Cairo القاهرة |
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City | |||
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Nickname(s): The City of a Thousand Minarets | |||
Location of Cairo within Egypt | |||
Coordinates: 30°3′N 31°14′E / 30.050°N 31.233°ECoordinates: 30°3′N 31°14′E / 30.050°N 31.233°E | |||
Country | Egypt | ||
Governorate | Cairo | ||
Founded | 969 AD | ||
Founded by | Jawhar al-Siqilli | ||
Government | |||
• Governor | Atef Abd El Hamid | ||
Area | |||
• City | 528 km2 (204 sq mi) | ||
• Urban | 6,740 km2 (2,600 sq mi) | ||
• Metro | 93,369 km2 (36,050 sq mi) | ||
Elevation | 23 m (75 ft) | ||
Population (2011) | |||
• City | 10,230,350 | ||
• Density | 19,376/km2 (50,180/sq mi) | ||
• Urban | 18,290,000 | ||
• Metro | 20,439,541 | ||
• Demonym | Cairene | ||
Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
Area code(s) | (+20) 2 | ||
Website | www.cairo.gov.eg |
Cairo (/ˈkaɪroʊ/ KYE-roh; Arabic: القاهرة al-Qāhirah, Coptic: ⲕⲁϩⲓⲣⲏ Kahire) is the capital and largest city of Egypt. The city's metropolitan area is the largest in the Middle East and the Arab world, and 15th-largest in the world, and is associated with ancient Egypt, as the famous Giza pyramid complex and the ancient city of Memphis are located in its geographical area. Located near the Nile Delta, modern Cairo was founded in 969 CE by Jawhar al-Siqilli ("the Sicilian") of the Fatimid dynasty, but the land composing the present-day city was the site of ancient national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo. Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life, and is nicknamed "the city of a thousand minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture.