.jpg/556px-Cairo_From_Tower_(cropped).jpg&q=cairo%20wikipedia&ck=E471A76F22AC35B4A243B65C3004C0DE&idpp=rc&idpview=singleimage&form=rc2idp "cairo wikipedia1")
Egyptian Museum
Search results
Cairo (/ ˈ k aɪ r oʊ / ⓘ KY-roh; Arabic: القاهرة, romanized: al-Qāhirah) is the capital of Egypt and the city-state Cairo Governorate, and is the country's largest city, home to 10 million people.
- New Cairo
New Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة الجديدة el-Qāhera el-Gedīda) is a...
- Talk
Talk - Cairo - Wikipedia
- Cairo (Disambiguation)
Cairo, a 2007 graphic novel by G. Willow Wilson and M.K....
- Cairo Citadel
The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin (Arabic: قلعة...
- Baron Empain Palace
The Baron Empain Palace (Arabic: قصر البارون إمبان, "Qasr el...
- Babylon Fortress
Babylon Fortress (Arabic: حصن بابليون; Coptic: ⲡⲁⲃⲓⲗⲱⲛ or...
- Heliopolis
Heliopolis (Jwnw, Iunu; Ancient Egyptian: 𓉺𓏌𓊖, romanized:...
- Cairo International Airport
Cairo International Airport (IATA: CAI, ICAO: HECA) (Arabic:...
- New Administrative Capital
The New Administrative Capital (NAC) (Arabic: العاصمة...
- Greater Cairo
The Greater Cairo Region (GCR; Arabic: القاهرة الكبرى,...
- New Cairo
- Overview
- Character of the city
- City site
- Climate
- City layout
Cairo is the capital of Egypt and one of the largest cities in Africa. Cairo has stood for more than 1,000 years on the same site on the banks of the Nile River, primarily on the eastern shore.
Where is Cairo located?
Cairo is located in northeastern Egypt. It is primarily on the eastern shore of the Nile River, some 500 miles (800 km) downstream from the Aswan High Dam. Cairo is the gateway to the Nile delta, where the lower Nile separates into the Rosetta and Damietta branches.
What does the name Cairo mean?
Cairo is known in Arabic as Al-Qāhirah, meaning “The Victorious.” When the Fatimids invaded Egypt (969 CE), a new city was established to the northeast of existing settlements. This city was called Al-Qāhirah in celebration of the arrival of the Fatimid caliph al-Muʿizz, who made the city the capital of a dynasty that lasted two centuries.
What was Cairo called in ancient Egypt?
Cairo is a place of physical contrast. Along the well-irrigated shoreline, lush vegetation shares the landscape with tall skyscrapers. In the older inland quarters to the east, however, beneath the foothills of the Eastern Desert and the rocky promontories of the Muqaṭṭam Hills and the Al-Jabal al-Aḥmar (Arabic: Red Mountain), browns and ochres are the dominant hues of land and buildings.
The city juxtaposes ancient and new, East and West. The Pyramids of Giza, near Memphis, stand at the southwestern edge of the metropolis, and an obelisk in the northeast marks the site of Heliopolis, where Plato once studied; modern landmarks of Western-style high-rise hotels and apartment buildings overlook the Nile River. Between these extremes are other architectural monuments, dating from Roman, Arab, and Ottoman times. In addition to department stores, cinemas, hotels, and town houses, Cairo contains a large functioning bazaar and an extensive, semi-walled medieval city endowed with more than 400 registered historic monuments—including mosques, mausoleums, and massive stone gates—dating to 130 ce.
Cairo is fan-shaped, narrowest in the south, where the river valley is wedged between desert escarpments, and widest in the north, where the valley blends into the delta. Over the centuries the city expanded westward, as a receding river channel left land flood-free. In response to heightened demand, however, the city also has been elongated to the north and south and has developed an expanding annex on the Nile’s western shore.
Britannica Quiz
Cairo has only two seasons: approximately eight months of summer and four months of winter. In the hottest of the summer months—June, July, and August—the average daily maximum temperature is 95 °F (35 °C), and the average daily minimum is 70 °F (21 °C). The summer temperature has reached as high as 117 °F (47 °C). During winter the strong Tropic o...
