Cairo

For other uses, see Cairo (disambiguation).

Cairo القـــاهــرة
Nicknames: The City of a Thousand Minarets
Flag
Egypt: Site of Cairo (top center)
Government
• Governor	Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir
Area
• City	214 km2 (83 sq mi)
• Metro	5,360 km2 (2,070 sq mi)
Population  (2006)
• City	7,734,334
• Density	35,047/km2 (90,770/sq mi)
• Metro	17,856,000[1]
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Website	http://www.cairo.gov.eg/C15/C8/EHome/default.aspx

Cairo (Template:ArB Template:ArTranslit), which means "The Vanquisher" or "The Triumphant", is the capital city of Egypt. While Al-Qahirah is the official name of the city, in Egyptian Arabic it commonly shares the dialect's name for the country, Template:ArTranslit. It has a metropolitan area population of about 17.285 million people. Cairo is the sixteenth most populous metropolitan area in the world. It is also the most populous metropolitan area in Africa.

The city was founded in 969 as the royal enclosure for the Fatimid caliphs, while the actual economic and administrative capital was in nearby Fustat. After Fustat was destroyed in 1168/1169 to prevent its capture by the Crusaders, the administrative capital of Egypt moved to Cairo, where it has remained ever since.

History of Cairo

See also: Capital of Egypt and List of historical national capitals

Fustat was founded in 751 near other Egyptian cities and villages, including the old Egyptian capital Memphis, Heliopolis, Giza and the Byzantine fortress of Babylon-in-Egypt. Fustat was itself a new city built as a military garrison for Arab troops and was the closest central location to Arabia that was accessible to the Nile. Fustat became a regional center of Islam during the Umayyad period and was where the Umayyad ruler, Marwan II, made his last stand against the Abbasids. Later, during the Fatimid era, Al-Qahira (Cairo) was officially founded in 969 as an imperial capital just to the north of Fustat. Over the centuries, Cairo grew to absorb other local cities such as Fustat, but the year 969 is considered the "founding year" of the modern city.

In 1250, the slave soldiers or Mamluks seized Egypt and ruled from their capital at Cairo until 1517, when they were defeated by the Ottomans. Napoleon's French army briefly occupied Egypt from 1798 to 1801, after which an Ottoman officer named Muhammad Ali made Cairo the capital of an independent empire that lasted from 1805 to 1882. The city then came under British control until Egypt attained independence in 1922.

Today, Greater Cairo encompasses various historic towns and modern districts into one of the most populous cities in the world. A journey through Cairo is a virtual time travel: from the Pyramids, Saladin's Citadel, the Virgin Mary's Tree, the Sphinx, and ancient Heliopolis, to Al-Azhar, the Mosque of Amr ibn al-A'as, Saqqara, the Hanging Church, and the Cairo Tower. It is the Capital of Egypt, and indeed its history is intertwined with that of the country. Today, Cairo's official name is Al-Qahira (Cairo), although the name informally used by most Egyptians is "Masr" (Egyptian Arabic name for Egypt), from the original name of Egypt's first Arab capital Fustat, Misr al-Fustat, "City of the Tents."

Ancient Egypt (BCE 3500 - 30 CE)

For the next 800 years or so, the first Capital of the ancient Egyptians prospered under the rule of Zoser, Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephren), Menkaure (Mycerinus), Unas, and others. It became one of the most influential and powerful cities in the world, and housed one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Great Pyramid of Giza. Constructed on the Giza plateau, a necropolis of the city of Memphis on the Nile's west bank, the three Great Pyramids are the ultimate manifestation of political stability and power of the ruler during the Third and Fourth Dynasties. Khufu's son built 2 of the Giza pyramids.

The Romans (BCE 30 - 641 CE)

the Hanging Church is Cairo's most famous Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria's church.

