During this time urban Cairo spurred by new bridges and transport links continued to expand to include the upscale neighbourhoods of Garden City Zamalek and Heliopolis 131 Between 1882 and 1937 the population of Cairo more than tripled from 347 000 to 1 3 million 132 and its area increased from 10 to 163 km2 4 to 63 sq mi 133 The city was devastated during the 1952 riots known as the Cairo Fire or Black Saturday which saw the destruction of nearly 700 shops movie theatres casinos and hotels in downtown Cairo 134 The British departed Cairo following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 but the city s rapid growth showed no signs of abating Seeking to accommodate the increasing population President Gamal Abdel Nasser redeveloped Tahrir Square and the Nile Corniche and improved the city s network of bridges and highways 135 Meanwhile additional controls of the Nile fostered development within Gezira Island and along the city s waterfront The metropolis began to encroach on the fertile Nile Delta prompting the government to build desert satellite towns and devise incentives for city dwellers to move to them 136 After 1956 Edit In the second half of the 20th century Cairo continue to grow enormously in both population and area Between 1947 and 2006 the population of Greater Cairo went from 2 986 280 to 16 292 269 137 The population explosion also drove the rise of informal housing ashwa iyyat meaning housing that was built without any official planning or control 138 The exact form of this type of housing varies considerably but usually has a much higher population density than formal housing By 2009 over 63 of the population of Greater Cairo lived in informal neighbourhoods even though these occupied only 17 of the total area of Greater Cairo 139 According to economist David Sims informal housing has the benefits of providing affordable accommodation and vibrant communities to huge numbers of Cairo s working classes but it also suffers from government neglect a relative lack of services and overcrowding 140 The formal city was also expanded The most notable example was the creation of Madinat Nasr a huge government sponsored expansion of the city to the east which officially began in 1959 but was primarily developed in the mid 1970s 141 Starting in 1977 the Egyptian government established the New Urban Communities Authority to initiate and direct the development of new planned cities on the outskirts of Cairo generally established on desert land 142 143 144 These new satellite cities were intended to provide housing investment and employment opportunities for the region s growing population as well as to pre empt the further growth of informal neighbourhoods 142 As of 2014 about 10 of the population of Greater Cairo lived in the new cities 142 Concurrently Cairo established itself as a political and economic hub for North Africa and the Arab world with many multinational businesses and organisations including the Arab League operating out of the city In 1979 the historic districts of Cairo were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site 10 In 1992 Cairo was hit by an earthquake causing 545 deaths injuring 6 512 and leaving around 50 000 people homeless 145 2011 Egyptian revolution Edit Main article Egyptian revolution of 2011 A protester holding an Egyptian flag during the protests that started on 25 January 2011 Cairo s Tahrir Square was the focal point of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution against former president Hosni Mubarak 146 Over 2 million protesters were at Cairo s Tahrir square More than 50 000 protesters first occupied the square on 25 January during which the area s wireless services were reported to be impaired 147 In the following days Tahrir Square continued to be the primary destination for protests in Cairo 148 as it took place following a popular uprising that began on Tuesday 25 January 2011 and continued until June 2013 The uprising was mainly a campaign of non violent civil resistance which featured a series of demonstrations marches acts of civil disobedience and labour strikes Millions of protesters from a variety of socio economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Despite being predominantly peaceful in nature the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters with at least 846 people killed and 6 000 injured The uprising took place in Cairo Alexandria and in other cities in Egypt following the Tunisian revolution that resulted in the overthrow of the long time Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 149 On 11 February following weeks of determined popular protest and pressure Hosni Mubarak resigned from office Post revolutionary Cairo Edit Under the rule of President el Sisi in March 2015 plans were announced for another yet unnamed planned city to be built further east of the existing satellite city of New Cairo intended to serve as the new capital of Egypt 150 Geography Edit The river Nile flows through Cairo here contrasting ancient customs of daily life with the modern city of today Aerial view looking south with the Zamalek and Gezira districts on Gezira Island surrounded by the Nile Cairo seen from Spot Satellite Cairo is located in northern Egypt known as Lower Egypt 165 km 100 mi south of the Mediterranean Sea and 120 km 75 mi west of the Gulf of Suez and Suez Canal 151 The city lies along the Nile River immediately south of the point where the river leaves its desert bound valley and branches into the low lying Nile Delta region Although the Cairo metropolis extends away from the Nile in all directions the city of Cairo resides only on the east bank of the river and two islands within it on a total area of 453 km2 175 sq mi 152 153 Geologically Cairo lies on alluvium and sand dunes which date from the quaternary period 154 155 Until the mid 19th century when the river was tamed by dams levees and other controls the Nile in the vicinity of Cairo was highly susceptible to changes in course and surface level Over the years the Nile gradually shifted westward providing the site between the eastern edge of the river and the Mokattam highlands on which the city now stands The land on which Cairo was established in 969 present day Islamic Cairo was located underwater just over three hundred years earlier when Fustat was first built 156 Low periods of the Nile during the 11th century continued to add to the landscape of Cairo a new island known as Geziret al Fil first appeared in 1174 but eventually became connected to the mainland Today the site of Geziret al Fil is occupied by the Shubra district The low periods created another island at the turn of the 14th century that now composes Zamalek and Gezira Land reclamation efforts by the Mamluks and Ottomans further contributed to expansion on the east bank of the river 157 Because of the Nile s movement the newer parts of the city Garden City Downtown Cairo and Zamalek are located closest to the riverbank 158 The areas which are home to most of Cairo s embassies are surrounded on the north east and south by the older parts of the city Old Cairo located south of the centre holds the remnants of