Cairo
Cairo
القاهرة | |
|---|---|
.jpg)      Clockwise from top: View of the Nile, Muizz Street, Baron Empain Palace, Cairo Citadel, Talaat Harb Square, Ibn Tulun Mosque | |
 Flag | |
| Nickname: The City of a Thousand Minarets | |
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| Coordinates: 30°2′40″N 31°14′9″E / 30.04444°N 31.23583°E | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Governorate | Cairo |
| Founded | 969 CE |
| Founded by | Fatimid dynasty |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Atef Abd El Hamid[1] |
| Area | |
| • Metropolis | 214 km2 (83 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 17,267.6 km2 (6,667.1 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 23 m (75 ft) |
| Population (2017) | |
| • Metropolis | 19,500,000 |
| • Density | 19,376/km2 (50,180/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 18,290,000 |
| • Metro | 20,439,541 |
| • Demonym | Cairene |
| Demonym | Cairene |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| Area code | (+20) 2 |
| Website | www.cairo.gov.eg |
| Official name | Historic Cairo |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, iii, vi |
| Designated | 1979 |
| Reference no. | [3] |
| State Party | Egypt |
| Region | Arab States |
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Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة, usually transliterated as Al-Qāhirah) is the capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate. The city name can be translated as the one who won.
Cairo has 7,947,121 people. About 17,290,000 people live in its urban area. This makes it the biggest city of the Arab World.[4] It also is the city with the biggest urban area in Africa. The city is on the Nile River.
History
[change | change source]Ancient settlements
[change | change source]The area that is now Cairo has historically been an important area in Ancient Egypt because of its location at the place where the Nile River and Nile Delta meet. Memphis, an ancient capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom was located a short distance southwest of what is now Cairo. Heliopolis was also located in the modern districts of Matariya and Ain Shams in Cairo.[5][6]
The origins of modern Cairo began from a series of settlements in the 1st millenium AD. As Memphis became less important,[7] the Romans built a fortress east of the Nile. This would become the fortress of Babylon, the earliest form of modern Cairo.[8]
Early Islamic era
[change | change source]Fustat and other early Islamic settlements
[change | change source]After the Arab conquest of Egypt led by Muhammad's companion Amr ibn al-As, Babylon fortress fell in April 641. After the surrender of Alexandria, he founded a new settlement next to Babylon fortress. The city was called Fustat (Arabic: الفسطاط, romanized: al-Fusṭāṭ, lit. 'the tent') and became the new administrative capital of Egypt, replacing Alexandria.
In 720, following the Abbasid Revolution and the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate by the Abbasids, the new rulers of Egypt created a settlement north of Fustat called al-Aksar (Arabic: العسكر, lit. 'the camp'), and a new mosque was completed.
Founding of Cairo
[change | change source]In 969, the Fatimid Caliphate conquered Egypt. The Fatimid Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah established a new fortified city northeast of Fustat known as al-Manṣūriyyah. It took four years to build the city, and it was built to become the new capital of their caliphate.[9] During that time, the construction of al-Azhar Mosque was ordered, and the mosque would become a centre for learning and education, with its library having hundreds of thousands of books.[10]
When Caliph al-Mu'izz arrived from the old Fatimid capital of Mahdia, he named the city Qāhirat al-Mu'izz ("The Vanquisher of al-Mu'izz"), which was eventually simplified to al-Qāhira, which is where the English name "Cairo" comes from.[11]
Late Islamic era
[change | change source]Ayyubid and Mamluk eras
[change | change source]In 1171, Kurdish leader Saladin was appointed as the new vizier of Egypt by the Fatimids. Saladin ended Fatimid rule two years later, beginning the Ayyubid Sultanate. He built a large stone fortress on a hill known as the Cairo Citadel.[12]
Later, in 1250, a group of slave soldiers called the Mamluks took control of Egypt and created the Mamluk Sultanate, ruled by a sultan. The Mamluks built many beautiful mosques and schools with tall towers called minarets. As a result, it became known as the "City of a Thousand Minarets".
Ottoman era
[change | change source]In 1517, the Ottoman Empire conquered Egypt. Cairo became a provincial capital, ruled by a governor sent from the Ottoman capital Istanbul. During this time, Cairo lost some of its importance as a trade centre after European sailors found new sea routes around Africa to Asia, so fewer traders passed through Egypt.[13]
Despite this, the Mamluks de facto stayed in power in the local government even though the ottomans were officially in charge (de jure)
Modern era
[change | change source]In 1798, the French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte captured Cairo for three years. After the French left, a new leader called Muhammad Ali Pasha became the wali (ruler) of Egypt, and is often called the "founder of modern Egypt". He built many roads, factories and modern buildings in Cairo.
In the 1860s, Khedive Ismail wanted to make Cairo look like a "Paris on the Nile" and hired French architects to build a new district next to the old city with wide streets and parks, which is now called Downtown Cairo.[14]
In 1992, Cairo was devastated by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that caused 545 deaths, injuring 6,512, and made 50,000 people homeless, the most destructive since 1847.
In January 2011, Cairo became the centre of a massive revolution called the 2011 Egyptian Revolution during the Arab Spring, where thousands of Egyptians protested in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo.[15]
Nowadays, Cairo is growing very fast. Millions of people have migrated from the countryside to the city, causing urbanisation. This has led to pollution and traffic problems, and the majority of Egyptians living in slums are in Cairo.
