Dictionary
a town at the southern tip of Illinois at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers the capital of Egypt and the largest city in Africa a major port just to the south of the Nile delta formerly the home of the Pharaohs
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Wikipedia
Otheruses , The Great Egyptian Pyramids Pyramids have become a symbol of Cairo internationally]]Cairo (Arabic languageArabic: !القا&# 1607;رة; Arabic transliterationtransliterated: al-Qāhirah) is the capital city of Egypt (and previously the United Arab Republic) and has a metropolitan area population of approximately 15.2 million people. Cairo is the List of metropolitan areas by populationsixteenth most populous metropolitan area in the world. Cairo is located at 30°2' North, 31°13' East (30.03333, 31.21667). ? earth-info.nga.milWhile al-Qāhirah is the official name of the city, in local speech it is typically called simply by the name of the country, ''Mişr'' (Arabic, مصر) pronounced ''Maşr'' in the local dialect.The name Al-Qahirah literally means "The Subduer," though it is often translated as "The Victorious." The origin of the name is said to come from the appearance of the planet Mars during the foundation of the city. The planet Mars, associated with destruction was called "Al Najm Al Qahir" in Arabic, from which the name of the city was derived. However the legacy of the name evolved into the title "Qahirat Al Adaa" meaning "subduer of the enemies". This title was given to the city as many armies were destroyed in attempts to invade Cairo or defeated elsewhere by troops sent from Cairo. (Mongols, Crusaders & Ottomans are examples) highlighted.]]
Geography - Cairo is located on the banks and islands of the NileNile River in the north of Egypt, immediately south of the point where the river leaves its desert-bound valley and breaks into three 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 tenaments. 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, EgyptGezira and Rodah (island)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 pyramidpyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza (last surviving of the Wonders of the worldSeven Ancient Wonders of the World). Approximately 11 miles (18 km) to the south of modern Cairo is the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, EgyptMemphis and adjoining necropolis of Saqqara. These cities were Cairo's ancient predecessors, when Cairo was still in this approximate geographical location.
History -
Founding and early history - in the heart of Cairo's mediæval Old City. Cairo has the largest concentration of mediæval structures in the world.]] The current location of Cairo was too far from the ancient course of the Nile to support a city. Just to the south of the modern city's location are the ruins of Memphis, EgyptMemphis, which was the capital of Ancient Egypt and was founded in around 3100 BC by Menes of Tanis, EgyptTanis after he had united the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt, although the capital later moved to Heliopolis, further south to Thebes, EgyptThebes, and, under the Ptolemaic dynasty, Alexandria.The first settlement on the location of modern Cairo was a Roman EmpireRoman fort, known as Babylon Fort, built about 150AD 150, built near the settlement known as Babylon-in-Egypt, which lay close to an ancient Egyptian canal from the Nile to the Red Sea.A small town mostly of Coptic Christians slowly grew around the fort. Arab invaders, lead by Amr Ibn-el-As, took the fort town in 642 and also established their army in the location, rebuilding its defenses. The Arab tented camp outside the fortress, known as Al-Fustat, slowly became the permanent base of the Arab forces in Egypt under the Umayyads and Abbasids, and contains the first mosque in Africa. Slowly, the settlement grew into a small city. The North African Shiite Fatimid Dynasty conquered Egypt in 972 and built a new capital, Al-Mansureya, north of the old settlement. Their leader, Al-Muez Ledin-Ellah, renamed the city Al-Qahirah after the planet Mars (planet)Mars which was rising on the day the city was founded. The Al-Azhar mosque was founded the same year, and along with its accompanying university it made Cairo a centre of learning and philosophy. The school remains a major center for Islamic study today. The Seljuks captured Cairo in the mid 1100s, and Saladin and his successors expanded the city further, including the construction of its massive Cairo_Citadelcitadel. The sack of Baghdad in 1258 heightened the importance of the city and it became the leading intellectual and artistic centre in the Middle East, and perhaps the world, for the next 250 years. But power was shifting from the Arab world north to the Turkic peoplesTurks and Europeans. The city was taken by the Ottoman Empire under Selim I in 1517, but the ruling Mameluks quickly returned to power as nominal vassals to the Ottoman Sultan.
Era of westernization - Ismail's vision for Cairo as "Paris on the Nile." ]] buildings]] Napoleon conquered Egypt in 1798, and Cairo was quickly surrendered to him by its Mameluk rulers. Napoleon left Egypt after his fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Aboukir Bay in August 1798, leaving Jean Baptiste KléberGeneral Kléber in charge. Kléber was assassinated in 1800 and the three-year FranceFrench occupation had little lasting effect.The first hints of westernization began under the successors to Mehemet Ali (Egypt)Mehemet Ali with the introduction of a railway connection to Alexandria in 1851. Significant change, however, did not occur until the reign of Isma'il Pasha when, in 1863, construction of the Suez Canal brought significant numbers of westerners to Egypt. A network of gas lighting was installed by a FranceFrench company and the railway lines were greatly expanded.In 1867, Isma'il visited Paris to attend the Universal Exposition of 1867. There he saw the newly redesigned city of Baron HaussmannHaussmann and, funded by a booming cotton trade, decided to rebuild Cairo on the model of a European capital. He hoped to have this done by 1869 when representatives from around the world came to Egypt for the opening of the Suez Canal.Rather than rebuild the old city, Isma'il elected to add a new quarter to the western section along the bank of the Nile. The project was carried out by Ali Pasha Mubarak and designed by the French urban planner Pierre Grand. A new area of luxurious villas and apartments was constructed and new government ministries were erected. Grand boulevards were opened through the old town and tram lines soon followed.The era of colonization in 1882 saw the rebuilding of Cairo continuing. A modern sewer system was installed and new suburbs such as Heliopolis were constructed in the desert. Cairo's population exploded, increasing from 374,000 in 1882 to 1,312,000 by 1937. The city was dominated by westerners, however, and city planners tended to emphasize ChristianityChristian cathedrals over mosques.