No one knows the origin of the name of Babylon-in-Egypt. It may be a corrupted version of the ancient Egyptian per-hapi-n-on, or Nile House of On, a nearby Island. It might have come from the Arabic Bab-ila-on, or gateway to On. Or it may be simply a name the Babylonian prisoners of Pharaoh Sesostris gave to the place. Babylon-in-Egypt was more a strategic spot than an intellectual center. With the re-opening of the canal joining the Nile to the Red Sea, the town became the gateway to Persia and India. Control over the Fortress of Babylon therefore meant control over trade. And while Alexandria was the political and intellectual capital of Egypt under the Greeks and the Romans, Babylon Fortress became its military stronghold.

The year 30 BCE marked a significant change in the history of Egypt and the world at large. It was the year when the victorious Octavian (Augustus) entered Alexandria. His former ally and rival Mark Antony died, and Cleopatra ended her own life, realizing that her time was over. Although Cleopatra was of Greek descent, she, like her ancestors, ruled Egypt as an Egyptian. She was both Queen and Pharaoh. With her death, Egypt simply became just another Roman province, a Roman granary rather than a world power.

With the birth of Christianity, the capital city Alexandria witnessed a violent confrontation between the polytheistic Greeks and Romans, causing many of their worshipers to switch to this new religion. But in Cairo, the Egyptian religion had not completely died out. The Coptic Church of St. George was built at the end of the Roman rule by a wealthy Egyptian scribe, responsible for the erection of many churches. He built a large pool in front of the church's wedding hall, where he kept crocodiles, a very sacred Egyptian animal associated with the underworld. After funerals, the worshipers would throw rings and jewels into the pool as an offering for a safe afterlife for the deceased. Unfortunately, this building burned down a century ago.

The Islamic Conquest (641 - 969)

In 640, a Muslim army commanded by the Arabian general Amr ibn al-A'as, laid siege to the Fortress of Babylon near what is today Cairo. It was a matter of time before the Byzantine governor of Egypt agreed to peacefully surrender the fortress, and less than a year later, the capital city Alexandria as recorded in the Treaty of Misr. Amr became the first Arab ruler of Egypt and remained so until his death.

Even though the Arabs admired Alexandria's glamor and wealth, they decided to abandon the city. The reason is simple: no body of water was to separate the Egyptian Capital from the Caliph's residence in Medina. Al-Fustat was therefore founded on the East bank of the Nile, outside the walls of the Fortress of Babylon. Deriving its name from the Arabic word for "camp" or "tent", the town was built at the spot where the Arabs camped during the Fortress siege. Here, the first mosque in Africa was built, carrying the name of the Arab general, Amr.

The new capital grew slowly as Alexandria and other Byzantine cities went into decline. With the re-opening of the Red Sea Canal, Al-Fustat became the linking bridge between the East and the West.

Salah ad-Din and the Crusades (1168 - 1250)

The Masjid of Muhammad Ali in the Citadel Of Salahideen in Old Cairo

The last Fatimid Caliph was only eighteen when the Seljuks captured Cairo. The Seljuks who came originally form Central Asia had already conquered Syria and Palestine, and established their capital in Damascus. By 1168, Egypt had become a battleground between the Seljuks and the Crusaders, with the Fatimids having virtually little or no control, although they sided mostly with the Crusaders. It was in 1168 that the victorious Shirkuh entered Cairo, and was named governor of Egypt by the Sultan of Damascus, Nur ad-Din. When Shirkuh died two months later, his nephew was immediately appointed as the next governor. He was young—in his early thirties—and full of will. Quickly, he would become one of the most prominent figures in medieval history. His name was Salah-El-Din the Ayyubid, better known in Western history as Saladin.