Geography
[change | change source]Climate
[change | change source]The city of Cairo has a hot desert climate (BWh). It has a hot, sunny and dry climate all year long. The city, however, has more humidity than other cities with the hot desert climate (BWh).
| Climate data for Cairo | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 88.0 (31.1) |
93.6 (34.2) |
100.2 (37.9) |
109.8 (43.2) |
118.0 (47.8) |
115.5 (46.4) |
108.7 (42.6) |
110.1 (43.4) |
110.7 (43.7) |
106.0 (41.1) |
99.3 (37.4) |
86.4 (30.2) |
118.0 (47.8) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 66.0 (18.9) |
68.7 (20.4) |
74.3 (23.5) |
82.9 (28.3) |
90.0 (32.2) |
93.0 (33.9) |
94.5 (34.7) |
93.6 (34.2) |
90.7 (32.6) |
84.6 (29.2) |
76.6 (24.8) |
68.5 (20.3) |
82.0 (27.8) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 56.5 (13.6) |
58.8 (14.9) |
62.4 (16.9) |
70.2 (21.2) |
76.1 (24.5) |
81.1 (27.3) |
81.7 (27.6) |
81.3 (27.4) |
79.0 (26.1) |
73.9 (23.3) |
66.0 (18.9) |
59.0 (15.0) |
70.5 (21.4) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 48.0 (8.9) |
49.5 (9.7) |
52.9 (11.6) |
58.3 (14.6) |
63.9 (17.7) |
68.2 (20.1) |
72.0 (22.2) |
71.8 (22.1) |
68.9 (20.5) |
63.3 (17.4) |
57.4 (14.1) |
50.7 (10.4) |
60.4 (15.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 34.2 (1.2) |
38.5 (3.6) |
41.0 (5.0) |
45.7 (7.6) |
54.1 (12.3) |
61.0 (16.1) |
64.8 (18.2) |
66.0 (18.9) |
58.1 (14.5) |
54.1 (12.3) |
41.4 (5.2) |
37.0 (2.8) |
34.2 (1.2) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.20 (5.1) |
0.15 (3.8) |
0.15 (3.8) |
0.04 (1.0) |
0.02 (0.51) |
0.00 (0.00) |
0.00 (0.00) |
0.00 (0.00) |
0.00 (0.00) |
0.03 (0.76) |
0.15 (3.8) |
0.23 (5.8) |
0.97 (24.57) |
| Source: World Meteorological Organization (UN) (1971–2000),[16][17] | |||||||||||||
Tourism
[change | change source]
The Great Pyramids of Giza and the step pyramid of Saqqara are located on the west side of the Nile, in the Giza Governorate, which is considered part of the Greater Cairo Metropolitan Area.[18]
The Egyptian Museum holds the world’s largest collection of antiquities from the time of the ancient Egyptians. Many treasures from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun were previously in this museum, but have now been moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.[18]
Famous Cairenes
[change | change source]People from Cairo are called 'Cairenes'.
- Abu Sa'id al-Afif - 15th century Samaritan physician
- Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former Secretary-General of the United Nations
- Naguib Mahfouz, novelist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988.
- Mido, Professional soccer player with Middlesbrough F.C
- Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and 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[source?]
- Farouk El Baz, a great contributor to NASA
- Sir Magdi Yacoub, leading cardiologist, knight
- Constantin Xenakis (1931) Greek artist
- Voula Zouboulaki (1931) Greek actress
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "محافظ القاهرة يرفض تطوير المستثمرين الحدائق.. ويؤكد: "هيسحلوا الغلابة"". Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ↑ "Cairo | national capital, Egypt". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Centre. "Historic Cairo – UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
- ↑ Demographia World Urban Areas & Population Projections (PDF), Demographia, April 2009, retrieved 9 July 2009
- ↑ Snape, Steven (2014). The Complete Cities of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. pp. 170–177. ISBN 9780500051795.
- ↑ Snape, Steven (2014). The Complete Cities of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. pp. 170–177. ISBN 9780500051795.
- ↑ "Memphis (Egypt)". Encarta. Microsoft. 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
- ↑ Gascoigne, Alison L.; Sheehan, Peter D. (2024-08-17). "Sherds and the City: Pottery Production, Society, and the Changing Urban Fabric of Fustat, Egypt". Journal of Field Archaeology. 49 (6): 433–452. doi:10.1080/00934690.2024.2374148. ISSN 0093-4690.
- ↑ AlSayyad, Nezar (2013). Cairo: Histories of a City. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-07245-9.
- ↑ Beeson, Irene. "Cairo, a Millennial," Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Saudi Aramco World. September/October 1969, pp. 24, 26-30.
- ↑ Glassé & Smith 2003, p. 96.
- ↑ Ruggles, D.F. (2020). Tree of pearls: The extraordinary architectural patronage of the 13th-century Egyptian slave-queen Shajar al-Durr. Oxford University Press.
- ↑ Rose, Christopher; Boxberger, Linda (1995). "Ottoman Cairo". Cairo: Living Past, Living Future. The University of Texas Centre for Middle Eastern Studies. Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
- ↑ Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2013, p. 76
- ↑ Chrisafis, Angelique; Black, Ian (15 January 2011). "Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali forced to flee Tunisia as protesters claim victory". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 January 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- ↑ "Weather Information for Cairo". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
- ↑ "Cairo (A) Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
- 1 2 Hedges, Chris. "What's Doing in Cairo," New York Times. January 8, 1995.
Sources
[change | change source]- Hedges, Chris. "What's Doing in Cairo," New York Times. January 8, 1995.
Other websites
[change | change source]
Media related to Cairo at Wikimedia Commons
Geographic data related to Cairo at OpenStreetMap- Cairo information Archived 2007-02-21 at the Wayback Machine at yatb.info
- Blog about Cairo
- Places in Cairo Archived 2015-07-22 at the Wayback Machine
- Cairo -Citizendium