Fustat and the heart of Egypt s Coptic Christian community Coptic Cairo The Boulaq district which lies in the northern part of the city was born out of a major 16th century port and is now a major industrial centre The Citadel is located east of the city centre around Islamic Cairo which dates back to the Fatimid era and the foundation of Cairo While western Cairo is dominated by wide boulevards open spaces and modern architecture of European influence the eastern half having grown haphazardly over the centuries is dominated by small lanes crowded tenements and Islamic architecture Northern and extreme eastern parts of Cairo which include satellite towns are among the most recent additions to the city as they developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries to accommodate the city s rapid growth The western bank of the Nile is commonly included within the urban area of Cairo but it composes the city of Giza and the Giza Governorate Giza city has also undergone significant expansion over recent years and today has a population of 2 7 million 153 The Cairo Governorate was just north of the Helwan Governorate from 2008 when some Cairo s southern districts including Maadi and New Cairo were split off and annexed into the new governorate 159 to 2011 when the Helwan Governorate was reincorporated into the Cairo Governorate A panorama of the Nile in central Cairo showing the west side of Gezira Island located in the middle of the Nile with the Cairo Tower in the middle the 6th October Bridge on the far left and El Galaa Bridge on the far right According to the World Health Organization the level of air pollution in Cairo is nearly 12 times higher than the recommended safety level 160 Climate Edit Cairo weather observations by French savants In Cairo and along the Nile River Valley the climate is a hot desert climate BWh according to the Koppen climate classification system 161 Wind storms can be frequent bringing Saharan dust into the city from March to May and the air often becomes uncomfortably dry High temperatures in winter range from 14 to 22 C 57 to 72 F while night time lows drop to below 11 C 52 F often to 5 C 41 F In summer the highs rarely surpass 40 C 104 F and lows drop to about 20 C 68 F Rainfall is sparse and only happens in the colder months but sudden showers can cause severe flooding The summer months have high humidity due to its coastal location Snowfall is extremely rare a small amount of graupel widely believed to be snow fell on Cairo s easternmost suburbs on 13 December 2013 the first time Cairo s area received this kind of precipitation in many decades 162 Dew points in the hottest months range from 13 9 C 57 F in June to 18 3 C 65 F in August 163 Climate data for CairoMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 31 0 87 8 34 2 93 6 37 9 100 2 43 2 109 8 47 8 118 0 46 4 115 5 42 6 108 7 43 4 110 1 43 7 110 7 41 0 105 8 37 4 99 3 30 2 86 4 47 8 118 0 Average high C F 18 9 66 0 20 4 68 7 23 5 74 3 28 3 82 9 32 0 89 6 33 9 93 0 34 7 94 5 34 2 93 6 32 6 90 7 29 2 84 6 24 8 76 6 20 3 68 5 27 7 81 9 Daily mean C F 14 0 57 2 15 1 59 2 17 6 63 7 21 5 70 7 24 9 76 8 27 0 80 6 28 4 83 1 28 2 82 8 26 6 79 9 23 3 73 9 19 5 67 1 15 4 59 7 21 8 71 2 Average low C F 9 0 48 2 9 7 49 5 11 6 52 9 14 6 58 3 17 7 63 9 20 1 68 2 22 0 71 6 22 1 71 8 20 5 68 9 17 4 63 3 14 1 57 4 10 4 50 7 15 8 60 4 Record low C F 1 2 34 2 3 6 38 5 5 0 41 0 7 6 45 7 12 3 54 1 16 0 60 8 18 2 64 8 19 66 14 5 58 1 12 3 54 1 5 2 41 4 3 0 37 4 1 2 34 2 Average precipitation mm inches 5 0 0 20 3 8 0 15 3 8 0 15 1 1 0 04 0 5 0 02 0 1 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 03 3 8 0 15 5 9 0 23 24 7 0 97 Average precipitation days 0 01 mm 3 5 2 7 1 9 0 9 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 3 2 8 14 2Average relative humidity 59 54 53 47 46 49 58 61 60 60 61 61 56Mean monthly sunshine hours 213 234 269 291 324 357 363 351 311 292 248 198 3 451Percent possible sunshine 66 75 73 75 77 85 84 86 84 82 78 62 77Average ultraviolet index 4 5 7 9 10 11 5 11 5 11 9 7 5 3 7 8Source 1 World Meteorological Organization UN 1971 2000 164 and NOAA for mean record high and low and humidity 163 Source 2 Danish Meteorological Institute for sunshine 1931 1960 165 and Weather2Travel ultraviolet 166 Metropolitan area and districts EditSee also Greater Cairo and Cairo Governorate Cairo city administrative boundary and districts in English The city of Cairo forms part of Greater Cairo the largest metropolitan area in Africa 167 While it has no administrative body the Ministry of Planning considers it as an economic region consisting of Cairo Governorate Giza Governorate and Qalyubia Governorate 168 As a contiguous metropolitan area various studies have considered Greater Cairo be composed of the administrative cities that are Cairo Giza and Shubra al Kheima in addition to the satellite cities new towns surrounding them 169 Cairo is a city state where the governor is also the head of the city Cairo City itself differs from other Egyptian cities in that it has an extra administrative division between the city and district levels and that is areas which are headed by deputy governors Cairo consists of 4 areas manatiq singl mantiqa divided into 38 districts ahya singl hayy and 46 qisms police wards 1 2 per district 170 The Northern Area is divided into 8 Districts 171 ShubraAl Zawiya al HamraHadayek al QubbaRod al FargAl SharabiaAl SahelAl ZeitounAl Amiriyya Map of Northern Area Cairo En The Eastern Area divided into 9 Districts and three new cities 172 Misr al Gadidah and Al Nozha Heliopolis Nasr City East and Nasr City West Al Salam 1 Awwal and al Salam 2 Than Ain Shams Al Matariya Al Marg Shorouk Under jurisdiction of NUCA Badr Under jurisdiction of NUCA Al Qahira al Gadida New Cairo three qisms under jurisdiction of NUCA Cairo Eastern Area map The Western Area divided into 9 Districts 173 Manshiyat Nasser Al Wayli Incl qism al Daher Wasat al Qahira Central Cairo incl Al Darb al Ahmar al Gamaliyya qisms Bulaq Gharb al Qahira West Cairo incl Zamalek qism Qasr al Nil qism incl Garden City and part of Down Town Abdeen Al Azbakiya Al Muski Bab al Sha aria Cairo Western Area map The Southern Area divided into 12 Districts 174 Masr El Qadima Old Cairo inlc Al Manial Al Khalifa Al Moqattam Al Basatin Dar al Salam Al Sayeda Zeinab Al Tebin Helwan Al Ma sara Al Maadi Tora 15th of May Under jurisdiction of NUCA Cairo Southern Area map Satellite cities Edit See also Greater Cairo Since 1977 a number of new towns have been planned and built by the New Urban Communities Authority NUCA in the Eastern Desert around Cairo ostensibly to accommodate additional population growth and development of the city and stem the development of self built informal areas especially over agricultural land As of 2022 four new towns have been built and have residential populations 15th of May City Badr City Shorouk City and New Cairo In addition two more are under construction the New Administrative Capital 175 176 177 And Capital Gardens where land was allocated in 2021 and which will house most of the civil servants employed in the new capital 178 Planned new capital Edit Main article