The Mamluks (1250 - 1517)

When Saladin established his rule over Cairo, his Seljuk army was mainly composed of slaves and former slaves who had climbed up the ranks. They were mostly Circassians from the Caucasus region or Central Asians who were captured in military raids or, in most instances, kidnapped by slave merchants. The military power of the male slaves had been on the rise since the early Abbasid rule, but their political influence tremendously increased when Saladin rewarded them extravagantly for their loyalty. They were granted ranches and palaces, and some became governors. Women slaves usually became part of the Sultan or ruler's harem, and had even more influence over politics and internal palace matters. These slaves became known as the Mamluks (lit. Owned), and the term extended to include former slaves who were often freed to become aides and viziers.

Shagarit el-Dorr (Tree of Pearls) was the former slave and the wife of Al-Saleh, the last Ayyubid Sultan. When he died in 1249, and with no strong successor within the Ayyubid house, Shagarit el-Dorr became monarch. The Mamluk lady would be the last woman to rule Egypt to this day. She ruled singlehandedly for 80 days, but was later pressured into marrying the Mamluk chief officer, Aybeck, in order to "keep things in perspective". She continued, however, to rule Egypt, and even had her husband assassinated when he wanted to marry another woman. Shortly after, she herself was killed by her fellow Mamluks who decided she had "gone too far".

Meshullam Menahem wrote in 1481 “if it were possible to place all the cities of Rome, Milan, Padua, and Florence (all are Italian cities) with four other cities, they would not contain the wealth and population of half of Misr (Al-Qahira) .

Under the Ottoman Empire (1517 - 1798)

Under the rule of the Ottomans, the Mamluks did not cease to exercise their power. As the Ottoman empire expanded, the new world power adopted a government model that consisted of three authorities: local, military, and political. In Egypt, they realized that the power of the Mamluks was strong enough to subdue the local people, yet not too strong to revolt against the Sublime Porte, or the Ottoman Sultan. The Mamluks were, therefore, left in charge of local affairs. Feudal Lords or Mamluk Beys were appointed to each of Egypt's districts, and, in order to ensure no revolt attempt on the part of the Mamluks, the Ottomans stationed their own soldiers, the Janissaries and the Azabs, in Cairo. Both orders consisted of soldiers, much like the Mamluks, enslaved at a young age, raised as fighters, and appointed to high military, political, and civil posts. The Janissaries were among the most skillful of fighters. It was to them that Constantinople fell in 1453.

However, the ultimate political power was, at least theoretically, in the hands of the main authority, the Pasha, a Turk governor usually educated in Istanbul. In several occasions, Pashas were overruled by powerful Mamluk Beys, who were subsequently subdued by the Ottoman troops, who received their orders from the Sultan, and so on. To the Sultans, what mattered most in the provinces was tax collection rather than political power. Meanwhile, little was being done to improve the social and economic status of Egypt or its capital city.

French Expedition (1798 - 1801)

File:PICT0051.JPG

Baron Empain Palace (Qasr Al Baron)

It was in the summer of 1798 that Napoleon's army landed in Alexandria and advanced to Cairo. Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey, the Mamelouk rulers of Egypt, sent a messenger with a small tribute and asked the French general to leave the country. They had never heard of Napoleon before. The French captured Cairo with little resistance shortly after. It was during their presence that Egypt came out of its long Dark Age. Jean François Champollion, the father of Egyptology, deciphered the Ancient Egyptian writings on the Rosetta Stone. The French also established the "Institut d'Egypte", built schools and colleges, and wrote the Description de l'Egypte, the most comprehensive reference on the country's geography and culture. The French rule soon ended in 1801 with some help from the Ottoman Empire.

