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Satellite
image of Cairo, Egypt, taken by NASA. |
Is
the capital city of Egypt and has a metropolitan area population
of approximately 15.2 million people. Cairo is the thirteenth
most populous metropolitan area in the world, and is located
on the banks and islands of the Nile 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 have wide boulevards,
public gardens, and open spaces. The older eastern section
of the city is 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.
West of Giza, in the desert, is part of the ancient necropolis
of Memphis on the Giza plateau, with its three large pyramids,
including the Great Pyramid of Giza, which is the last surviving
of the Seven 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 and adjoining necropolis
of Saqqara. These cities were Cairo's ancient predecessors,
when Cairo was still in this approximate geographical location.
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.
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.
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.
• List
of Cities in Egypt
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Cairo".
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