New Administrative Capital In March 2015 plans were announced for a new city to be built east of Cairo in an undeveloped area of the Cairo Governorate 179 which would serve as the New Administrative Capital of Egypt Demographics EditAccording to the 2017 census Cairo had a population of 9 539 673 people distributed across 46 qisms police wards 180 181 Qism Code 2017 Total Population Male FemaleTibbin al 010100 72040 36349 35691Ḥulwan 010200 521239 265347 255892Ma ṣara al 010300 270032 137501 13253115 May Mayu 010400 93574 49437 44137Ṭura 010500 230438 168152 62286Ma adi al 010600 88575 43972 44603Basatin al 010700 495443 260756 234687Dar al Salam 010800 525638 273603 252035Miṣr al qadima 010900 250313 129582 120731Sayyida Zaynab al 011000 136278 68571 67707Khalifa al 011100 105235 54150 51085Mukaṭṭam 011200 224138 116011 108127Minsha at Naṣir 011300 258372 133864 124508Darb al Aḥmar al 011400 58489 30307 28182Muski al 011500 16662 8216 8446 Abdin 011600 40321 19352 20969Qaṣr al Nil 011700 10563 4951 5612Zamalik al 011800 14946 7396 7550Bulaq 011900 48147 24105 24042Azbakiyya al 012000 19763 9766 9997Bab al Sha riyya 012100 46673 24261 22412Jamaliyya al 012200 36368 18487 17881Ẓahir al 012300 71870 35956 35914Wayli al 012400 79292 39407 39885Ḥada iq al Qubba 012500 316072 161269 154803Sharabiyya al 012600 187201 94942 92259Shubra 012700 76695 38347 38348Rawd al Faraj 012800 145632 72859 72773Saḥil al 012900 316421 162063 154358Zawiya al Ḥamra al 013000 318170 162304 155866Amiriyya al 013100 152554 77355 75199Zaytun al 013200 174176 87235 86941Maṭariyya al 013300 602485 312407 290078 Ayn Shams Ain Shams 013400 614391 315394 298997Marj al 013500 798646 412476 386170Salam 1 al 013600 480721 249639 231082Salam 2 al 013700 153772 80492 73280Nuzha al 013800 231241 117910 113331Miṣr al jadida 013900 134116 68327 65789Madinat Naṣr 1 014000 634818 332117 302701Madinat Naṣr 2 014100 72182 38374 33808Qahira al Jadida 1 al 014200 135834 70765 65069Qahira al jadida 2 al 014300 90668 46102 44566Qahira al jadida 3 al 014400 70885 37340 33545Shuruq al 014500 87285 45960 41325Madinat Badr 014600 31299 17449 13850Infrastructure EditThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Cairo news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Health Edit See also List of hospitals in Egypt Cairo as well as neighbouring Giza has been established as Egypt s main centre for medical treatment and despite some exceptions has the most advanced level of medical care in the country Cairo s hospitals include the JCI accredited As Salaam International Hospital Corniche El Nile Maadi Egypt s largest private hospital with 350 beds Ain Shams University Hospital Dar Al Fouad Nile Badrawi Hospital 57357 Hospital as well as Qasr El Eyni Hospital Education Edit Greater Cairo has long been the hub of education and educational services for Egypt and the region Today Greater Cairo is the centre for many government offices governing the Egyptian educational system has the largest number of educational schools and higher education institutes among other cities and governorates of Egypt Some of the International Schools found in Cairo Further information List of schools in Egypt Faculty of Engineering Ain Shams University Faculty of Pharmacy Ain Shams University Cairo University is the largest university in Egypt and is located in Giza Library building at the new campus of the American University of Cairo in New Cairo Universities in Greater Cairo University Date of FoundationAl Azhar University 970 972Cairo University 1908American University in Cairo 1919Ain Shams University 1950Arab Academy for Science amp Technology and Maritime Transport 1972Helwan University 1975Sadat Academy for Management Sciences 1981Higher Technological Institute 1989Modern Academy In Maadi 1993Malvern College Egypt 2006Misr International University 1996Misr University for Science and Technology 1996Modern Sciences and Arts University 1996Universite Francaise d Egypte 2002German University in Cairo 2003Arab Open University 2003Canadian International College 2004British University in Egypt 2005Ahram Canadian University 2005Nile University 2006Future University in Egypt 2006Egyptian Russian University 2006Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development 2009New Giza University 2016Transport EditMain article Transport in Cairo Cairo Metro LRT BRT and monorail expansion plans The interior of Ramses Station 6th October Bridge in Cairo Cairo has an extensive road network rail system subway system and maritime services Road transport is facilitated by personal vehicles taxi cabs privately owned public buses and Cairo microbuses Cairo specifically Ramses Station is the centre of almost the entire Egyptian transportation network 182 The subway system officially called Metro مترو is a fast and efficient way of getting around Cairo Metro network covers Helwan and other suburbs It can get very crowded during rush hour Two train cars the fourth and fifth ones are reserved for women only although women may ride in any car they want Trams in Greater Cairo and Cairo trolleybus were used as modes of transportation but were closed in the 1970s everywhere except Heliopolis and Helwan These were shut down in 2014 after the Egyptian Revolution 183 An extensive road network connects Cairo with other Egyptian cities and villages There is a new Ring Road that surrounds the outskirts of the city with exits that reach outer Cairo districts There are flyovers and bridges such as the 6th October Bridge that when the traffic is not heavy allow fast 182 means of transportation from one side of the city to the other Cairo traffic is known to be overwhelming and overcrowded 184 Traffic moves at a relatively fluid pace Drivers tend to be aggressive but are more courteous at junctions taking turns going with police aiding in traffic control of some congested areas 182 In 2017 plans to construct two monorail systems were announced one linking 6th of October to suburban Giza a distance of 35 km 22 mi and the other linking Nasr City to New Cairo a distance of 52 km 32 mi 185 186 Other forms of transport Edit Facade of Terminal 3 at Cairo International Airport Departures area of Cairo International Airport s Terminal 1 Cairo International Airport Ramses Railway Station Cairo Transportation Authority CTA Cairo Taxi Yellow Cab Cairo Metro Cairo Nile Ferry Careem Uber DiDi 187 Sports EditThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Cairo news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Cairo International Stadium with 75 100 seats Football is the most popular sport in Egypt 188 and Cairo has a number of sporting teams that compete in national and regional leagues most notably Al Ahly and Zamalek SC who are the CAF first and second African clubs of the 20th century The annual match between Al Ahly and El Zamalek is one of the most watched sports events in Egypt as well as the African Arab region The teams form the major rivalry of Egyptian football and are the first and the second champions in Africa and the Arab world They play their home games at Cairo International Stadium or Naser Stadium which is the second largest stadium