Cairo

Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة; transliterated: 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 thirteenth most populous metropolitan area in the world. Cairo is located at 30°2' North, 31°13' East (30.03333, 31.21667). http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html

History

Founding and early history

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, which was the capital of Ancient Egypt and was founded in around 3100 BC by Menes of Tanis after he had united the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt, although the capital later moved to Heliopolis, further south to Thebes, and, under the Ptolemaic dynasty, Alexandria.

Related Topics:
Memphis - Ancient Egypt - 3100 BC - Menes - Tanis - Heliopolis - Thebes - Ptolemaic dynasty - Alexandria

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The first settlement on the location of modern Cairo was a Roman fort, known as Babylon Fort, built about AD 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.

Related Topics:
Roman - Babylon Fort - AD 150 - Babylon-in-Egypt

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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.

Related Topics:
Coptic Christian - Amr Ibn-el-As - 642 - Al-Fustat - Umayyad - Abbasid - Mosque

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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 which was rising on the day the city was founded.

Related Topics:
North Africa - Shiite - Fatimid - 972 - Al-Mansureya - Al-Muez Ledin-Ellah - Mars

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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 citadel.

Related Topics:
Al-Azhar mosque - University - Islamic - Seljuk - Saladin - Citadel

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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 Turks and Europeans.

Related Topics:
Baghdad - 1258 - Turks - European

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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.

Related Topics:
Ottoman Empire - Selim I - 1517 - Mameluks

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Era of westernization

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 General Kléber in charge. Kléber was assassinated in 1800 and the three-year French occupation had little lasting effect.

Related Topics:
Napoleon - Battle of Aboukir Bay - General Kléber - Assassinate - French

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The first hints of westernization began under the successors to 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 French company and the railway lines were greatly expanded.

Related Topics:
Mehemet Ali - Alexandria - 1851 - Isma'il Pasha - 1863 - Suez Canal - French

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In 1867, Isma'il visited Paris to attend the Universal Exposition of 1867. There he saw the newly redesigned city of Haussmann 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.

Related Topics:
1867 - Paris - Universal Exposition of 1867 - Haussmann - Cotton - 1869

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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.

Related Topics:
Nile - Ali Pasha Mubarak - Pierre Grand

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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 Christian cathedrals over mosques.

Related Topics:
1882 - Heliopolis - 1937 - Christian

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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.

Related Topics:
20th century - Israel - Sinai - 1967 - 1978

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Today Cairo is Africa's most populous city and the Arab world's cultural centre.

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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.

Related Topics:
19th century - Tourism - Ancient Egypt - Pyramid - Egyptian Museum

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Image:Kairo_001.jpg|View of the modern city's skyline.

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Image:CentralCairo.JPG|South-Central Cairo from the island of Zamalek.

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