The era of Muhammad Ali and his successors

Old buildings in Downtown Cairo. In the center is the statute of Talaat Pasha Harb, the father of the modern Egyptian economy

Under Muhammad Ali's rule, Cairo prospered both economically and culturally. Not only was the infrastructure of the city rebuilt, but a new city center was also planned according to European standards. This new city center today occupies the downtown Tahrir Square, Garden City, and Azbakeya. It was constructed, by French city planners and engineers, over a swampy flood plain stretching between Ramses Square and the Nile. A new mosque, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, was erected within the walls of Saladin's Citadel, and barrages were constructed along the Nile near the city. Cotton was introduced and soon became the country's main crop, thereby boosting the economy. During the six-year reign of Muhammad Ali's grandson, Abbas, the first railway line was constructed between Alexandria and Cairo, soon to be followed by a railroad network covering the Delta and Upper Egypt with Cairo at its center. Much of the hydraulic and transportation infrastructure built during that period is still operating to this day. It is noted that Muhammad Ali's sons wanted to re-create Cairo according to the European Standards of cities.

Geography

File:Cairo orascom.jpg

View of Modern Day Cairo.

Cairo is located on the banks and islands of the Nile River in the north of Egypt, immediately south of the point where the river leaves its desert-bound valley and breaks into two branches into the low-lying Nile Delta region.

The oldest part of the city is somewhat east of the river. There, the city gradually spreads west, engulfing the agricultural lands next to the Nile. These western areas, built on the model of Paris by Ismail the Magnificent in the mid-19th century, are marked by wide boulevards, public gardens, and open spaces. The older eastern section of the city is very different: having grown up haphazardly over the centuries it is filled with small lanes and crowded tenements. While western Cairo is dominated by the government buildings and modern architecture, the eastern half is filled with hundreds of ancient mosques that act as landmarks.

Extensive water systems have also allowed the city to expand east into the desert. Bridges link the Nile islands of Gezira and Roda, where many government buildings are located and government officials live. Bridges also cross the Nile attaching the city to the suburbs of Giza and Imbabah (part of the Cairo conurbation).

West of Giza, in the desert, is part of the ancient necropolis of Memphis on the Giza plateau, with its three large pyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza. Approximately 11 miles (18 km) to the south of modern Cairo is the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis and adjoining necropolis of Saqqara. These cities were Cairo's ancient predecessors, when Cairo was still in this approximate geographical location.

Cairo infrastructure

A view towards the East of Cairo at night

Health

See also: List of hospitals in Egypt

Cairo, as well as neighbouring Giza, has been established as Egypt's main center for medical treatment, and despite some exceptions, has the most advanced level of medical care in the country. Cairo's hospitals include As-Salam International Hospital- Corniche El Nile; Maadi (Egypt's largest private hospital with 350 beds), Ain Shams University Hospital,Dar El Fouad Hospital, as well as Qasr El Ainy General Hospital.

Education

Cairo has long been the hub of education and educational services not only for Egypt but also for the whole Arab world. Today, Cairo is the center for the many government offices governing the Egyptian educational system, has the largest number of educational schools, and higher learning institutes among other cities and governorates of Egypt.

Some of the International Schools found in Cairo include:

• Deutsche Evangelische Oberschule (DEO Cairo)
• Deutsche Schule der Borromäerinnen (DSB Cairo)
• American International School (AIS Cairo)
• British International School in Cairo (BISC)
• International School of Choueifat
• Collège de la Sainte Famille (CSF)
• New Cairo British International School (NCBIS)
• Cairo American College (CAC)
• British Book Center International School (BBC)
• Maadi English School (MES)
• Collège de la Salle (DSL)

Universities in Cairo:

Cairo University

• Al-Azhar University in Cairo
• Ain Shams University
• The American University in Cairo (AUC)
• The Russian University in Cairo
• Arab Academy for Science & Technology and Maritime Transport
• Al Azhar University - One of the oldest universities in use today
• British University in Egypt (BUE)
• Canadian International College (CIC)
• Cairo University
• German University in Cairo (GUC)
• Helwan University
• Misr International University (MIU)
• Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST)
• Nile University
• Sekem University

Transport

Main article: Transportation in Cairo

File:Ramsesst.jpg

Ramses Street, one of the main arteries of Cairo

Transportation in Cairo comprises an extensive road network, rail system, subway system and maritime services. Cairo is the centre of almost the entire Egyptian transportation network.