in Egypt as well as the largest in Cairo and one of the largest stadiums in the world The Cairo International Stadium was built in 1960 and its multi purpose sports complex that houses the main football stadium an indoor stadium several satellite fields that held several regional continental and global games including the African Games U17 Football World Championship and were one of the stadiums scheduled that hosted the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations which was played in January 2006 Egypt later won the competition and went on to win the next edition in Ghana 2008 making the Egyptian and Ghanaian national teams the only teams to win the African Nations Cup Back to back which resulted in Egypt winning the title for a record number of six times in the history of African Continental Competition This was followed by a third consecutive win in Angola in 2010 making Egypt the only country with a record 3 consecutive and 7 total Continental Football Competition winner This achievement also placed the Egyptian football team as the 9 best team in the world s FIFA rankings As of 2021 Egypt s national team is ranked 46 in the world by FIFA 189 Cairo failed at the applicant stage when bidding for the 2008 Summer Olympics which was hosted in Beijing China 190 However Cairo did host the 2007 Pan Arab Games 191 There are several other sports teams in the city that participate in several sports including Gezira Sporting Club el Shams Club el Seid Club Heliopolis Sporting Club and several smaller clubs but the biggest clubs in Egypt not in the area but in sports are Al Ahly and Zamalek They have the two biggest football teams in Egypt There are new sports clubs in the area of New Cairo one hour far from Cairo s downtown these are Al Zohour sporting club Wadi Degla sporting club and Platinum Club 192 Most of the sports federations of the country are also located in the city suburbs including the Egyptian Football Association 193 The headquarters of the Confederation of African Football CAF was previously located in Cairo before relocating to its new headquarters in 6 October City a small city away from Cairo s crowded districts In October 2008 the Egyptian Rugby Federation was officially formed and granted membership into the International Rugby Board 194 Egypt is internationally known for the excellence of its squash players who excel in professional and junior divisions 195 Egypt has seven players in the top ten of the PSA men s world rankings and three in the women s top ten Mohamed El Shorbagy held the world number one position for more than a year before being overtaken by compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad who is number two behind Gregory Gaultier of France Ramy Ashour and Amr Shabana are regarded as two of the most talented squash players in history Shabana won the World Open title four times and Ashour twice although his recent form has been hampered by injury Egypt s Nour El Sherbini has won the Women s World Championship twice and has been women s world number one for 16 consecutive months On 30 April 2016 she became the youngest woman to win the Women s World Championship which was held in Malaysia In April 2017 she retained her title by winning the Women s World Championship which was held in the Egyptian resort of El Gouna Cairo is the official end point of Cross Egypt Challenge where its route ends yearly in the most sacred place in Egypt under the Great Pyramids of Giza with a huge trophy giving ceremony 196 Culture EditThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Cairo news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Cairo Opera House at the National Cultural Center Zamalek district Khedivial Opera House 1869 Cultural tourism in Egypt Edit Main article Cultural tourism in Egypt Cairo Opera House Edit Main article Cairo Opera House President Mubarak inaugurated the new Cairo Opera House of the Egyptian National Cultural Centres on 10 October 1988 17 years after the Royal Opera House had been destroyed by fire The National Cultural Centre was built with the help of JICA the Japan International Co operation Agency and stands as a prominent feature for the Japanese Egyptian co operation and the friendship between the two nations Khedivial Opera House Edit Main article Khedivial Opera House The Khedivial Opera House or Royal Opera House was the original opera house in Cairo It was dedicated on 1 November 1869 and burned down on 28 October 1971 After the original opera house was destroyed Cairo was without an opera house for nearly two decades until the opening of the new Cairo Opera House in 1988 Cairo International Film Festival Edit Main article Cairo International Film Festival Cairo held its first international film festival 16 August 1976 when the first Cairo International Film Festival was launched by the Egyptian Association of Film Writers and Critics headed by Kamal El Mallakh The Association ran the festival for seven years until 1983 This achievement lead to the President of the Festival again contacting the FIAPF with the request that a competition should be included at the 1991 Festival The request was granted In 1998 the Festival took place under the presidency of one of Egypt s leading actors Hussein Fahmy who was appointed by the Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni after the death of Saad El Din Wahba Four years later the journalist and writer Cherif El Shoubashy became president Cairo Geniza Edit Main article Cairo Geniza Solomon Schechter studying documents from the Cairo Geniza c 1895 The Cairo Geniza is an accumulation of almost 200 000 Jewish manuscripts that were found in the genizah of the Ben Ezra synagogue built 882 of Fustat Egypt now Old Cairo the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo and a number of old documents that were bought in Cairo in the later 19th century These documents were written from about 870 to 1880 AD and have been archived in various American and European libraries The Taylor Schechter collection in the University of Cambridge runs to 140 000 manuscripts a further 40 000 manuscripts are housed at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America Food Edit The majority of Cairenes make food for themselves and make use of local produce markets 197 The restaurant scene includes Arab cuisine and Middle Eastern cuisine including local staples such as koshary The city s most exclusive restaurants are typically concentrated in Zamalek and around the luxury hotels lining the shore of the Nile near the Garden City district Influence from modern western society is also evident with American chains such as McDonald s Arby s Pizza Hut Subway and Kentucky Fried Chicken being easy to find in central areas 197 Places of worship EditSee also List of mosques in Cairo Among the places of worship they are predominantly Muslim mosques 198 There are also Christian churches and temples Coptic Orthodox Church Coptic Catholic Church Catholic Church Evangelical Church of Egypt Synod of the Nile World Communion of Reformed Churches Economy Edit Statue of Talaat Pasha Harb the father of the modern Egyptian economy in Downtown Cairo