الأحداث
(Redirected from Cairo, Egypt)
Cairo (pronounced /ˈkaɪroʊ/ KY-roh; Arabic: القاهرة al-Qāhira), literally "The Vanquisher" or "The Conqueror", is the capital of Egypt, the largest city in Africa and the 16th most populous metropolitan area in the world.
Cairo is also ranked as one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life. Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty
in the 10th Century, but the land composing the present-day city was
the site of national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo. Cairo is also associated with Ancient Egypt due to its proximity to the ancient cities of Memphis, Giza and Fustat which are nearby to the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza.
The city's original name in Arabic is "Al-Qahira", which became "Cairo" after Europeans corrupted the name. Egyptians today often refer to Cairo as Maṣr (Arabic: مصر),
the Arabic pronunciation of the name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the
city's continued role in Egyptian influence. Cairo has the oldest and
largest film and music industries 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, and the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.
With a population of 6,758,581 spread over 453 square kilometers (175 sq mi),
Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt. With an additional ten
million inhabitants just outside the city, Cairo resides at the centre
of the largest metropolitan area in Africa and the eleventh-largest urban area in the world. Cairo, like many other mega-cities, suffers from high levels of pollution and traffic, but its metro
– currently one of only two on the African continent – also ranks among
the fifteen busiest in the world, with over 700 million passenger rides
annually. The economy of Cairo was ranked first in the Middle East, and 43rd globally by Foreign Policy's 2010 Global Cities Index.
History
See also: History of Egypt
Initial settlements
A rendition of Fustat from A.S. Rappoport's History of Egypt
The area around present-day Cairo, especially Memphis, had long been a focal point of Ancient Egypt due to its strategic location just upstream from the Nile Delta.
However, the origins of the modern city are generally traced back to a
series of settlements in the first millennium. Around the turn of the
4th century, as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance, the Romans established a fortress town along the east bank of the Nile. This fortress, known as Babylon, remains the oldest structure in the city. It is also situated at the nucleus of Egypt's Coptic Christian
community, which separated from the Roman and Byzantine church in the
late 4th century. Many of Cairo's oldest Coptic churches, including The Hanging Church, are located along the fortress walls in a section of the city known as Coptic Cairo.
After the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641, Rashidun commander 'Amr ibn al-'As established Fustat just north of Coptic Cairo and Babylon. At Caliph Umar's request, the Egyptian capital was moved from Alexandria to the new city. Fustat also became a regional centre of Islam and home to the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, the first mosque in Egypt. When the Abbasids usurped the Umayyads in 750, they moved the capital to al-Askar, which they had built just north of Fustat. In 868, under the Tulunids, Egypt's capital was moved further north to their own settlement, al-Qatta'i.
However, neither al-Askar nor al-Qatta'i achieved the prominence of
Fustat; al-Askar had become indistinguishable from Fustat by the end of
the 9th century, and al-Qatta'i was destroyed by the Abbasids when they
recaptured Egypt in 905. With the Abbasids' second conquest, Fustat once
again became the capital of Egypt.
Foundation and expansion
Further information: History of Arab Egypt
See also: Saladin in Egypt
The Muizz Street, stretching from the Northern Gates of Cairo to the Southern Gates of the Newly Created city, was the city's first paved street, and the largest street as well.
In 969, led by General Gawhar al-Siqilli, the Fatimid Caliphate conquered Egypt from Tunisia and established a new fortified city northeast of Fustat.
It took four years for Jawhar to build the city, initially known as
al-Manṣūriyyah, which later took its Modern name, Al-Qahira (Cairo)
which was to serve as the new capital of the caliphate. During that
time, Jawhar also commissioned the construction of al-Azhar Mosque,
which developed into the third-oldest university in the world. Cairo
would eventually became a centre of learning, with the library of Cairo
containing hundreds of thousands of books. When Caliph al-Mu'izz li Din Allah finally arrived from the old Fatimid capital of Mahdia in Tunisia in 973, the city was given its present name, al-Qahira ("The Victorious"), in reference to the caliph.