The subway system, called 'The Metro' locally, is a fast and efficient way of getting around Cairo. It can get very crowded during rush hour. The first two train cars are reserved for women only.

Egypt has one of the longest railways in the world.

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 to almost every Cairo district. There are flyovers, and bridges such as the Sixth of October bridge that allows straight, fast and efficient means of transportation from one side of the city to the other.

Cairo traffic is known to be overwhelming and overcrowded.[2] Traffic moves at a relatively fluid pace. Drivers tend to be aggressive, but are more courteous at intersections, taking turns going, with police aiding in traffic control of some congested areas.

Cairo Metro.

• Cairo International Airport
• Ramses Railway Station
• Ahmed Helmy Bus Stop
• Abbood Bus Stop
• Cairo Metro
• Cairo Tram
• Cairo Transportation Authority CTA
• Cairo Taxi
• Cairo Yellow Cab
• Cairo Nile Ferry

Sports

Cairo International Stadium with 75,100 seats

Football is the most popular sport in Egypt, and Cairo has a number of sporting teams that compete in national and regional leagues. The best known teams are Al Zamalek and Al Ahly, whose annual football tournament is perhaps the most watched sports event in Egypt as well as the African and Arabian World. Both teams are known as the "rivals" of Egyptian football, and are the first and the second champions in the African continent and the Arab World. Both teams play their home games at Cairo International Stadium or Naser Stadium , which is Cairo's, Egypt's, Africa's and Middle East's largest stadium and one of the largest 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 was one of the stadiums scheduled that hosted the 2006 African Nations Cup which was played on January, 2006, which Egypt won its title for the record number of five times in African Continental Competition's history.

Cairo failed at the applicant stage when bidding for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, which will be hosted in Beijing China. However, Cairo will host the Pan-Arab Games this year.

There are several other sports teams in the city that participate in several sports including el Gezira Sporting Club, el Shams Club, el Seid Club, Heliopolis Club and several smaller clubs, but the biggest clubs in Egypt (not in area but in sports) are Al Zamalek & Al Ahly. They have the two biggest football teams in Egypt.

Most of the sports federations of the country are also located in the city suburbs, including the Egyptian Football Association. 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.

Culture

Over the ages, and as far back as seven thousand years, Egypt stood as the land where civilizations have always met. The Pharaohs together with the Greeks and the Romans have left their imprints here. Muslims from the Arab Peninsula, led by Amr ibn al-A'as, introduced Islam into Egypt. Khedive Mohammad Ali, with his Albanian family roots, put Egypt on the road to modernity. If anything, the cultural mix in this country is natural, given its heritage. Egypt can be likened to an open museum with monuments of the different historical periods on display everywhere.

• Cairo Opera House

Main article: Cairo Opera House

President Mubarak inaugurated the new Cairo Opera House of the Egyptian National Cultural Center on October 10 1988, seventeen years after the Royal Opera House had been destroyed by fire. The National Cultural Center 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 deep-rooted friendship between these two nations.

Thus, the joint efforts of Japanese and Egyptians has given rise to a unique landmark which celebrates the rich and diverse cultural life not only of Egypt but of neighboring nations in Africa and the Middle East as well.

Egypt is proud to be the only state in the region which built two opera houses within a bit more than a century.

• Khedivial Opera House

Main article: Khedivial Opera House

The Khedivial Opera House or Royal Opera House was the original opera house in Cairo, Egypt. It was dedicated on November 1, 1869 and burned down on October 28, 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

Egypt's love of the arts in general can be traced back to the rich heritage bequeathed by the Pharaohs. In modern times, Egypt has enjoyed a strong cinematic tradition since the art of filmmaking was first developed, early in the 20th century. A natural progression from the active theatre scene of the time, cinema rapidly evolved into a vast motion picture industry. This together with the much older music tradition, raised Egypt to become the cultural capital of the Arab world.

