Location
Cairo city “the city of a thousand minarets” is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Middle-East and Africa located along the Nile River in northern Egypt, known as Lower Egypt, 165 kilometres south of the Mediterranean Sea and 120 kilometres west of the Gulf of Suez and Suez Canal.
History of the City
Cairo history most notably dates from the Roman. The city was built up by the Arabs and the Ottoman Empire to become the largest and richest capital in the world at its zenith.
The ancient city of Memphis was located on the outskirts of present-day Cairo. This early Egyptian capital was established by Pharaoh Menes (of the early dynastic period), roughly at the time of 3,000 BC. The city’s history is closely connected to the Great Pyramids at Giza and even older pyramids further south, at Sakkara. The discovery of the Great Pyramids nearby well and truly put the city on the map for tourists, who also come to see the ancient Islamic district and Citadel within the city, along with the wealth of treasures that detail Egyptian and Cairo history within the Egyptian Antiquities Museum.
In 1517, after the Battle of Heliopolis, the Ottoman Sultan Selim entered the city. Although Cairo suffered from plundering and oppression under Turkish rule, it still remained a busy provincial capital with an active cultural life.
During his Egyptian expedition of 1798-99 Napoleon established his headquarters in Cairo. In 1805 Mohammed (Mehemet) Ali, as Pasha of Egypt, took possession of the Citadel, where in 1811 he treacherously massacred 480 leading Mamelukes whom he had invited to Cairo. Later in the 19th C., particularly after the opening of the Suez Canal, the city enjoyed a period of rapid economic development and grew considerably in size.
Population
Cairo City covers an area of 453 km² with an estimated population of over 10 million people.
Governance of Cairo City
The legislative authority of the government of the City of Cairo is vested in the City Council.
Mayors of Cairo City
- Mayor
Robert “Bobby” Burns
199 Forest Glen Rd.
Cairo, Ga. 39828
(229) 377-1722 ext. 104
Term Expires: 12/31/2017 - Mayor Pro Tem
Lannis Thornton – District 1
(229) 377-1722 ext. 104
887 9th Street N.W.
Cairo, Ga. 39828
Term Expires: 12/31/2015
Cairo has an extensive road network that connects it with other Egyptian cities and villages, rail system, subway system also known as Metro and maritime services. Road transport is facilitated by personal vehicles, taxi cabs, privately owned public buses and Cairo microbuses. Cairo, specifically Ramses Square, is the centre of almost the entire Egyptian transportation network. Transport system is governed by Cairo Transportation Authority CTA
Attractions in Cairo
The following are major tourist attractions of Cairo City
- Necropolis
- Egyptian Museum
- Al Azhar Mosque
- Pyramid of Djoser
- Cairo Opera House
- Great Sphinx
- Citadel
- Cairo Tower
- Mohammed Khalil Museum
- St Mark’s Church
- Sinan Pasha Mosque
- Ramesses Square
- Coptic Cathedral
- Opera Square
- Coptic Church
- New Cathedral
- Baibars Mosque
- Baibars Convent
- Qalaun Mosque
- Musafirkhane Palace
- Gumhuriya Theater
- Mukhtar Museum
- Egyptian Museum
- Ethnological Museum
- Geological Museum
- Abdin Palace
- Agricultural Museum
- Cotton Museum
- Museum of Modern Art
- Emir Salar and Sanjar Mausoleum
- Qait Bey Mosque
- Church of St George
- Ibn Tulun Mosque
- Amr Ibn el-As Mosque
- Manisterli Palace
- Nilometer
- Aq-Sunqur Mosque
- Sultan Hasan Mosque
- Tombs of the Mamelukes
- Fort Mohammed Ali
- El-Giyushi Mosque
- El-Shafi Burial Mosque
- Museum of Islamic Art
- El-Muayyad Mosque
- El-Azhar Mosque
- El-Hakim Mosque
- Abu Bekr ibn Muzhir Mosque
- Sabil Kuttab Wikala
- Beit el-Suheimi
- Mohammed el-Nasir Mosque
- Barquqiya Mosque
- El-Aqmar Mosque
- Salih Ayyub Mausoleum
- Khan el-Khalili
- El-Ghuri Medrese and Mausoleum
- Fakahani Mosque
- Salih Talai Mosque
- El-Mardani Mosque
- Rusun Mosque
- Sultan Shaapan Medrese
- Sulaimaniya Mosque
- Surdun Mosque
- Ibrahim Aga House
- Aq Sunqur Mosque
- Emir Khairbek Mosque
- El-Gei el-Yusufi Medrese
- El-Rifai Mosque
- Qani Bey Medrese
- Emir Taz Palace
- Emir Sheikhu Convent
- Khushqadam el-Ahmedi Mosque
- Beit el-Kiridliya
- Shagarat el-Durr Mausoleum
- Citadel
- Mohammed Ali Mosque
- Bir Yusuf (Joseph’s Well)
- El-Nasir Mosque
- Moqattam Tower
- Military Museum
- National Circus
- Palace of Art