The Cairo Citadel, seen above in the late 19th century, was built between 1176 and 1183
For nearly two hundred years after Cairo was established, the administrative centre of Egypt remained in Fustat. However, in 1168, the Fatamids, under the leadership of Vizier Shawar, set fire to Fustat to prevent Cairo's capture by the Crusaders.
Egypt's capital was permanently moved to Cairo, which eventually
expanded to include the ruins of Fustat and the previous capitals of al-Askar and al-Qatta'i. While the Fustat fire successfully protected the city of Cairo, a continuing power struggle between Shawar, King Amalric I of Jerusalem, and Syrian general Shirkuh led to the downfall of the Fatimid establishment.
In 1169, Saladin
was appointed as the new vizier of Egypt and, two years later, he would
seize power from the family of the last Fatimid caliph, Al-'Āḍid. As the first Sultan of Egypt, Saladin established the Ayyubid dynasty, based in Cairo , and aligned Egypt with the Abbasids, who were based in Baghdad. During his reign, Saladin also constructed the Citadel, which served as the seat of Egyptian government until the mid-19th century.
In 1250, slave soldiers, known as the Mamluks, seized Egypt and, like many of their predecessors, established Cairo as the capital of their new dynasty. Continuing a practice started by the Ayyubids, much of the land occupied by former Fatimid
palaces was sold and replaced by newer buildings. Construction projects
initiated by the Mamluks pushed the city outward while also bringing
new infrastructure to the centre of the city. Meanwhile, Cairo
flourished as a centre of Islamic scholarship and a crossroads on the spice trade route between Europe and Asia. By 1340, Cairo had a population of close to half a million, making it the largest city west of China.
Stagnation and Ottoman rule
Further information: History of Ottoman Egypt
See also: Muhammad Ali's seizure of power
Ibrahim Pasha's Statue in the centre of the Opera Square in Cairo
Although it avoided Europe's stagnation during the Late Middle Ages, Cairo could not escape the Black Death,
which struck the city more than fifty times between 1348 and 1517.
During its initial, and most deadly, waves, approximately 200,000 people
were killed by the plague, and, by the 15th century, Cairo's population
had been reduced to between 150,000 and 300,000. The city's status was
further diminished after Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route around the Cape of Good Hope, thereby allowing spice traders to avoid Cairo.
Cairo during the sunset, minutes before the maghrib Prayer, from the
Azhar park, with the Iconic Ottoman Mosque of Muhammed Ali in 2010
Cairo's political influence diminished significantly after the Ottomans supplanted Mamluk power over Egypt in 1517. Ruling from Istanbul, Sultan Selim I relegated Egypt to a mere province,
with Cairo as its capital. For this reason, the history of Cairo during
Ottoman times is often described as inconsequential, especially in
comparison to other time periods. However, during the 16th and 17th
centuries, Cairo 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. It was during this same period that al-Azhar University
reached the predominance among Islamic schools that it continues to
hold today; 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. By the 16th century, Cairo also had high-rise apartment buildings where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were rented out to tenants.
Under the Ottomans, Cairo expanded south and west from its nucleus around the Citadel.
The city was the second-largest in the empire, behind only Istanbul,
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. 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.
The French occupation was short-lived as British and Ottoman forces, including a sizable Albanian
contingent, recaptured the country in 1801. The British vacated Egypt
two years later, leaving the Ottomans, the Albanians, and the
long-weakened Mamluks jostling for control of the country. 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.
Modern era
Further information: History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty and History of modern Egypt
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. However, while Muhammad Ali initiated
the construction of public buildings in the city, those reforms had
minimal effect on Cairo's landscape. Bigger changes came to Cairo under Isma'il Pasha (r. 1863–1879), who continued the modernization processes started by his grandfather. Drawing inspiration from Paris,
Isma'il environs 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. Isma'il also sought to modernize the city, which was
merging with neighboring settlements, by establishing a public works ministry, bringing gas and lighting to the city, and opening a theater and opera house.
Today, high-rise buildings line the eastern edge of the Nile in central Cairo
Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo
The immense debt resulting from Isma'il's projects provided a pretext
for increasing European control, which culminated with the British invasion in 1882. 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. 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.