For more than 500 years of recorded history, Egypt has fascinated the West and inspired its creative talents from play writer William Shakespeare, poet and dramatist John Dryden, and novelist and poet Lawrence Durrell to film producer Cecil B. de Mille. Since the silent movies Hollywood has been capitalising on the box-office returns that come from combining Egyptian stories with visual effects.

Egypt has also been a fount of Arabic literature, producing some of the 20th century's greatest Arab writers such as Taha Hussein and Tawfiq al-Hakim to Nobel Laureate, novelist Naguib Mahfouz. Each of them has written for the cinema.

With these credentials, it was clear that Cairo should aim to hold an international film festival. This dream came true on Monday August 16 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.

For 29 years, the home of the Pyramids and Nile has hosted international superstars like Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Bud Spencer, Gina Lollobrigida, Ornella Mutti, Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, Victoria Abril, Elizabeth Taylor, Shashi Kapoor, Alain Delon, Greta Scacchi, Catherine Deneuve, Peter O'toole, Christopher Lee, Irene Pappas, Marcello Mastroianni and Omar Sharif, as well as great directors like Robert Wise, Elia Kazan, Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Stone, Roland Joffe, Carlos Saura, Ismail Merchant and Michel Angelo Antonioni, in an annual celebration and examination of the state of cinema in the world today.

• Cairo Geniza

Main article: Cairo Geniza

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 Fostat, 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 as late as 1880 AD and have now been archived in various American and European libraries. The Taylor-Schechter collection in the University of Cambridge runs to 140,000 manuscripts; there are a further 40,000 manuscripts at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

• The Wagh El-Birket

Main article: The Wagh El-Birket

The Wagh El-Birket ("The Berka") was, into the first half of the 20th century, the entertainment district (or red-light district) of Cairo, Egypt. It features prominently in several novels by Naguib Mahfouz, particularly his Cairo Trilogy. It is a little north of Azbakeya.

Later, during the Second World War, the British military set up brothels run by the Royal Army Medical Corps.

• Al-Azhar Park

Main article: Al-Azhar Park

Inaugurated in May 2005, Al-Azhar Park is located adjacent to Cairo's Darb al-Ahmar district. The Park was created by the Historic Cities Support Programme (HCSP) of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), an entity of the Aga Khan Development Network, and was a gift to Cairo from His Highness the Aga Khan. It is interesting to note that the city of Cairo was founded in the year 969 by the Fatimid Imam-Caliphs who were ancestors of the Aga Khan.

During the development of the park, a part of the 12th century Ayyubid wall was discovered and subsequently restored. The wall had originally been built by Salah al-Din al-Ayubbi as a defense against the crusaders. The discovery prompted additional research into the nearby historic neighborhood of Darb al-Ahmar, and eventually led to a major project encompassing the restoration of several mosques, palaces and historic houses. The HCSP also established social and economic programs to provide a wide range of assistance for local residents.

• Cairo Trilogy

Main article: Cairo Trilogy

The Cairo Trilogy is a trilogy of novels set in Cairo. They were written by Egyptian novelist and Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz. The books' titles are taken from actual streets in Cairo, the city of Mahfouz's childhood and youth. The trilogy follows the life of the Cairene patriarch al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad and his family across three generations, from World War I to the overthrow of King Farouk in 1952. The three novels are, in order:

• Palace Walk (original Arabic title: Bayn al-Qasrayn, 1956)
• Palace of Desire (Qasr al-Chawq, 1957)
• Sugar Street (Al-Sukkariyya, 1957)

Media

• Egyptian Media Production City in Cairo

Main article: Egyptian Media Production City

The 6th of October city-based Media Production city ( MPC) is the biggest ever built information and media complex, which, together with the Egyptian media satellites "Nilesat 101", "Nilesat 102", will allow Egypt to step into the new world of the 21st century. Thereby, Cairo will be well-qualified and well-equipped to maintain its pioneering role in the field of satellite television and to provide television and film production facilities that can support the information breakthrough.