The NBE towers as viewed from the Nile source source source source source source source source source source source source source source Informal economy in Cairo Cairo s economy has traditionally been based on governmental institutions and services with the modern productive sector expanding in the 20th century to include developments in textiles and food processing specifically the production of sugar cane As of 2005 Egypt has the largest non oil based GDP in the Arab world 199 Cairo accounts for 11 of Egypt s population and 22 of its economy PPP The majority of the nation s commerce is generated there or passes through the city The great majority of publishing houses and media outlets and nearly all film studios are there as are half of the nation s hospital beds and universities This has fuelled rapid construction in the city with one building in five being less than 15 years old 199 This growth until recently surged well ahead of city services Homes roads electricity telephone and sewer services were all in short supply Analysts trying to grasp the magnitude of the change coined terms like hyper urbanization 199 Automobile manufacturers from Cairo Edit Arab American Vehicles Company 200 Egyptian Light Transport Manufacturing Company Egyptian NSU pedant Ghabbour Group 201 Fuso Hyundai and Volvo MCV Corporate Group 202 a part of the Daimler AG Mod Car 203 Seoudi Group 204 Modern Motors Nissan BMW formerly El Mashreq Alfa Romeo and Fiat Speranza 205 206 former Daewoo Motors Egypt Chery Daewoo General Motors EgyptCityscape and landmarks EditTahrir Square Edit Main article Tahrir Square View of Tahrir Square in 2020 Tahrir Square was founded during the mid 19th century with the establishment of modern downtown Cairo It was first named Ismailia Square after the 19th century ruler Khedive Ismail who commissioned the new downtown district s Paris on the Nile design After the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 the square became widely known as Tahrir Liberation Square though it was not officially renamed as such until after the 1952 Revolution which eliminated the monarchy Several notable buildings surround the square including the American University in Cairo s downtown campus the Mogamma governmental administrative Building the headquarters of the Arab League the Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel and the Egyptian Museum Being at the heart of Cairo the square witnessed several major protests over the years However the most notable event in the square was being the focal point of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution against former president Hosni Mubarak 207 In 2020 the government completed the erection of a new monument in the center of the square featuring an ancient obelisk from the reign of Ramses II originally unearthed at Tanis San al Hagar in 2019 and four ram headed sphinx statues moved from Karnak 208 209 210 Egyptian Museum Edit Main entrance of the Egyptian Museum located at Tahrir Square The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities known commonly as the Egyptian Museum is home to the most extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world It has 136 000 items on display with many more hundreds of thousands in its basement storerooms Among the collections on display are the finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun 211 Grand Egyptian Museum Edit Main article Grand Egyptian Museum Much of the collection of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities including the Tutankhamun collection are slated to be moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum under construction in Giza and was due to open by the end of 2020 212 213 Cairo Tower Edit Main article Cairo Tower Cairo Tower at night The Cairo Tower is a free standing tower with a revolving restaurant at the top It provides a bird s eye view of Cairo to the restaurant patrons It stands in the Zamalek district on Gezira Island in the Nile River in the city centre At 187 m 614 ft it is 44 m 144 ft higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza which stands some 15 km 9 mi to the southwest 214 Old Cairo Edit Main article Old Cairo The Hanging Church in Old Cairo This area of Cairo is so named as it contains the remains of the ancient Roman fortress of Babylon and also overlaps the original site of Fustat the first Arab settlement in Egypt 7th century AD and the predecessor of later Cairo The area includes the Coptic Cairo which holds a high concentration of old Christian churches such as the Hanging Church the Greek Orthodox Church of St George and other Christian or Coptic buildings most of which are located over the site of the ancient Roman fortress It is also the location of the Coptic Museum which showcases the history of Coptic art from Greco Roman to Islamic times and of the Ben Ezra Synagogue the oldest and best known synagogue in Cairo where the important collection of Geniza documents were discovered in the 19th century 215 To the north of this Coptic enclave is the Amr ibn al As Mosque the first mosque in Egypt and the most important religious centre of what was formerly Fustat founded in 642 AD right after the Arab conquest but rebuilt many times since 216 Islamic Cairo Edit Main article Islamic Cairo Al Azhar Mosque view of Fatimid era courtyard and Mamluk minarets Al Muizz Street in Islamic Cairo Mosque Madrasa of Sultan Hassan and the al Rifa i Mosque seen from the Citadel Cairo holds one of the greatest concentrations of historical monuments of Islamic architecture in the world 217 The areas around the old walled city and around the Citadel are characterized by hundreds of mosques tombs madrasas mansions caravanserais and fortifications dating from the Islamic era and are often referred to as Islamic Cairo especially in English travel literature 218 It is also the location of several important religious shrines such as the al Hussein Mosque whose shrine is believed to hold the head of Husayn ibn Ali the Mausoleum of Imam al Shafi i founder of the Shafi i madhhab one of the primary schools of thought in Sunni Islamic jurisprudence the Tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya the Mosque of Sayyida Nafisa and others 219 The first mosque in Egypt was the Mosque of Amr ibn al As in what was formerly Fustat the first Arab Muslim settlement in the area However the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is the oldest mosque that still retains its original form and is a rare example of Abbasid architecture from the classical period of Islamic civilization It was built in 876 879 AD in a style inspired by the Abbasid capital of Samarra in Iraq 220 It is one of the largest mosques in Cairo and is often cited as one of the most beautiful 221 222 Another Abbasid construction the Nilometer on Roda Island is the oldest original structure in Cairo built in 862 AD It was designed to measure the level of the Nile which was important for agricultural and administrative purposes 223 The settlement that was formally named Cairo Arabic al Qahira was founded to the northeast of Fustat in 959 AD by the victorious Fatimid army The Fatimids built