Nile view of Grand Hyatt Cairo at night
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, five years after Egypt had been declared a British protectorate. Nevertheless, while this led to Egypt's independence in 1922,
British troops remained in the country until 1956. During this time,
urban Cairo, spurred by new bridges and transport links, continued to in
expand to include the upscale neighborhoods of Garden City, Zamalek, and Heliopolis.
Between 1882 and 1937, the population of Cairo more than tripled – from
347,000 to 1.3 million – and its area increased from 1,000 hectares (10 km; 4 sq mi) to 16,300 hectares (163 km; 63 sq mi).
The city was devastated during the 1952 Cairo Fire,
also known as Black Saturday, which saw the destruction of nearly 700
shops, movie theaters, casinos and hotels in Downtown Cairo. 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 Midan Tahrir and the Nile Corniche,
and improved the city's network of bridges and highways. Meanwhile,
additional controls of the Nile fostered development within the island
of Gezira 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.
Despite these efforts, Cairo's population has doubled since the
1960s, reaching close to seven million (with an additional ten million
in its urban area). Concurrently, Cairo has established itself as a political and economic hub for North Africa and the Arab World, with many multinational businesses and organizations, including the Arab League, operating out of the city.
In 1992, Cairo was hit by a damaging earthquake, that caused 545 deaths, 6512 injuries and left 50,000 people homeless.
Satellite cities
6th of October City, west of Cairo, and New Cairo,
east of Cairo, are major urban developments which have been built to
accommodate additional growth and development of the Cairo area. New
development includes several high-end residential developments.
Geography
Cairo's focal point, the Nile, adjacent to the European-inspired districts near the city's centre
Cairo is located in northern Egypt, known as Lower Egypt, 165 kilometers (100 mi) south of the Mediterranean Sea and 120 kilometers (75 mi) west of the Gulf of Suez and Suez Canal. The city is 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 square kilometers
(175 sq mi).
The river Nile flows through Cairo, here contrasting ancient customs of daily life with the modern city of today.
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.
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.
The streets of Islamic Cairo, adorned by Islamic architecture, are narrower and older than those in the city centre
Because of the Nile's movement, the newer parts of the city – Garden City, Downtown Cairo, and Zamalek – are located closest to the riverbank. 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 centrer. 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 has also undergone significant expansion over recent years, and today the city, although still a suburb of Cairo, has a population of 2.7 million. The Cairo Governorate is just north of the Helwan Governorate, which was created in 2008 when some of Cairo's southern districts, including Maadi and New Cairo, were split off and annexed into the new governorate.
Climate
A panorama of the Nile showing Cairo tower in the middle and two major bridges on the far right and left.
In Cairo, and along the Nile River Valley, the climate is a desert climate (BWh according to the Köppen climate classification system), but often with high humidity due to the river valley's effects. Wind storms can be frequent, bringing Saharan dust
into the city during the months of March and April. High temperatures
in winter range from 13 °C (55 °F) to 19 °C (66 °F), while night-time
lows drop to below 8 °C (46 °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, but sudden showers do cause harsh flooding.
In New Cairo, a place of higher elevation than down town Cairo, the temperatures often drop below zero during winter causing morning frost.
Infrastructure
Cairo seen from Spot Satellite
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-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 for
Egypt and the region. Today, Cairo is the centre for 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:Further information: List of schools in Egypt
Universities in Cairo:
Cairo (pronounced /ˈkaɪroʊ/ KY-roh; Arabic: القاهرة al-Qāhira), literally "The Vanquisher" or "The Conqueror", is the capital of Egypt, the largest city in Africa and the 16th most populous metropolitan area in the world.
Cairo is also ranked as one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life. Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty
in the 10th Century, but the land composing the present-day city was
the site of national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo. Cairo is also associated with Ancient Egypt due to its proximity to the ancient cities of Memphis, Giza and Fustat which are nearby to the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza.
