Cairo

Home - Independent Countries - Egypt - Cairo
Cairo

Cairo

Cairo is the capital of Egypt, the largest city in the country and home to 10 million people. The city of Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt, as it is the site of the Giza Pyramid Complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis. Lying near the Nile delta, the city was first founded as Fustat, established after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641, adjacent to an existing ancient Roman fortress, Babylon. During the Fatimid dynasty, Cairo was founded in the area in 969. Cairo later replaced Fustat as the main urban center in the era of the Ayyubids and the Mamluks. For a long time, Cairo was the political and cultural center of the region, and is known as the "city of a thousand minarets" because of its predominance of Islamic architecture. The historic center of the city was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979. Cairo can be found in the north of Egypt, known as Lower Egypt. It lies along the Nile, just south of the point where the river leaves its desert-bordered valley and branches into the low-lying Nile Delta. South of the center, Old Cairo is home to the remains of Fustat and the Coptic Cairo, the heart of Egypt's Coptic Christian community. The northern part of the city, the Boulaq district was born from a large 16th century port and is now a major industrial hub. Situated to the east of the city center, the Citadel surrounds the Islamic Cairo, dating back to the Fatimid era and the foundation of Cairo.