it as a separate palatial city which contained their palaces and institutions of government It was enclosed by a circuit of walls which were rebuilt in stone in the late 11th century AD by the vizir Badr al Gamali 224 parts of which survive today at Bab Zuwayla in the south and Bab al Futuh and Bab al Nasr in the north Among the extant monuments from the Fatimid era are the large Mosque of al Hakim the Aqmar Mosque Juyushi Mosque Lulua Mosque and the Mosque of Al Salih Tala i 225 219 One of the most important and lasting institutions founded in the Fatimid period was the Mosque of al Azhar founded in 970 AD which competes with the Qarawiyyin in Fes for the title of oldest university in the world 226 Today al Azhar University is the foremost Center of Islamic learning in the world and one of Egypt s largest universities with campuses across the country 226 The mosque itself retains significant Fatimid elements but has been added to and expanded in subsequent centuries notably by the Mamluk sultans Qaytbay and al Ghuri and by Abd al Rahman Katkhuda in the 18th century 227 The most prominent architectural heritage of medieval Cairo however dates from the Mamluk period from 1250 to 1517 AD The Mamluk sultans and elites were eager patrons of religious and scholarly life commonly building religious or funerary complexes whose functions could include a mosque madrasa khanqah for Sufis a sabil water dispensary and a mausoleum for themselves and their families 75 Among the best known examples of Mamluk monuments in Cairo are the huge Mosque Madrasa of Sultan Hasan the Mosque of Amir al Maridani the Mosque of Sultan al Mu ayyad whose twin minarets were built above the gate of Bab Zuwayla the Sultan Al Ghuri complex the funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay in the Northern Cemetery and the trio of monuments in the Bayn al Qasrayn area comprising the complex of Sultan al Mansur Qalawun the Madrasa of al Nasir Muhammad and the Madrasa of Sultan Barquq Some mosques include spolia often columns or capitals from earlier buildings built by the Romans Byzantines or Copts 217 The Mamluks and the later Ottomans also built wikalas or caravanserais to house merchants and goods due to the important role of trade and commerce in Cairo s economy 228 Still intact today is the Wikala al Ghuri which today hosts regular performances by the Al Tannoura Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe 229 The Khan al Khalili is a commercial hub which also integrated caravanserais also known as khans 230 Citadel of Cairo Edit Main article Cairo Citadel The Citadel of Cairo with the Mosque of Muhammad Ali The Citadel is a fortified enclosure begun by Salah al Din in 1176 AD on an outcrop of the Muqattam Hills as part of a large defensive system to protect both Cairo to the north and Fustat to the southwest 228 It was the centre of Egyptian government and residence of its rulers until 1874 when Khedive Isma il moved to Abdin Palace 231 It is still occupied by the military today but is now open as a tourist attraction comprising notably the National Military Museum the 14th century Mosque of al Nasir Muhammad and the 19th century Mosque of Muhammad Ali which commands a dominant position on Cairo s skyline 232 Khan el Khalili Edit Main article Khan el Khalili A medieval gateway in Khan al Khalili Khan el Khalili is an ancient bazaar or marketplace adjacent to the Al Hussein Mosque It dates back to 1385 when Amir Jarkas el Khalili built a large caravanserai or khan A caravanserai is a hotel for traders and usually the focal point for any surrounding area This original caravanserai building was demolished by Sultan al Ghuri who rebuilt it as a new commercial complex in the early 16th century forming the basis for the network of souqs existing today 233 Many medieval elements remain today including the ornate Mamluk style gateways 234 Today the Khan el Khalili is a major tourist attraction and popular stop for tour groups 235 Society EditIn the present day Cairo is heavily urbanized and most Cairenes live in apartment buildings Because of the influx of people into the city lone standing houses are rare and apartment buildings accommodate for the limited space and abundance of people Single detached houses are usually owned by the wealthy 236 Formal education is also seen as important with twelve years of standard formal education Cairenes can take a standardized test similar to the SAT to be accepted to an institution of higher learning but most children do not finish school and opt to pick up a trade to enter the work force 236 Egypt still struggles with poverty with almost half the population living on 2 or less a day 237 Women s rights Edit Main article Women in Egypt The civil rights movement for women in Cairo and by extent Egypt has been a struggle for years Women are reported to face constant discrimination sexual harassment and abuse throughout Cairo A 2013 UN study found that over 99 of Egyptian women reported experiencing sexual harassment at some point in their lives 238 The problem has persisted in spite of new national laws since 2014 defining and criminalizing sexual harassment 239 The situation is so severe that in 2017 Cairo was named by one poll as the most dangerous megacity for women in the world 240 In 2020 the social media account Assault Police began to name and shame perpetrators of violence against women in an effort to dissuade potential offenders 241 The account was founded by student Nadeen Ashraf who is credited for instigating an iteration of the MeToo movement in Egypt 242 Pollution Edit Smog in Cairo Traffic in Cairo The air pollution in Cairo is a matter of serious concern Greater Cairo s volatile aromatic hydrocarbon levels are higher than many other similar cities 243 Air quality measurements in Cairo have also been recording dangerous levels of lead carbon dioxide sulphur dioxide and suspended particulate matter concentrations due to decades of unregulated vehicle emissions urban industrial operations and chaff and trash burning There are over 4 500 000 cars on the streets of Cairo 60 of which are over 10 years old and therefore lack modern emission cutting features Cairo has a very poor dispersion factor because of its lack of rain and its layout of tall buildings and narrow streets which create a bowl effect 244 In recent years a black cloud as Egyptians refer to it of smog has appeared over Cairo every autumn due to temperature inversion Smog causes serious respiratory diseases and eye irritations for the city s citizens Tourists who are not familiar with such high levels of pollution must take extra care 245 Cairo also has many unregistered lead and copper smelters which heavily pollute the city The results of this has been a permanent haze over the city with particulate matter in the air reaching over three times normal levels It is estimated that 10 000 to 25 000 people a year in Cairo die due to air pollution related diseases Lead has been shown to cause harm to the central nervous system and neurotoxicity particularly in children 246 In 1995 the first environmental acts were introduced and the situation has seen some improvement