Cairo

Cairo (ˈkaɪroʊ ; القاهرة , , ⲕⲁϩⲓⲣⲏ ) is the capital and largest city of Egypt. The citys metropolitan area is the largest in the Middle East and the Arab world, and the 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 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 regions political and cultural life, and is titled the city of a thousand minarets for its preponderance of Islamic architecture. Cairo is considered a World City with a Beta + classification according to GaWC.Cairo has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab world, as well as the worlds second-oldest institution of higher learning, Al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city; the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.With a population of 6.76 million spread over 453 km2, Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt. An additional 9.5 million inhabitants live in close proximity to the city. Cairo, like many other mega-cities, suffers from high levels of pollution and traffic. Cairos metro, one of two in Africa (the other being in Algiers, Algeria), ranks among the fifteen busiest in the world, with over 1 billion annual passenger rides. The economy of Cairo was ranked first in the Middle East in 2005, and 43rd globally on Foreign Policy‍s 2010 Global Cities Index.

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