The city's original name in Arabic is "Al-Qahira", which became "Cairo" after Europeans corrupted the name. Egyptians today often refer to Cairo as Maṣr (Arabic: مصر),
the Arabic pronunciation of the name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the
city's continued role in Egyptian influence. Cairo has the oldest and
largest film and music industries 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, and the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.
With a population of 6,758,581 spread over 453 square kilometers (175 sq mi),
Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt. With an additional ten
million inhabitants just outside the city, Cairo resides at the centre
of the largest metropolitan area in Africa and the eleventh-largest urban area in the world. Cairo, like many other mega-cities, suffers from high levels of pollution and traffic, but its metro
– currently one of only two on the African continent – also ranks among
the fifteen busiest in the world, with over 700 million passenger rides
annually. The economy of Cairo was ranked first in the Middle East, and 43rd globally by Foreign Policy's 2010 Global Cities Index.
History
See also: History of Egypt
Initial settlements
A rendition of Fustat from A.S. Rappoport's History of Egypt
The area around present-day Cairo, especially Memphis, had long been a focal point of Ancient Egypt due to its strategic location just upstream from the Nile Delta.
However, the origins of the modern city are generally traced back to a
series of settlements in the first millennium. Around the turn of the
4th century, as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance, the Romans established a fortress town along the east bank of the Nile. This fortress, known as Babylon, remains the oldest structure in the city. It is also situated at the nucleus of Egypt's Coptic Christian
community, which separated from the Roman and Byzantine church in the
late 4th century. Many of Cairo's oldest Coptic churches, including The Hanging Church, are located along the fortress walls in a section of the city known as Coptic Cairo.
After the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641, Rashidun commander 'Amr ibn al-'As established Fustat just north of Coptic Cairo and Babylon. At Caliph Umar's request, the Egyptian capital was moved from Alexandria to the new city. Fustat also became a regional centre of Islam and home to the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, the first mosque in Egypt. When the Abbasids usurped the Umayyads in 750, they moved the capital to al-Askar, which they had built just north of Fustat. In 868, under the Tulunids, Egypt's capital was moved further north to their own settlement, al-Qatta'i.
However, neither al-Askar nor al-Qatta'i achieved the prominence of
Fustat; al-Askar had become indistinguishable from Fustat by the end of
the 9th century, and al-Qatta'i was destroyed by the Abbasids when they
recaptured Egypt in 905. With the Abbasids' second conquest, Fustat once
again became the capital of Egypt.
Foundation and expansion
Further information: History of Arab Egypt
See also: Saladin in Egypt
The Muizz Street, stretching from the Northern Gates of Cairo to the Southern Gates of the Newly Created city, was the city's first paved street, and the largest street as well.
In 969, led by General Gawhar al-Siqilli, the Fatimid Caliphate conquered Egypt from Tunisia and established a new fortified city northeast of Fustat.
It took four years for Jawhar to build the city, initially known as
al-Manṣūriyyah, which later took its Modern name, Al-Qahira (Cairo)
which was to serve as the new capital of the caliphate. During that
time, Jawhar also commissioned the construction of al-Azhar Mosque,
which developed into the third-oldest university in the world. Cairo
would eventually became a centre of learning, with the library of Cairo
containing hundreds of thousands of books. When Caliph al-Mu'izz li Din Allah finally arrived from the old Fatimid capital of Mahdia in Tunisia in 973, the city was given its present name, al-Qahira ("The Victorious"), in reference to the caliph.
The Cairo Citadel, seen above in the late 19th century, was built between 1176 and 1183
For nearly two hundred years after Cairo was established, the administrative centre of Egypt remained in Fustat. However, in 1168, the Fatamids, under the leadership of Vizier Shawar, set fire to Fustat to prevent Cairo's capture by the Crusaders.
Egypt's capital was permanently moved to Cairo, which eventually
expanded to include the ruins of Fustat and the previous capitals of al-Askar and al-Qatta'i. While the Fustat fire successfully protected the city of Cairo, a continuing power struggle between Shawar, King Amalric I of Jerusalem, and Syrian general Shirkuh led to the downfall of the Fatimid establishment.