Modern Cairo - Cairo remained the central city of Egypt throughout the period of British rule and afterwards. The 20th century saw massive growth in the size of the city as peasants left the farmlands in pursuit of work in the factories and commerce of the metropolis. The city was especially burdened by refugees from the various wars with Israel: much of the population of the Sinai peninsula and the cities along the Suez Canal left for Cairo between 1967 and 1978.Today Cairo is Africa's most populous city and the Arab world's cultural centre.Since the 19th century Cairo has also become a center for tourism as people from around the world have come to see the monuments and artifacts of Ancient Egypt, especially the Pyramids. Laws against the export of these treasures has meant that the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is the only place in the world that many items can be !seen.Image:Kair o_001.jpgView of the modern city's !skyline.Image:CentralCairo.JPG South-Central Cairo from the island of Zamalek.
Transportation -
Rail - Cairo stands at the hub of Egypt's 5000 km railway network. Ramses Station in central Cairo interconnects the main southward-bound line up the Nile valley (serving Assyut, Luxor, and Aswan) with the different lines that fan out across Lower Egypt and service the main cities of the Nile DeltaDelta region (including Alexandria, Ismailia, and Port Said).A second mainline station is located some 10 km south, at Giza.
Road - Cairo's roads are amongst the most dangerous in the world. The death rate per kilometre traveled in Egypt is over 40 times as high as the European average and twice as high as the nearest comparable Middle Eastern country. But thanks to often deadlocked traffic, car crashes are rare, and when they do happen, they are almost always non-fatal.
Metro - ''Main article: Cairo Metro''The Cairo Metro is Africa's only fully-fledged Metrometro system. Two lines cover a total of 62 km, with another four lines in the planning stages.
Tram - Cairo's first tram line was constructed in 1898. That tram was the first north-south public transportation route in Cairo. It went over Khalij Misr, an ancient canal that leads to the Red Sea.The tram network has been largely dismantled in recent years and few lines now remain operational outside the northern suburbs around Heliopolis.
Air - Cairo is serviced by the Cairo International Airport, which has daily flights to major destinations. It is a modern airport servicing more than 30 airlines, and acts as the hub for EgyptAir.
Buildings and constructions - Cairo Tower
Cairo in art, literature and music - Naguib MahfouzCairo Opera House operahouse.gov.eg
Famous Cairenes - Boutros Boutros Ghali, former Secretary-General of the United NationsSecretary-General of the United Nations, was born in Cairo.Maimonides, court physician to Saladin and Talmudic scholar.Actor Omar Sharif
Town twinning/Sister cities - Stuttgart, Germany (since 1979)
See also - Al-Azhar University alazhar.org Ain Shams University American University in Cairo Cairo American College Cairo Metro Cairo University Gates of Cairo Wagh el Birket
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Websites
Antico Egitto di Iside
Il portale sull'Antica Civiltà Egizia
http://www.anticoegitto.net/
Thomasville Georgia Real Estate
Thomasville Georgia real estate, Cairo real estate, Also offering Homes for sale across Georgia in Coolidge, Ochlocknee, Pavo, Boston, Barwick, Meigs, and Thomas County. RE/MAX of Thomasville, Inc.
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Spiros C. Moros Foundation
It is a charity NGO, concerned with holistic medicine, organic farming & breast feeding.
http://www.spirocfoundation.com/
Mashi.com * The Egyptian Online Magazine
An e-zine targeting Egyptians living abroad and at home.
http://www.mashi.com/
Egyptian Addiction
Wholesalers of quality Belly Dancing Costumes, hipscarves, jewelry, harem pants, skirts, tops, sarongs, sticks, Bedouin clothing and musical instruments. Egyptian Addiction is owned and operated by an Australian/Egyptian couple in Cairo, Egypt. We are a small family company with excellent quality control manufacturing handmade quality Belly Dancing accessories.
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Nile Melody Travel
Our company is a full service Travel Agent in Egypt that helps individuals, small and large groups of tourists to enjoy the beauty of the unforgettable Egypt by spend a nice Tour to Egypt. We can plan for you a perfect Vacation in Egypt, weekend, or Honeymoon Trip to Egypt. Our Egyptian Tour Packages and Programs rates are really competitive and affordable, you can have economic program depending on your Accommodation in Egypt.
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Maged Implant - Dental clinic
Modern dental clinic in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt offering the most updated dental services specially dental implant surgery
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reizen naar egypte egypte reizen cruise op de nijl nijlcruise strand vacatie avontuurlijk vacatie
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Cairo Times
News, features, business, lifestyle, culture and travel from Egypt and the Arab world
http://www.cairotimes.com/
American University in Cairo
An American-style education with over thirty undergraduate, graduate and certification programs; includes admission, programs, faculty, library, publications, alumni information.
http://www.aucegypt.edu/
International Institute for Sustainable Deveopment
Information on the use of, and effect on, the environment during economic development, including natural resources.
http://iisd.ca/
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