Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. It was founded in the year 969 A.D. making it more than 1040 years old. One of Cairo nicknames is “The City of a Thousand Minarets” for its preponderance of Islamic architecture; Cairo has long been a centre of the region’s political and cultural life. Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century AD.; but the land composing the present-day city was the site of national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo.
Cairo is also associated with Ancient Egypt due to its proximity to the ancient cities of Memphis, Giza and Fustat which are nearby to the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza. There are also ancient temples, tombs, gorgeous Christian churches, magnificent Muslim monuments, and of course, the Egyptian Antiquities Museum all either within or nearby to the city.
Cairo is an amazing city full of life and movements, and it is that way almost 24 hours a day. The city provides great culture; including art galleries and music halls, such as the Cairo Opera House, Sawy Culture Wheel, Ahmed Shawky Museum as well it should being one of the largest cities in the world.
It also provides accommodations fitting every budget from the grandest in the world to budget hotels and hostels.
Cairo has the world’s second-oldest institution of higher learning, al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city, and the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.
Also Cairo has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab World
Cairo, like many other mega-cities, suffers from high levels of pollution and traffic, but its metro – the only one on the African continent until the Algiers Metro began service on November 1, 2011 – also ranks among the fifteen busiest in the world, with over 700 million passenger rides annually. The economy of Cairo was ranked first in the Middle East, and 43rd globally by Foreign Policy’s 2010 Global Cities Index.