The organization of the metropolitan complex is understandable only in the context of the city’s history. The three oldest areas constitute densely populated poorer neighbourhoods that virtually surround a relatively Westernized downtown core. The largest of these is the medieval city built under the Fatimid dynasty (909–1171), with its pre-19th century extensions (Al-Jamāliyyah, Al-Darb al-Aḥmar, Bāb al-Shaʿriyyah, and Al-Sayyidah Zaynab toward the east and Al-Khalīfah toward the north). Situated within this densely settled zone are most of Cairo’s historic monuments, including the Mosque of Baybars I at its northernmost edge and Saladin’s Citadel in the south. Among the major bazaars within the central walled city is the Khān al-Khalīli, an expansive assortment of shops near al-Azhar Mosque, as well as various markets offering gold, copper ware, textiles, rugs, amber, spices, and leather goods. The major north-south thoroughfare is Shāriʿ al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh, which bisects the old city and along which stand the major mosques and markets. Running perpendicular to this street is Shāriʿ al-Azhar; created in the 1920s to link the mosque of that name with Al-ʿAtabah al-Khaḍrā Square streetcar terminal, Shāriʿ al-Azhar now connects the old city with the central business district. Most other streets are narrow, twisting, and often dead-ended. The city’s historic core was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.
Exclusive academic rate for students! Save 67% on Britannica Premium.
Learn More
Two other old quarters, Būlāq (northwest of the medieval city) and Miṣr al-Qadīmah (“Old Cairo”; to the south), served as port suburbs of Cairo before the city expanded to encompass them. Būlāq, an island until 1340 and the city’s main port by 1560, eventually became an industrial district in the early 19th century. In addition to its poorer neighbourhoods, the district is a centre for workshops, light industry, and trade schools. The mosques of Abū al-ʿAlāʾ and Sīnān Pasha are among the few historic buildings in Būlāq to survive a rapid gentrification process accompanied by the demolition of many of the older structures in order to make room for high-rise residential and commercial buildings. The origins of Miṣr al-Qadīmah lie with Al-Fusṭāṭ, originally founded as a military encampment in 641 by ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ. At the heart of Miṣr al-Qadīmah stands the reconstructed Mosque of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, as well as the many Coptic churches.
The central business district, referred to as the Wasṭ al-Balad (“city centre,” or downtown), is flanked by these older quarters. The Wasṭ al-Balad includes the older Al-Azbakiyyah district, Garden City, and, more recently, Jazīrah, the island offshore. The major thoroughfare connecting the city along its north-south axis is the Kūrnīsh al-Nīl (the Corniche), a highway paralleling the Nile River, built in the 1950s. Along the Corniche lie the Maspero Television Building, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a number of hotels; in addition, the Egyptian Museum is nearby. Near the museum lies Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the 2011 uprising; overlooking the plaza are the massive Mogamma government building and the Arab League headquarters. Jazīrah, across the Nile from the Corniche, is the site of the Cairo Tower, public gardens, a racetrack, two major sporting clubs, several major hotels, and some of the city’s most valuable real estate. Between the imposing Nile riverfront and the ancient inland quarters is a transitional working-class zone, chiefly developed in the 19th century; the National Library, the Museum of Islamic Art, and the presidential palace and archives later came to populate this region.
Along the eastern edge of the metropolis stands the district of Al-Qarāfah (City of the Dead), a unique zone made up of an extensive series of cemeteries. In this vast, dusty, ochre-coloured district stand the exquisite shrine-mosques and mausoleums of early religious leaders such as Imam al-Shāfiʿī, the founder of Egypt’s major legal tradition. The major monuments of these eastern cemeteries are Mamluk in design, each topped by a plain or fluted dome; lesser tombs are simpler, rectangular constructions. Owing to the rapid population growth that occurred following Egypt’s independence in 1922, however, housing and shops have sprung up in the City of the Dead, where it is estimated that more than one million Cairenes live, many without municipal utilities or an official address.
Oct 6, 2018 · Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the city-state Cairo Governorate, and is the country's largest city, home to 10 million people.
Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة, usually transliterated as Al-Qāhirah) is the capital and largest city in Egypt. The city name can be translated as the one who won . Cairo has 7,947,121 people.
- 969 CE
- Fatimid dynasty
Cairo (pronounced KY-roh; Arabic: القاهرة al-Qāhirah) is the capital of Egypt and, with a total population of Greater Cairo metropolitan area in excess of 16 million people, one of the largest cities in both Africa and the Middle East (the regions which it conveniently straddles).
- Under LE10
- Over LE40-100
- LE10-40
Today Cairo is Africa's most populous city and the Arab world's cultural center. Since the nineteenth century, Cairo has also become a center for tourism as people from around the world have come to see the monuments and artifacts of Ancient Egypt, especially the pyramids.
People also ask
What is Cairo known for?
Is Cairo a city?
What agglomeration is Cairo in?
Why is Cairo a popular city in Africa?
Downtown Cairo is centered on 1 Midan Talaat Harb, at the intersection of Talaat Harb St (southwest-northeast) and Qasr El-Nil (west-east). The southern end of Downtown is Midan Tahrir (Tahrir Square). The east end is marked by 2 Midan Ataba, the starting point of Islamic Cairo.