Cairo is the Middle East's media production powerhouse, with its huge new 3.5 million square meter Media Production City.

Economy

Cairo is also in every respect the center of Egypt, as it has been almost since its founding in 969 AD. One quarter of all Egyptians live there. 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 fueled rapid construction in the city—one building in five is less than 15 years old.

This astonishing growth until recently surged well ahead of city services. Homes, roads, electricity, telephone and sewer services were all suddenly in short supply. Analysts trying to grasp the magnitude of the change coined terms like "hyper-urbanization." On the ground planners struggled. Only bits of the Cairo Master Plan of 1970 and the Greater Cairo Master Scheme of 1982 were ever implemented.

Tourism

• The Egyptian Museum

Main article: Egyptian Museum

Main entrance of the Egyptian Museum

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.

• Khan El-Khalili

Main article: Khan El-Khalili

Khan el-Khalili is for many the most entertaining part of Cairo. It is an ancient shopping area, nothing less, but some of the shops have also their own little factories or workshops.

The suq (which is the Arabic name for bazaar, or market) dates back to 1382, when Emir Djaharks el-Khalili built a big caravanserai (or khan) right here. A caravanserai was a sort of hotel for traders, and usually the focal point for economic activity for any surrounding area. This caravanserai is still there, you just ask for the narrow street of Sikka Khan el-Khalili and Badestan.

• Old Cairo

Main article: Old Cairo

The part of Cairo that contains Coptic Cairo and Fostat, which contains the Coptic Museum, Babylon Fortress ,Hanging Church , the Greek Church of St. George, many other Coptic churches, a Jewish Synogogue and Amr ibn al-'As Mosque.

Cairo Tower

• Cairo Tower

Main article: Cairo Tower

The Cairo Tower is free-standing concrete TV tower in Cairo. It stands in the Zamalek district on Gezira Island in the River Nile, in the city centre. At 187 metres, it is 43 metres higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza, which stands some 15 km to the southwest.

Pollution

Average temperature and precipitation values in Cairo

Smog in Cairo

Cairo is a rapidly expanding city, which has led to many environmental problems. 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. Air quality measurements in Cairo have also been recording dangerous levels of lead, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and suspended particulate matter concentrations due to decades of unregulated car emissions, urban industrial operations, and chaff and trash burning. There are over 2,000,000 cars on the streets of Cairo, 60% of which are over 10 years old, and therefore lack modern emission cutting features like catalytic converters. Cairo has a very poor dispersion factor because of lack of rain and its layout of tall buildings and narrow streets, which create a bowl effect. A mysterious black cloud (as Egyptians refer to it) appears over Cairo every fall and causes serious respiratory diseases and eyes irritations for the city citizens. Tourists who are not familiar to that high level of pollution must take extra care.

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. It is also estimated that the high lead content of the air can reduce a child's IQ on average by 4 points. 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. 20,000 buses have also been commissioned to the city to improve congestion levels, which are very high.

The city also suffers from a high level of land pollution. Cairo produces 10,000 tons of rubbish each day, 4,000 tons of which is not collected or managed. This once again 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 rubbish; however, they also work with the Zabbaleen (or Zabaleen ), a community that has been collecting and recycling Cairo's rubbish since the turn of the 20th century and live in an area known locally as Garbage City [3]. Both are working together to pick up as much rubbish as possible within the city limits, though it remains a pressing problem.

The city also suffers from water pollution 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. The dangerously high levels of mercury in the city's water system has global health officials concerned over related health risks. There is also more concern about environmental issues among Egyptians than before.