with 36 air monitoring stations and emissions tests on cars Twenty thousand buses have also been commissioned to the city to improve congestion levels which are very high 247 The city also suffers from a high level of land pollution Cairo produces 10 000 tons of waste material each day 4 000 tons of which is not collected or managed This is a huge health hazard and the Egyptian Government is looking for ways to combat this The Cairo Cleaning and Beautification Agency was founded to collect and recycle the waste they work with the Zabbaleen community that has been collecting and recycling Cairo s waste since the turn of the 20th century and live in an area known locally as Manshiyat naser 248 Both are working together to pick up as much waste as possible within the city limits though it remains a pressing problem Water pollution is also a serious problem in the city as the sewer system tends to fail and overflow On occasion sewage has escaped onto the streets to create a health hazard This problem is hoped to be solved by a new sewer system funded by the European Union which could cope with the demand of the city citation needed The dangerously high levels of mercury in the city s water system has global health officials concerned over related health risks citation needed International relations EditThe Headquarters of the Arab League is located in Tahrir Square near the downtown business district of Cairo Twin towns sister cities Edit See also List of twin towns and sister cities in Egypt Cairo is twinned with 249 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates Amman Jordan Baghdad Iraq Beijing China Damascus Syria East Jerusalem Palestine Istanbul Turkey Kairouan Tunisia Khartoum Sudan Muscat Oman Palermo Province Italy Rabat Morocco Sanaa Yemen Seoul South Korea Stuttgart Germany Tashkent Uzbekistan Tbilisi Georgia Tokyo Japan Tripoli LibyaNotable people EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Rabab Al Kadhimi 1918 1998 dentist and poet Gamal Aziz also known as Gamal Mohammed Abdelaziz former president and chief operating officer of Wynn Resorts and former CEO of MGM Resorts International indicted as part of the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal Yasser Arafat 4 24 August 1929 11 November 2004 born Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al Qudwa al Husseini was the 3rd Chairman of The PLO and first president of the Palestinian Authority Abu Sa id al Afif 15th century Samaritan Boutros Ghali 1922 2016 former Secretary General of the United Nations Avi Cohen 1956 2010 Israeli international footballer Dalida 1933 1987 Italian Egyptian singer who lived most of her life in France received 55 golden records and was the first singer to receive a diamond disc Farouk El Baz born 1938 an Egyptian American space scientist who worked with NASA to assist in the planning of scientific exploration of the Moon including the selection of landing sites for the Apollo missions and the training of astronauts in lunar observations and photography Ahmed Mourad Bey Zulfikar 1888 1945 Egyptian chief of police Freddy Elbaiady born 1971 Egyptian politician Mohamed ElBaradei born 1942 former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency 2005 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nourane Foster born 1987 Cameroonian entrepreneur politician and member of the National Assembly Mauro Hamza fencing coach Taco Hemingway born 1990 Polish hip hop artist Dorothy Hodgkin 1910 1994 British chemist credited with the development of protein crystallography Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964 Yakub Kadri Karaosmanoglu 1889 1974 Turkish novelist Naguib Mahfouz 1911 2006 novelist Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988 Roland Moreno 1945 2012 French inventor engineer humorist and author who invented the smart card Gamal Abdel Nasser 15 January 1918 28 September 1970 was an Egyptian politician who served as the second President of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970 Gaafar Nimeiry 1930 2009 President of Sudan Ahmed Sabri 1889 1955 painter Naguib Sawiris born 1954 Egyptian businessman 62nd richest person on Earth in 2007 list of billionaires reaching US 10 0 billion with his company Orascom Telecom Holding Dina Zulfikar born 1962 Egyptian film distributor and animal welfare activist Mohamed Sobhi born 1948 Egyptian film television and stage actor and director Blessed Maria Caterina Troiani 1813 1887 a charitable activist Magdi Yacoub born 1935 Egyptian British cardiothoracic surgeon Hesham Youssef Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Zulfikar 15 August 1952 1 May 2010 an Egyptian mechanical engineer and entrepreneur Ezz El Dine Zulficar October 28 1919 July 1 1963 was an Egyptian film director screenwriter actor and producer known for his distinctive style which blends romance and action Zulficar was one of the most influential filmmakers in the Egyptian Cinema s golden age Mona Zulficar born 1950 Egyptian lawyer and human rights activist She was included in the Forbes 2021 list of the 100 most powerful businesswomen in the Arab region See also EditCharles Ayrout Cultural tourism in Egypt List of buildings in Cairo List of cities and towns in Egypt Outline of Cairo Outline of Egypt Architecture of EgyptExplanatory notes Edit Cairo Metropolitan is enlarged to cover all the area within the Governorate limits Government statistics consider that the whole governorate is urban and the whole governorate is treated like as the metropolitan city of Cairo Governorate Cairo is considered a city proper and functions as a municipality The city of Alexandria is on the same principle as the city of Cairo being a governorate city Because of this it is difficult to divide Cairo into urban rural subdivisions or to eliminate certain parts of the metropolitan administrative territory on various theme unofficial statistics and data The historical chronicler John of Nikiou attributed the construction of the fortress to Trajan but more recent excavations date the fortress to the time of Diocletian A succession of canals connecting the Nile Valley with the Red Sea were also previously dug around this region in different periods prior to Trajan Trajan s canal fell out of use some time between the reign of Diocletian and the 7th century References EditCitations Edit Population Estimates By Sex amp Governorate 1 1 2022 Theme Census pg 4 Capmas gov eg Archived from the original on 2 November 2018 Retrieved 29 September 2022 Official Portal of Cairo Governorate Archived from the original on 24 January 2021 Retrieved 12 August 2020 a b Major Agglomerations of the World Population Statistics and Maps www citypopulation de Major Agglomerations of the World Population Statistics and Maps citypopulation de Retrieved 17 March 2023 Cairo Postal Code cz 25 November 2022 Retrieved 30 January 2023 About Cairo Cairo Governorate Retrieved 22 December 2022 Santa Maria Tours 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9780674047860 Battuta Ibn 1829 1355 The Travels of Ibn Battuta Translated by Lee Samuel Cosimo Classics published 2009 ISBN 9781616402624 Behrens Abouseif Doris 