In 1169, Saladin
was appointed as the new vizier of Egypt and, two years later, he would
seize power from the family of the last Fatimid caliph, Al-'Āḍid. As the first Sultan of Egypt, Saladin established the Ayyubid dynasty, based in Cairo , and aligned Egypt with the Abbasids, who were based in Baghdad. During his reign, Saladin also constructed the Citadel, which served as the seat of Egyptian government until the mid-19th century.
In 1250, slave soldiers, known as the Mamluks, seized Egypt and, like many of their predecessors, established Cairo as the capital of their new dynasty. Continuing a practice started by the Ayyubids, much of the land occupied by former Fatimid
palaces was sold and replaced by newer buildings. Construction projects
initiated by the Mamluks pushed the city outward while also bringing
new infrastructure to the centre of the city. Meanwhile, Cairo
flourished as a centre of Islamic scholarship and a crossroads on the spice trade route between Europe and Asia. By 1340, Cairo had a population of close to half a million, making it the largest city west of China.
Stagnation and Ottoman rule
Further information: History of Ottoman Egypt
See also: Muhammad Ali's seizure of power
Ibrahim Pasha's Statue in the centre of the Opera Square in Cairo
Although it avoided Europe's stagnation during the Late Middle Ages, Cairo could not escape the Black Death,
which struck the city more than fifty times between 1348 and 1517.
During its initial, and most deadly, waves, approximately 200,000 people
were killed by the plague, and, by the 15th century, Cairo's population
had been reduced to between 150,000 and 300,000. The city's status was
further diminished after Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route around the Cape of Good Hope, thereby allowing spice traders to avoid Cairo.
Cairo during the sunset, minutes before the maghrib Prayer, from the
Azhar park, with the Iconic Ottoman Mosque of Muhammed Ali in 2010
Cairo's political influence diminished significantly after the Ottomans supplanted Mamluk power over Egypt in 1517. Ruling from Istanbul, Sultan Selim I relegated Egypt to a mere province,
with Cairo as its capital. For this reason, the history of Cairo during
Ottoman times is often described as inconsequential, especially in
comparison to other time periods. However, during the 16th and 17th
centuries, Cairo 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. It was during this same period that al-Azhar University
reached the predominance among Islamic schools that it continues to
hold today; 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. By the 16th century, Cairo also had high-rise apartment buildings where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were rented out to tenants.
Under the Ottomans, Cairo expanded south and west from its nucleus around the Citadel.
The city was the second-largest in the empire, behind only Istanbul,
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. 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.
The French occupation was short-lived as British and Ottoman forces, including a sizable Albanian
contingent, recaptured the country in 1801. The British vacated Egypt
two years later, leaving the Ottomans, the Albanians, and the
long-weakened Mamluks jostling for control of the country. 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.
Modern era
Further information: History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty and History of modern Egypt
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. However, while Muhammad Ali initiated
the construction of public buildings in the city, those reforms had
minimal effect on Cairo's landscape. Bigger changes came to Cairo under Isma'il Pasha (r. 1863–1879), who continued the modernization processes started by his grandfather. Drawing inspiration from Paris,
Isma'il environs 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. Isma'il also sought to modernize the city, which was
merging with neighboring settlements, by establishing a public works ministry, bringing gas and lighting to the city, and opening a theater and opera house.
Today, high-rise buildings line the eastern edge of the Nile in central Cairo
Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo
The immense debt resulting from Isma'il's projects provided a pretext
for increasing European control, which culminated with the British invasion in 1882. 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. 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.
Nile view of Grand Hyatt Cairo at night
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, five years after Egypt had been declared a British protectorate. Nevertheless, while this led to Egypt's independence in 1922,
British troops remained in the country until 1956. During this time,
urban Cairo, spurred by new bridges and transport links, continued to in
expand to include the upscale neighborhoods of Garden City, Zamalek, and Heliopolis.
Between 1882 and 1937, the population of Cairo more than tripled – from
347,000 to 1.3 million – and its area increased from 1,000 hectares (10 km; 4 sq mi) to 16,300 hectares (163 km; 63 sq mi).
