Cairo
Today, Cairo has the oldest and largest cinema and music industry in the Arab world, as well as the world's second-oldest institution of higher learning, Al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city; the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.
With a population of over 10 million spread over 453 km2, Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt. An additional 9.5 million inhabitants live close to the city. Cairo, like many other megacities, suffers from high levels of pollution and traffic. The Cairo Metro, opened in 1987, is the oldest metro system in Africa, and ranks amongst the fifteen busiest in the world, with over 1 billion annual passenger rides. The economy of Cairo was ranked first in the Middle East in 2005, and 43rd globally on Foreign Policy 2010 Global Cities Index.
Egyptians often refer to Cairo as (مَصر), the Egyptian Arabic name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the city's importance for the country. Its official name (القاهرة) means 'the Vanquisher' or 'the Conqueror', supposedly due to the fact that the planet Mars, an-Najm al-Qāhir (النجم القاهر, 'the Conquering Star'), was rising at the time when the city was founded, possibly also in reference to the much awaited arrival of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mu'izz who reached Cairo in 973 from Mahdia, the old Fatimid capital. The location of the ancient city of Heliopolis is the suburb of Ain Shams (عين شمس, 'Eye of the Sun').
There are a few Coptic names of the city. Tikešrōmi (Ϯⲕⲉϣⲣⲱⲙⲓ Late Coptic: ) is attested in the 1211 text The Martyrdom of John of Phanijoit and is either a calque meaning 'man breaker' (Ϯ-, 'the', ⲕⲁϣ-, 'to break', and ⲣⲱⲙⲓ, 'man'), akin to Arabic , or a derivation from Arabic قَصْر الرُوم (qaṣr ar-rūm, "the Roman castle"), another name of Babylon Fortress in Old Cairo. The form Khairon (ⲭⲁⲓⲣⲟⲛ) is attested in the modern Coptic text Ⲡⲓⲫⲓⲣⲓ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ ⲙ̀ⲙⲏⲓ Ⲃⲉⲣⲏⲛⲁ (The Tale of Saint Verina). (Ⲗⲓⲟⲩⲓ Late Coptic: ) or (Ⲉⲗⲓⲟⲩⲓ Late Coptic: ) is another name which is descended from the Greek name of Heliopolis (Ήλιούπολις). Some argue that (Ⲙⲓⲥⲧⲣⲁⲙ Late Coptic: ) or (Ⲛⲓⲥⲧⲣⲁⲙ Late Coptic: ) is another Coptic name for Cairo, although others think that it's rather a name of an Abbasid capital Al-Askar. Ⲕⲁϩⲓⲣⲏ (Kahi•ree) is a popular modern rendering of an Arabic name (others being Ⲕⲁⲓⲣⲟⲛ [Kairon] and Ⲕⲁϩⲓⲣⲁ [Kahira]) which is modern folk etymology meaning 'land of sun'. Some argue that it was a name of an Egyptian settlement upon which Cairo was built, but it is rather doubtful as this name is not attested in any Hieroglyphic or Demotic source, although some researchers, like Paul Casanova, view it as a legitimate theory. Cairo is also referred to as Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ( Late Coptic: ) or Ⲅⲩⲡⲧⲟⲥ ( Late Coptic: ), which means Egypt in Coptic, the same way it is referred to in Egyptian Arabic.
Sometimes the city is informally referred to as by people from Alexandria (كايرو).
Map - Cairo
Map
Country - United_Arab_Republic
Flag of Egypt |
The republic was led by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. The UAR was a member of the United Arab States, a loose confederation with the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, which was dissolved in 1961.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
EGP | Egyptian pound | £ or جم | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
AR | Arabic language |
EN | English language |
FR | French language |