1992 Islamic Architecture in Cairo An Introduction 2nd ed Brill ISBN 978 90 04 09626 4 Archived from the original on 1 July 2014 Retrieved 25 August 2020 Behrens Abouseif Doris 2007 Cairo of the Mamluks A History of Architecture and its Culture The American University in Cairo Press ISBN 9789774160776 Bowering Gerhard 2008 Recent Research on the Construction of the Quran In Reynolds Gabriel Said ed The Qur an in its Historical Context Routledge pp 1 26 ISBN 9780415491693 Byrne Joseph Patrick 2004 The Black Death illustrated annotated ed Westport Conn Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 313 32492 5 Clot Andre 1996 L Egypte des Mamelouks L empire des esclaves 1250 1517 in French Perrin ISBN 2 262 01030 7 OCLC 911345545 Collins Robert O 2002 The Nile illustrated ed New Haven Conn Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 09764 1 Daly M W Petry Carl F 1998 The Cambridge History of Egypt Islamic Egypt 640 1517 Cambridge UK Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 47137 4 Elyachar Julia 2005 Markets of Dispossession NGOs Economic Development and the State in Cairo Duke University Press ISBN 978 0 8223 8713 8 Gabra Gawdat van Loon Gertrud J M Reif Stefan Swelim Tarek 2013 Ludwig Carolyn Jackson Morris eds The History and Religious Heritage of Old Cairo Its Fortress Churches Synagogue and Mosque American University in Cairo Press ISBN 9789774167690 Glasse Cyril Smith Huston 2003 The New Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd revised ed Singapore Tien Wah Press ISBN 978 0 7591 0190 6 Golia Maria 2004 Cairo city of sand Reaktion Books ISBN 978 1 86189 187 7 Archived from the original on 21 April 2021 Retrieved 25 August 2020 Hawass Zahi A Brock Lyla Pinch 2003 Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty First Century Archaeology 2nd ed Cairo American University in Cairo ISBN 978 977 424 674 6 Hourani Albert Habib Khoury Philip Shukry Wilson Mary Christina 2004 The Modern Middle East A Reader 2nd ed London I B Tauris ISBN 978 1 86064 963 9 Inalcik Halil Faroqhi Suraiya Quataert Donald McGowan Bruce Pamuk Sevket 1997 An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire illustrated reprinted ed Cambridge UK Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 57455 6 Kennedy Hugh 2007 The Great Arab Conquests How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In London Weidenfeld amp Nicolson ISBN 9780297846574 McGregor Andrew James 2006 A Military History of Modern Egypt From the Ottoman Conquest to the Ramadan War Westport Conn Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 275 98601 8 Meri Josef W Bacharach Jere L 2006 Medieval Islamic Civilization An Encyclopedia New York Taylor amp Francis ISBN 978 0 415 96692 4 O Neill Zora Benanav Michael Lee Jessica Sattin Anthony 2012 Lonely Planet Egypt 11th ed Lonely Planet ISBN 978 1 74179 959 0 Raymond Andre 1993 Le Caire in French Fayard ISBN 978 2 213 02983 2 English translation Raymond Andre 2000 Cairo Translated by Wood Willard Cambridge Mass Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0 674 00316 3 Reynolds Gabriel Said 2008 Introduction Qur anic Studies and its Controversies In Reynolds Gabriel Said ed The Qur an in its Historical Context Routledge pp 1 26 ISBN 9780415491693 Shillington Kevin 2005 Encyclopedia of African History New York Taylor amp Francis ISBN 978 1 57958 453 5 Shoshan Boaz 2002 David Morgan ed Popular Culture in Medieval Cairo Cambridge UK Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 89429 6 Sicker Martin 2001 The Islamic World in Decline From the Treaty of Karlowitz to the Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire illustrated ed Westport Conn Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 275 96891 5 Sims David 2012 2010 Understanding Cairo The Logic of a City Out of Control American University in Cairo Press ISBN 9789774165535 Swelim Tarek 2015 Ibn Tulun His Lost City and Great Mosque American University in Cairo Press ISBN 9789774166914 UN Habitat 2011 Cairo a City in Transition UN Habitat ISBN 978 9 211 32353 5 Williams Caroline 2008 Islamic Monuments in Cairo The Practical Guide 6th Revised ed The American University in Cairo Press ISBN 978 977 416 205 3 Williams Caroline 2018 Islamic Monuments in Cairo The Practical Guide 7th ed Cairo The American University in Cairo Press Winter Michael 1992 Egyptian Society Under Ottoman Rule 1517 1798 London Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 02403 7 Winter Michael 2004 Egyptian Society Under Ottoman Rule 1517 1798 London Routledge ISBN 978 0 203 16923 0 Further reading EditSee also Bibliography of the history of Cairo Alsayyad Nezar 2011 Cairo doi 10 4159 harvard 9780674060791 ISBN 9780674060791 Beattie Andrew 2005 Cairo A Cultural History illustrated ed New York Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 517893 7 Butler Alfred J 2008 The Arab Conquest of Egypt And the Last Thirty Years of the Roman Dominion Portland OR Butler Press ISBN 978 1 4437 2783 9 Artemis Cooper Cairo in the War 1939 1945 Hamish Hamilton 1989 Penguin Book 1995 ISBN 0 14 024781 5 Pbk Max Rodenbeck Cairo the City Victorious Picador 1998 ISBN 0 330 33709 2 Hbk ISBN 0 330 33710 6 Pbk Wahba Magdi 1990 Cairo Memories in Studies in Arab History The Antonius Lectures 1978 87 Edited by Derek Hopwood London Macmillan Press Rescuing Cairo s Lost Heritage Islamica Magazine 15 2006 Archived from the original on 2 April 2007 Retrieved 6 December 2006 Peter Theroux Cairo Clamorous heart of Egypt National Geographic Magazine April 1993 Cynthia Myntti Paris Along the Nile Architecture in Cairo from the Belle Epoque American University in Cairo Press 2003 Cairo s belle epoque architects 1900 1950 by Samir Raafat Antonine Selim Nahas one of city s major belle epoque 1900 1950 architects Nagib Mahfooz novels all tell great stories about Cairo s deep conflicts Lewicka Paulina 2011 Food and Foodways of Medieval Cairenes doi 10 1163 ej 9789004194724 i 626 ISBN 9789004206465 Sanders Paula 2008 Creating Medieval Cairo Empire Religion and Architectural Preservation in Nineteenth Century Egypt Cairo American University in Cairo ISBN 978 977 416 095 0 Jorg Armbruster Suleman Taufiq Eds مدينتي القاهرة MYCAI My Cairo Mein Kairo text by different authors photos by Barbara Armbruster and Hala Elkoussy edition esefeld amp traub Stuttgart 2014 ISBN 978 3 9809887 8 0 External links EditCairo at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks Resources from Wikiversity Travel information from Wikivoyage Data from Wikidata Cairo City Government Coptic Churches of Cairo Geographic data related to Cairo at OpenStreetMap Map of Cairo 1914 Eran Laor Cartographic Collection The National Library of Israel Maps of Cairo Historic Cities Research Project Photos and videos Edit Cairo 360 degree full screen images Cairo Travel Photos Pictures of Cairo published under Creative Commons License Call to Cairo Time lapse film of Cairo cityscapes Cairo Egypt video by Global Post Photos of Cairo Travel Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cairo amp oldid 1153790322, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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