Housing

Cairo is facing a housing problem. The lack of satisfactory and affordable housing for the rapidly growing population has forced many poor Egyptians to live in houses amongst cemeteries called The City of the dead. Among these cemeteries live a community of Egypt’s urban poor, forming an illegal but tolerated, separate society. More than five million Egyptians live in these cemeteries, and have formed their own enterprises. The population of the City of the Dead is growing rapidly because of urban migration and its complicated housing crisis is getting worse.

Many poor, who do not live in the Muslim "Cities of the Dead", reside in "Garbage City." Located within Cairo's city limits and in a desert landscape, the Garbage Cities are filled with trash collected by the poor in hopes of finding food and also recyclables, to sell to the government. One of the most notable areas is located only a few hundred yards from the Cave Church carved into the Muqatam hillside.

Town twinning (sister cities)

Ankara, Turkey Algiers, Algeria (1985) Amman, Jordan (1988) Amsterdam, Netherlands Athens, Greece (1996) Baghdad, Iraq (1978) Beijing, China (1990) Beirut, Lebanon (1998) Buenos Aires, Argentina Damascus, Syria Isfahan, Iran (1982) Istanbul, Turkey Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Khartoum, Sudan Lima, Peru

Lisbon, Portugal London, United Kingdom Madrid, Spain Moscow, Russia New York City, USA (1982) Paris, France (1992) Prague, Czech Republic Rabat, Morocco (1987) Rome, Italy São Paulo, Brazil Seoul, South Korea (1997) Stuttgart, Germany (1979) Tunis, Tunisia (2000) Tokyo, Japan Toronto, Canada Washington, D.C., USA

Famous Cairenes

• Abu Sa'id al-Afif - Fifteenth Century Samaritian
• Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former Secretary-General of the United Nations
• Naguib Mahfouz, novelist, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988.
• Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency 2005 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
• Naguib Sawiris, 62nd richest person on earth in a 2007 list of billionaires, reaching US$10.0 billion with his company Orascom Telecom Holding
• Farouk El Baz, a great contributor to NASA
• Sir Magdi Yacoub, leading cardiologist, knight
• Constantin Xenakis (1931) Greek artist
• Voula Zouboulaki (1931) Greek actress
• Raffi Cavoukian, Canadian children's singer, born 1948
• Mohamed Al Fayed, Billionare owner of Harrods and well known London football team Fulham FC
• Hossam Ghaly, Professional football player with Derby County FC
• Mohamed Shawky, Professional football player with Middlesborough FC
• Mido, Professional football player with Middlesbrough FC

See also

• Giza Zoo
• Al-Azhar Park
• Al Salih Tala'i Mosque
• Cairo Metro
• Gates of Cairo
• List of buildings in Cairo
• Wagh el Birket
• Cairo Geniza
• Smart Village
• Mosque of Ibn Tulun
• Large Cities Climate Leadership Group

Further reading

• Artemis Cooper, Cairo in the War, 1939-1945, Hamish Hamilton, 1989 / Penguin Book, 1995. ISBN 0-14-024781-5 (Pbk)
• André Raymond, Cairo, trans. Willard Wood. Harvard University Press, 2000.
• Max Rodenbeck, Cairo – the City Victorious, Picador, 1998. ISBN 0-330-33709-2 (Hbk) ISBN 0-330-33710-6 (Pbk)
• "Article: Rescuing Cairo's Lost Heritage - Islamica Magazine, Issue 15, 2006". Retrieved 2006-12-06.

External links

• Template:Wikitravelpar
• Off-the-Brochure Travel Guide - Cairo by Peter Greenberg Staff
• Cairo Video
• The Cairo Page: photos and descriptions of Cairo
• Coptic Churches of Cairo
• Helpful guide for Cairo
• Cairo Travel Photos Pictures of Cairo published under Creative Commons License
• Video of the streets of Cairo and view of the Pyramids
• Photos, reports, books about Cairo and arabian countries by Pascal Meunier
• Cairo in 100 pictures page in French.
• Cairo 360-degree full-screen images
• Demographia - Cairo: Central City & Suburban Population & Density