The city was devastated during the 1952 Cairo Fire,
also known as Black Saturday, which saw the destruction of nearly 700
shops, movie theaters, casinos and hotels in Downtown Cairo. 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 Midan Tahrir and the Nile Corniche,
and improved the city's network of bridges and highways. Meanwhile,
additional controls of the Nile fostered development within the island
of Gezira 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.
Despite these efforts, Cairo's population has doubled since the
1960s, reaching close to seven million (with an additional ten million
in its urban area). Concurrently, Cairo has established itself as a political and economic hub for North Africa and the Arab World, with many multinational businesses and organizations, including the Arab League, operating out of the city.
In 1992, Cairo was hit by a damaging earthquake, that caused 545 deaths, 6512 injuries and left 50,000 people homeless.
Satellite cities
6th of October City, west of Cairo, and New Cairo,
east of Cairo, are major urban developments which have been built to
accommodate additional growth and development of the Cairo area. New
development includes several high-end residential developments.
Geography
Cairo's focal point, the Nile, adjacent to the European-inspired districts near the city's centre
Cairo is located in northern Egypt, known as Lower Egypt, 165 kilometers (100 mi) south of the Mediterranean Sea and 120 kilometers (75 mi) west of the Gulf of Suez and Suez Canal. The city is 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 square kilometers
(175 sq mi).
The river Nile flows through Cairo, here contrasting ancient customs of daily life with the modern city of today.
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.
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.
The streets of Islamic Cairo, adorned by Islamic architecture, are narrower and older than those in the city centre
Because of the Nile's movement, the newer parts of the city – Garden City, Downtown Cairo, and Zamalek – are located closest to the riverbank. 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 centrer. 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 has also undergone significant expansion over recent years, and today the city, although still a suburb of Cairo, has a population of 2.7 million. The Cairo Governorate is just north of the Helwan Governorate, which was created in 2008 when some of Cairo's southern districts, including Maadi and New Cairo, were split off and annexed into the new governorate.
Climate
A panorama of the Nile showing Cairo tower in the middle and two major bridges on the far right and left.
In Cairo, and along the Nile River Valley, the climate is a desert climate (BWh according to the Köppen climate classification system), but often with high humidity due to the river valley's effects. Wind storms can be frequent, bringing Saharan dust
into the city during the months of March and April. High temperatures
in winter range from 13 °C (55 °F) to 19 °C (66 °F), while night-time
lows drop to below 8 °C (46 °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, but sudden showers do cause harsh flooding.
In New Cairo, a place of higher elevation than down town Cairo, the temperatures often drop below zero during winter causing morning frost.
| 18.9 (66) | 20.4 (68.7) | 23.5 (74.3) | 28.3 (82.9) | 32.0 (89.6) | 33.9 (93) | 34.7 (94.5) | 34.2 (93.6) | 32.6 (90.7) | 29.2 (84.6) | 24.8 (76.6) | 20.3 (68.5) | 27.8 (82) | |
| 14.0 (57.2) | 15.0 (59) | 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) | |
| 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) | |
| 5.0 (0.197) | 3.8 (0.15) | 3.8 (0.15) | 1.1 (0.043) | 0.5 (0.02) | 0.1 (0.004) | 0.0 (0) | 0.0 (0) | 0.0 (0) | 0.7 (0.028) | 3.8 (0.15) | 5.9 (0.232) | 24.7 (0.972) | |
| 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 | |
| 217 | 232 | 279 | 300 | 310 | 360 | 372 | 341 | 300 | 279 | 240 | 186 | 3,416 | |
| Source: World Meteorological Organization (UN), BBC Weatherfor data of sunshine hours | |||||||||||||
Infrastructure
Cairo seen from Spot Satellite
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-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 for
Egypt and the region. Today, Cairo is the centre for 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:Further information: List of schools in Egypt
Universities in Cairo:
Houston, United States (1998)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (1989)
Beijing, China (1990)
Seoul, South Korea (1997)
Tokyo, Japan (1990)
Barcelona, Spain (1992)
Frankfurt, Germany (1979)
Istanbul, Turkey (1988)
Minsk, Belarus (1998)
Paris, France (1985)